This was just what Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou needed and the emotion was written all over the Australian's face.

The 59-year-old is normally a vocal presence on the touchline but recent weeks have brought an even more animated version of the Spurs head coach. On Wednesday night he fell to the floor in his dugout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after Pedro Porro chipped an effort just wide when he should have scored and when Lucas Bergvall netted the winner Postecoglou punched the air with delight and hugged his coaches.

When it was put to him after the game that he has looked more emotional on the touchline, he smiled.

"Well, yeah, I mean it's been an emotional time, mate, you know, it's like I keep saying I am a human being," said Postecoglou. "Like all of us, we're in these roles of managers and we're supposed to...I understand we've got positions of responsibility, but we're still human beings in the core, and we react to things.

"I don't like the fact that people who are working really hard for this club, on and off the field, have not had that feeling of victory. I don't feel great about our supporters not having that feeling of victory.

"It weighs heavily on me, mate. It's my responsibility. So yeah, you know, I'm a little bit more emotional than I usually am, but I guess that also probably means I do care and I think that's still important."

Such is the strange nature of Postecoglou's Spurs that this victory against Liverpool meant that Tottenham's last six wins have come against Manchester City, Aston Villa, Manchester City again, Southampton, Manchester United and now Arne Slot's table-toppers.

The Australian's version of the north London side can beat anyone on their day - even in this battered, threadbare state - and it is for that reason and nights like this that the majority of fans are still behind him.

In the final minutes of the game the fans sang Postecoglou's name loudly, especially booming from that big south stand. He has retained their support through a period of results that would have seen off some of his predecessors, those exited after less yet having lost the fans and certain players.

But Postecoglou has the dressing room - that's clear in the way they still play his football, press at every opportunity and give him everything - and he has the understanding of the match-going fans and many more beyond who can see what he's trying to implement amid the chaos.

There was no let up from the adversity on Wednesday night as Postecoglou got Rodrigo Bentancur back from suspension only to lose him just six minutes into the encounter.

Spurs had started brightly, pressing high up against Liverpool's defence and Radu Dragusin - who was excellent on the night - forced Alisson Becker into an early low save.

However, in the aftermath of that shot, Pedro Porro noticed Bentancur was laying flat on his face and motionless on the turf and waved the medical staff to run over, as did referee Stuart Attwell when he saw the Uruguayan. Porro appeared to then put his team-mate in the recovery position.

It looked as if Bentancur had missed a low header and in doing so whipped his head around violently into the turf and his whole body shuddered with the impact.

Over the course of the next 11 minutes, the medical staff quickly attended to him and the 27-year-old could be seen at one point to be sitting up and pointing before he was secured to a stretcher. He was conscious and talking and was taken to hospital for further checks.

After the game Postecoglou was asked exactly what had happened to the midfielder.

"I don't want to speculate because I don't really know either. All I know is he was conscious when he came off. Obviously it was some sort of head injury, but he was conscious when he was coming off the field, and he's been taken to the hospital for observation, but I'm not really clear on how it happened," he said.

"It's not my area. Unless I get a doctor out here, I'm not going to speculate because it's just not fair on people around him, but it was a head injury and there was concern from players out there so obviously there was something going on."

In the immediate aftermath, after calling for help initially, the Tottenham players did not appear to be as distressed while Bentancur was receiving help, presumably because he was conscious.

Later that night the player posted a photo from his hospital bed with his thumb up and the caption: "All good guys! Thank you for the messages!!! Congratulations for the victory boys!!!"

Tottenham had to battle on without him and Postecoglou spoke afterwards of his squad learning to adapt to adversity because they've had so much of it recently.

"Very proud. Again, we had to deal with some adversity tonight. We started the game really well I thought. Then obviously we lose Rodrigo, and in the way it happened, it was quite distressing to see a team-mate go down in that manner," he said.

"Again, we had to compose ourselves and deal with that and reorganise. Super proud of the players. I have been all along. It hasn't been through the want of trying that our results haven't been as good, it's certainly not been on them, it's just that we haven't been able to get the consistency to get the results that we need.

