Ange Postecoglou on minutes for Solanke, Romero and Van de Ven...
"Yeah, that's the key thing, they got minutes. Romero just great to get him back out there. He's such an important player for us but you could see he hasn't played for a while. I thought he grew into the game and got a lot better as it went on. Great for Dom to get 90 minutes today, he's such a workhorse for us and I'm sure he'll feel better for that. Brilliant to get Micky out there as well. I think before Thursday night that was key for us to get some minutes into these guys and thankfully they got through it unscathed."
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"Yeah, that's the key thing, they got minutes. Romero just great to get him back out there. He's such an important player for us but you could see he hasn't played for a while. I thought he grew into the game and got a lot better as it went on. Great for Dom to get 90 minutes today, he's such a workhorse for us and I'm sure he'll feel better for that. Brilliant to get Micky out there as well. I think before Thursday night that was key for us to get some minutes into these guys and thankfully they got through it unscathed."
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Ange Postecoglou on the impact that Lucas Bergvall had on the game...
"Lucas was great. He has been great but he has played a lot and we've just got to be mindful of that. He's becoming an important part of our team. I thought he made a real big impact when he came on. Like I said we were sloppy when we were on the ball in the first half and he’s one who takes a bit more care with it. He's a technician and he carries the ball really well. I thought he and Sonny made a really good impact when they came on."
#COYS #THFCAnge Postecoglou on the impact that Lucas Bergvall had on the game...
"Lucas was great. He has been great but he has played a lot and we've just got to be mindful of that. He's becoming an important part of our team. I thought he made a real big impact when he came on. Like I said we were sloppy when we were on the ball in the first half and he’s one who takes a bit more care with it. He's a technician and he carries the ball really well. I thought he and Sonny made a really good impact when they came on."
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"Lucas was great. He has been great but he has played a lot and we've just got to be mindful of that. He's becoming an important part of our team. I thought he made a real big impact when he came on. Like I said we were sloppy when we were on the ball in the first half and he’s one who takes a bit more care with it. He's a technician and he carries the ball really well. I thought he and Sonny made a really good impact when they came on."
#COYS #THFCAnge Postecoglou on the impact that Lucas Bergvall had on the game...
"Lucas was great. He has been great but he has played a lot and we've just got to be mindful of that. He's becoming an important part of our team. I thought he made a real big impact when he came on. Like I said we were sloppy when we were on the ball in the first half and he’s one who takes a bit more care with it. He's a technician and he carries the ball really well. I thought he and Sonny made a really good impact when they came on."
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Ange Postecoglou on Cristian Romero looking rusty...
"Not surprised, he hasn’t played for a very long time. He's hardly played this year to be fair. Cuti will be disappointed with that himself but at the same time what was much more important for me was how grew into his game, his defensive work, his aerial ability. I mean he was on the end of almost every cross they put into the box from corners and I think for him he will feel a lot better just having played. The idea was only to play 45 today, but he was keen to stay on for a bit longer and you could see he grew into the game and was really important for us."
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"Not surprised, he hasn’t played for a very long time. He's hardly played this year to be fair. Cuti will be disappointed with that himself but at the same time what was much more important for me was how grew into his game, his defensive work, his aerial ability. I mean he was on the end of almost every cross they put into the box from corners and I think for him he will feel a lot better just having played. The idea was only to play 45 today, but he was keen to stay on for a bit longer and you could see he grew into the game and was really important for us."
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Ange Postecoglou on how important it was to show spirit going into such an important match on Thursday...
"Yeah, it was, you can imagine the noise around us if the players didn’t respond. Thursday is obviously a massive game for us and at least from that perspective, and even for the players themselves, we've obviously got a challenge on Thursday night but they overcame a fairly big challenge today and hopefully we show the same kind of mindset."
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"Yeah, it was, you can imagine the noise around us if the players didn’t respond. Thursday is obviously a massive game for us and at least from that perspective, and even for the players themselves, we've obviously got a challenge on Thursday night but they overcame a fairly big challenge today and hopefully we show the same kind of mindset."