"Just proud that they feel good tonight, that they get the rewards of their hard work. Our fans as well, we've put them through a tough time, I thought they were outstanding tonight. We haven't achieved anything, but I think just that feeling of having a victory against a top opponent in a big game, really pleased for everyone."

Postecoglou has had to tweak his formation in recent games. It has changed to more of a 4-2-1-3 with the full-backs not bombing on quite as much and a midfield duo shielding the makeshift back four while also taking opportunities to get forward.

That was rocked somewhat by Bentancur's departure but credit must go to 18-year-old Lucas Bergvall for withdrawing into one of the two deeper roles with Yves Bissouma to allow Dejan Kulusevski to take up the number 10 position. On paper, that should have been a weaker midfield trio against Liverpool's but that was not the case in practice.

Both sides had big chances in the second half with Porro missing that huge opportunity that came from Bergvall's tackle on Alisson in the Liverpool box as he continued to press like a man possessed.

Dragusin then stopped a Trent Alexander-Arnold strike on the Spurs goal line and new goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky denied Darwin Nunez twice around Dominic Solanke putting the ball in the net at the other end only for VAR to rule it offside by the tightest of margins. Attwell made a historic first ever mic'ed up explanation of a call on the pitch in NFL style.

Liverpool had more shots on the night - 14 to Spurs' nine - but it was the home side who registered four big chances to the visitors' three.

This first leg was decided during a defining couple of minutes.

Rules or simply a mistake?

It was Lucas Bergvall who provided the two defining moments. First his late tackle on Kostas Tsimikas would have produced a second yellow card at any other moment but in this one Liverpool broke away up the pitch, Attwell pointed at the ball rather than playing on and never returned to book the young Swede after that move ended because seemingly he thought the tackle was fine.

It was then while Tsimikas was off the pitch that Spurs broke up the pitch in the other direction. Dragusin, having been told by Postecoglou not long before to open up his body and find Porro with his passes, did exactly that.

The Spaniard in turn then picked out Solanke's run with a curling pass and the striker held up the ball with brute strength, looked up and saw Bergvall of all people to pick out with a perfect pass into his stride and the teenager finished expertly into the bottom right corner.

The Liverpool players were incensed and there was some confusion afterwards over whether the rules had been applied correctly or not.

The International Football Association Board's Laws of the Games state: "If the referee plays the advantage for an offence for which a caution/sending-off would have been issued had play been stopped, this caution/sending-off must be issued when the ball is next out of play.

"However, if the offence was denying the opposing team an obvious goalscoring opportunity, the player is cautioned for unsporting behaviour; if the offence was interfering with or stopping a promising attack, the player is not cautioned."

Bergvall was technically not interfering with a promising attack as that attack continued and if Attwell did play advantage then he did not have to go back and caution Bergvall.

Just to muddy the waters though, the rules also state "advantage should not be applied in situations involving serious foul play, violent conduct or a second cautionable offence unless there is a clear opportunity to score a goal."

So the question really is whether Attwell played advantage and if he actually should have if he did? The referee appeared to point at the ball, thinking Bergvall got a touch, which would then make it difficult to go back and penalise him for a yellow card he missed. VAR could not intervene in a missed yellow card.

Postecoglou pointed to the rules as explained to him after the game and Slot was calm and measured afterwards, the benefit of this being a first leg away from home rather than a single tie.

"It was a good goal. Let that be clear, ball in behind, cut back cross and Bergvall stayed calm to score and finished it off. I don’t think you are interested in that but the moment before," he said.

"I was saying I thought I saw Ange sat here and unhappy with decisions made on Saturday. People say decisions even themselves out but I am not a believer of that. I believe you can be unlucky or lucky in decisions in a season. Yes, a decision went against them on Saturday and went in favour of them today, which, of course, is very unlucky for us.

"I never felt we were going to lose this game, especially not after the first 15-20 minutes as I felt Spurs started better than us but after that I felt we controlled and had most of the game in their half and had much more ball possession. A moment like this, if you go down to 10 men for a few seconds against a team as good as Tottenham – it is far from ideal.

"I think anyone would prefer the card was given than have advantage played 40 yards from their own goal. The other question is: was it reckless enough to play advantage and come back and say the tackle was still reckless? And enough to give a yellow. He had to tell everyone what his decision was but unfortunately he didn’t have to do it for this decision."

Postecoglou went into a lengthy monologue about the game when asked about Bergvall's second yellow that never was.

"I spoke about it after the game last time, I think my comments were mis-interpreted," he said. "I didn't criticise the referee or the decision. I didn't think the decision was right about the handball. But I said, it's very hard at the moment, it's very confusing, to understand certain elements of the game.

"Now we've been told consistently in the last few weeks, because I've been screaming about it from the sidelines, because a lot of teams have got away with a lot of fouls with us, without bookings, because the referee plays advantage. We've been told consistently that if we play advantage, as long as it's not a cynical foul, then the player does not get cautioned.

"So that's been relayed to us on a weekly basis. Because we feel like that's been happening. That's one of the things I was bemoaning last weekend. There's certain players who were repeatedly fouling, we were getting advantage, but no bookings. That's what I'm talking about."

He went on: "I'm really surprised at how, what's the word I'm looking for, how people in this country are so easily letting the game change so much so quickly. It's changed more since VAR has come in since I've been involved than in the past 50 years. We never used to debate offsides, we never used to debate handballs, we never used to debate holding in the box, we never used to debate so many things, and it seems like...

"I mean, did everyone really love the announcement today? Did that give you a real buzz about, you know, I mean, seriously, but now I'm, and again, look, I understand, my understanding of it is, this is what the people want. That's what I keep getting told.

"I understand that and I understand that, you know, we're not going to....VAR is going to be there, technology's gonna be a part of life, but it's like my wife and our kids. We know technology but she limits screen time. Why? You know, slow things down, I think.

"We've just got to be careful about constantly why do we want to change the game so much, and I know I'm going to be the old bloke in the stands that keep shouting 'boo' every time and I'll be the only one, but I just thought people would be a little bit more protective about the sanctity of the game.

"That's what I was talking about. I wasn't criticising referees, I wasn't. I've never criticised, I didn't think the decision was right, but it's just the way the game, I think there's a lot of confusion at the moment. That's my belief that the game is changing on the basis of technology, and I'm saying why isn't anyone speaking up about it?

"Especially in this country who, for all intents and purposes, you feel, you guys think you're custodians of the game, you've got a song that says 'it's coming home', this is your game, and yet it takes an Aussie from the other side of the world to be the one that's most conservative about changes."

He's Czech mate

Former Tottenham striker Clive Allen called it one of the best debuts he'd ever seen at the club and it's hard to disagree when it came to Antonin Kinsky's first outing in a Spurs shirt.

The 21-year-old's move from Slavia Prague, which could eventually be worth up to £12.5million, went through on Sunday. He had two training sessions with his new team-mates and then was thrown into a Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool in front of just under 60,000 people.

It was a sink or swim moment and Kinsky surged through the water like an Olympian. Rarely has someone looked so assured on the big stage as the young Czech goalkeeper did on a cold night in N17.

The immediate thing to notice about him was his confidence with the ball at his feet, like an outfield player who just happened to also be a talented goalkeeper. The Spurs defenders were at complete ease around him and happy to give him the ball in any tight moment.

That almost backfired early on when Dragusin allowed a bouncing ball to run through to him under pressure from Diogo Jota but even then the goalkeeper knocked the ball up into the air over the advancing Liverpool man and jumped to catch it.

It was just second nature to him to have the ball at his feet and football.london understands that came from the foresight of his father, a former Czech international stopper who bears the same name, who could see what the future would hold for goalkeepers.

Kinsky Senior would make his son play as a central midfielder when he was younger so that he was good with his feet. He had the foresight to think that modern goalkeepers would need to be talented with both feet and hands and used to make the new Spurs recruit use only his left foot in some training sessions so that he would improve his quality with either foot.

On Wednesday night, Kinsky would always quickly assess every option with his passes. He would look for those around him but also was confident in chipping the ball to the full-backs over the heads of Liverpool players, something that Fraser Forster struggled with in the league game with Slot's side last month.

Kinksy, known as Tonda in Prague and Toni so far at Spurs, would often take up a position deep into the hosts' half. He would also try to find Solanke with longer passes and a couple of long efforts in either half that did not reach a team-mate brought applause from Postecoglou for making the attempt.

"To be honest I like to play a lot, I would say with confidence but I don't like to risk because I still think there is a difference between playing smart, playing with confidence and playing with risk," said the young goalkeeper, who speaks perfect English, after the game.

"But definitely the first few minutes, I arrived three days ago, I had two full training [sessions] with the team and one training with the goalkeeper coach so I was slowly getting to know the pace.

"First half I would say was so-so but in the second half I felt confident and this is the way I want to play later on. I have to say the boys helped me a lot during the game because they wanted to play, they were confident as well.

"I also have to mention the coaches, all the staff, especially the goalkeeper coach who spoke to me a lot, who gave me the vision how the games look like, how the Premier League and now Carabao looks like, so it helped me a lot that I had this info and I could work with it."

Kinsky was also more than useful with his hands saving from Nunez twice, one with a strong wrist and to keep a clean sheet against Mohamed Salah & Co on your first day on the job was certainly one to remember.

The only mistake he made was allowing a Cody Gakpo shot to run between his hands and he gathered it behind him. Had he been on his goal line at the time rather than midway into his penalty area then this might be a very different debut being spoken about.

He was constantly talking to his defenders throughout the game and laughing with them afterwards despite only just meeting them a couple of days before. He made a beeline for Solanke after the game and said something that made the striker chuckle.

After that he climbed over the advertising hoardings to share an emotional embrace with his sister Andrea in the west stand after such a big performance.

"Brilliant. Fantastic," said Postecoglou of Kinsky's debut. "I got the sense when I spoke to him before we signed him that he had a bit about him in terms of assuredness that probably belied his years.

"I threw him a mammoth task today to play against the best team arguably in the world at the moment, in a big game, a semi-final. He just handled it awfully well. Credit to Johan [Lange] and his team, they were really big on him as a footballer who's going to fit our style and work really hard to make it happen now, and you can see why. He's an outstanding footballer.

Spare a moment for Brandon Austin, who was celebrating his birthday on Wednesday but found himself straight back on the bench after an impressive display of his own against Newcastle.

To be fair, the deal for Kinsky had been in the works since before that and as football.london reported this week, Lange and his scouting team have been tracking the Czech starlet since their days at Aston Villa.

Kinsky's agent Viktor Kolar explained what happened in recent days between the two clubs' head honchos.

"Slavia is a tough and fair negotiator. It was very fair, but on the other hand very difficult and tough," he said in an interview with Flashscore. "We even got into a situation where Mr Tvrdik (Slavia’s chairman) said 'I want to do it' but he was not willing to give in.

"On the other side was Daniel Levy who said he was also interested in doing it and completing the transfer but he was not willing to give in either and so it turned out that sometimes even those personal meetings really break the ice and those people can find consensus better."

He added: "Our team was still sitting at a petrol station in Prague until almost 10pm of December 31, because everything was closed on New Year's Eve and the subsequent development was that on January 1, Daniel Levy flew in himself and the two-day negotiations in Prague began. He had Johan Lange with him.

"The negotiations were intense, stretching late into the night, but it worked and I’m happy about that. It was a beautiful test to see if people and organisations this dominant can find their way to each other."

Kolar also spoke about how Spurs' recruitment department had voted on the transfer.

"Tottenham trusted Kinsky, and the whole team of people in that recruitment department, which includes chief scout Rob Mackenzie and his 11 people, so they agreed on Toni as one of the two players," he explained. "They all raised their hand and voted from zero to ten for him (all were ten)."

Kinksy's debut was another success for Lange, Mackenzie and chief scout Alex Fraser and it will have not have gone unnoticed in that department that the star players on Wednesday night in Kinsky, Gray, Bergvall, Dragusin and Solanke were all recommended and signed on their watch with Lange playing his part in getting the deals done.

For Kinksy the future looks bright and with the young stopper, Austin and Guglielmo Vicario all now on lengthy contracts, it makes sense to concentrate on those three and allow Austin to play in Sunday's FA Cup tie at Tamworth and the two upcoming Europa League games that Kinksy is not eligible to take part in.

Vicario gave Kinksy a big hug after the game before he went down the tunnel. He knows he's in for a battle now. The Czech starlet is here to play and that's exactly what the Italian and Tottenham need.

An exciting young core

It was not just about the new goalkeeper on Wednesday night as Tottenham again showed what an exciting young nucleus Postecoglou's team has to it.

Lucas Bergvall was the matchwinner with his first goal for the club and what will have pleased the staff the most was just how improved his fitness is that he was there to make that late pitch-long run to support Solanke in the 86th minute.

The 18-year-old Swede has faced a big step up from Allsvenskan football with the pace and ferocity of the English game and football.london was told before his arrival by those who have coached him over the years that it would take six months for him to adapt.

That prediction has proved to be spot on and his performances in the past couple of matches have shown that he's found his groove, albeit with the exciting aspect that there's still so much growth to come.

Bergvall is ultra confident and comfortable on the ball, making space for himself and he's always got a radar of where everybody is on the pitch. That tackle on Tsimikas aside, his discipline is also there and an understanding of playing the way Postecoglou wants him to.

The Swede is as comfortable sitting in front of the back four and collecting the ball as he is playing as a number eight and breaking into the box further up the pitch.

"Lucas was brilliant. Like I said, I haven't lost sight of the fact that we've got two 18-year-olds, one who's playing at centre back, it's not even his position," said Postecoglou. "I just don't think people really understand the level of performance that these young guys are giving us at the moment.

"We had a goalkeeper on his debut. Djed's playing left-back, unbelievably well. Lucas is just growing all the time. He's got that ability as a footballer to create space for himself. He's got the quality, but he works awfully hard for the team as well.

"Like I said, we've been dealing with some adversity for sure, but we've had some growth in that, I've got no doubt about that. That's been masked by poor results and poor form for sure. I've got no doubt that when we get our players back, the foundations are really strong, with a group of players we can really grow with."

Archie Gray continues to show just what a remarkable young player he is. He has taken on the role of becoming a centre-back without any fuss and it is proof of his ability that he already looks like one, rather than a midfielder simply filling in.

The 18-year-old recovered the ball six times on Wednesday night, made three interceptions, successfully won his one tackle, made three clearances and two headed ones and won his only ground duel.

One moment typified his ability as he emerged from the defence with the ball, skipped around one challenge and then hit a sublime outside of the foot pass between a cluster of Liverpool players to set Dejan Kulusevski away for a dangerous break.

Alongside him Radu Dragusin was also excellent and went on a few lung-busting runs himself up the pitch. How these two young defenders are playing every three days without fail and with so much energy and concentration required is incredible.

Djed Spence was terrific once again in playing on the left and Salah, one of the Premier League's best, got very little joy out of him. It should not have taken this long but the 24-year-old is getting his chance and proving that he's going to challenge to start now as either a right-back or left-back even when everyone is fit.

It was all about the two 18-year-olds though and their maturity and growth amid the carnage. When football.london asked Postecoglou about Gray's performances as a centre-back playing every three days there was a genuine desire from the Australian that he needs to be a part in his two teenagers' journeys for the future.

"And in a position he's never played mate, you know, he's never played!" he said excitedly. "An 18-year-old. Name me another Premier League team that's got two 18-year-olds and one playing out of position consistently.

"I'm so happy they're at our football club and you know, in two or three years' time, I just pray to God I'm the beneficiary of their talent, mate, because if somebody else is getting it, I won't be happy."

There's something exciting being built at Tottenham under the radar somewhat. They need more senior help right now to help nourish it, but what's being developed is something to really watch out for.

Special Solanke and transfer help

There were two stand-out players among the senior stars on Wednesday night and one was certainly Dominic Solanke.

Spurs are never going to replace Harry Kane and there are few footballers in world football who can do what the England captain does, but with Solanke the north London club have brought in someone different who brings something special of his own.

The base layer of Solanke's success comes from his fitness and work rate and willingness to never give defenders a moment's rest. He will run himself into the ground for his team-mates and he sets the example for the press that others follow.

Then on top of that he's got a lovely touch, an ability to dribble with the ball, an eye for a pass and the strength and movement to put the ball into the net.

The Liverpool back line knew they had been in a fight and Solanke was unfortunate not to score when VAR found him to be marginally offside after taking Porro's pass into his stride and slotting him.

Solanke then battled away to get on to Porro's next ball over the top and this time used his upper body strength to hold it up and play a pass perfectly into Bergvall's path to score the winner.

Solanke now has 17 goal involvements in 27 matches for Spurs with 11 goals and six assists and he's been a superb signing for the club. He needs rest though to get the best out of him this season and to ensure he does not suffer an injury.

Sunday's FA Cup tie at non-league Tamworth on their artificial 3G pitch could be the perfect time to give 19-year-old Will Lankshear another start and hand Solanke a chance to breathe ahead of next week's north London derby.

Solanke needs more senior help though. Richarlison has another week of full training to get through before Postecoglou will put him back into the fray.

Tottenham are also looking outside for more attacking reinforcements. They have held discussions over signing Randal Kolo Muani from PSG, with a loan deal with an option to buy mooted, although Spurs will have to fight off plenty of competition if they are to sign the 26-year-old.

It's clear how he would fit into Postecoglou's system. The Frenchman can play across the front line in any of the Australian's three roles and brings with him pace, strength and dribbling ability as well as knowing where the goal is. He's capable of playing his part in any of the creative or scoring roles required in the Tottenham system and driving through either the centre of the pitch or down the wings. Muani would get plenty of game time as a major asset to Postecoglou's attacking endeavours.

The Spurs boss let it slip on Tuesday that another attacker will be helping Solanke out in the "very near future".

When asked whether that meant a new signing was incoming or that players were on their way back from injury, he grinned before saying: "Both. It's hopefully what we can do but I wouldn't suggest tomorrow.

"Not a centre-forward but I think we need some help in the front half if we can get it. Obviously Wilson's still a fair way off, Richy's coming back but we've got to be really careful with him, we've got to try to keep him back. Again, it's got to be the right fit. Is that going to happen this window? I'm not sure but we know that all being well, in seven days, Richy's back and he'll definitely help Dom for sure."

Marcus Rashford has long been linked with Spurs, who have shown interest in him in the past. football.london understands there currently haven't been any discussions over the Manchester United striker but his situation is one to watch for most clubs during this window.

The England international is on huge wages but much depends on how desperate United become to offload him and how much of his salary they subsidise to do so. His representatives are reportedly in discussions with various clubs in Serie A about a potential move.

Tottenham do need some senior help for the younger players and to give the others a rest, most notably Gray and Dragusin who surely cannot continue to play every three days until the other three centre-backs return at the end of this month. However, there is then the added issue that when those three return suddenly any new signing is fifth in the pecking order and perhaps even sixth with Gray's performances. It's a tough sell and decision to make.

The other senior player who really impressed on Wednesday night was Yves Bissouma. The midfielder picked up a 32nd minute yellow card but was so disciplined from that point on.

He made a remarkable 18 defensive actions during the game, double what the next two players on the pitch managed in Spence and Virgil van Dijk. Bissouma made six interceptions, four ball recoveries, six clearances, two headed clearances and one block, while also making four passes into the final third.

He and the Tottenham players have given themselves a chance for the second leg at Anfield early next month. Going by the current injury timescales they should have Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Ben Davies all back in contention and hopefully new faces to add to the squad competition.

First up though is the visit to Tamworth on Sunday and a chance to potentially see Yang Min-hyeok make his debut as he begins his own journey of adapting to the English game. Mikey Moore could return as well after both teenage wingers were on the bench unused on Wednesday night.

Alfie Dorrington could make his first start in central defence to give one of Dragusin and Gray a rest and so could Sergio Reguilon for the first time this season. James Maddison and Pape Matar Sarr will be fresh to play after their suspension in midweek while Postecoglou will also be wary of putting any players with hamstring concerns out on that artificial turf.

Tottenham need to ensure they enjoy the magic of the FA Cup without becoming one of its victims. The victory against Liverpool was an important one for Postecoglou and his players and further belief in his way, but now they need to build on it, one game at a time.

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