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Ange Postecoglou on the anxiety in the crowd...
"Yeah, look, again I said before, I can't sort of dictate to people how they sort of interact, but, AZ’s crowd certainly helped them on Thursday night and we need our crowd to get behind the boys on Thursday to make it an atmosphere where maybe we lose some of that nervousness and anxiety within our game. But the reality is, we as a team have to respond irrespective of the atmosphere and one may follow the other. If we start the game strong, it’ll get the place nice and loud, which will help us."
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"Yeah, look, again I said before, I can't sort of dictate to people how they sort of interact, but, AZ’s crowd certainly helped them on Thursday night and we need our crowd to get behind the boys on Thursday to make it an atmosphere where maybe we lose some of that nervousness and anxiety within our game. But the reality is, we as a team have to respond irrespective of the atmosphere and one may follow the other. If we start the game strong, it’ll get the place nice and loud, which will help us."
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Ange Postecoglou on how important it was to have experience off the bench...
"It certainly helps. It is something we haven’t had for quite a while and they all made an impact, particularly Lucas and Sonny when they came on. It was a big moment for Sonny obviously taking the penalty and he showed for those big moments, he is there. Important goal for the team and he took that responsibility."
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"It certainly helps. It is something we haven’t had for quite a while and they all made an impact, particularly Lucas and Sonny when they came on. It was a big moment for Sonny obviously taking the penalty and he showed for those big moments, he is there. Important goal for the team and he took that responsibility."
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Ange Postecoglou on the performance...
"As I said, it was a chaotic game, not a lot of control from our perspective, which is not ideal for the way we want to play. We looked nervous, we looked anxious, especially in the first half, but within that context, to come back from two-nil down, I think the positives of that is the lads showed a really strong mindset to to get something out of the game, which to be fair, that's probably what's been missing this year. I think there's a lot of games we've lost where games have just petered out and if we had turned more of those single-goal defeats into draws like we did today, we’d be in a better position in the league."
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"As I said, it was a chaotic game, not a lot of control from our perspective, which is not ideal for the way we want to play. We looked nervous, we looked anxious, especially in the first half, but within that context, to come back from two-nil down, I think the positives of that is the lads showed a really strong mindset to to get something out of the game, which to be fair, that's probably what's been missing this year. I think there's a lot of games we've lost where games have just petered out and if we had turned more of those single-goal defeats into draws like we did today, we’d be in a better position in the league."
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Ange Postecoglou on Spurs being involved in entertaining games, but the Bournemouth one being chaotic, what is the difference with that one compared to your other games? Is it about control...
"Yeah, I just never felt like we had the control or the momentum or fluency in the game to to be able to sort of still make it as high tempo as possible, but without it having the chaos of what it did today because it ended up becoming a basketball game and that really suits them. That’s kind of their template and you need to control the game more, which we want to do anyway if you want to turn it into a game where it is high tempo but less chaotic as it was today."
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"Yeah, I just never felt like we had the control or the momentum or fluency in the game to to be able to sort of still make it as high tempo as possible, but without it having the chaos of what it did today because it ended up becoming a basketball game and that really suits them. That’s kind of their template and you need to control the game more, which we want to do anyway if you want to turn it into a game where it is high tempo but less chaotic as it was today."
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Ange Postecoglou on it being a while since playing football his way due to the injuries and schedule and while it wasn’t perfect today, did the urgency and tempo feel a step in right direction...
"Look, I think there was a perseverance there and probably to the angst of our supporters, but they kept trying to play and that’s important. I think that’s the best way to work your way through the struggle we had our there and even when Micky came on, you saw the drive he has and having a left-footed centre-back, it changes the dimension of how we play. There are little things there that certainly from today we can take into Thursday and the rest of the season."
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"Look, I think there was a perseverance there and probably to the angst of our supporters, but they kept trying to play and that’s important. I think that’s the best way to work your way through the struggle we had our there and even when Micky came on, you saw the drive he has and having a left-footed centre-back, it changes the dimension of how we play. There are little things there that certainly from today we can take into Thursday and the rest of the season."
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Ange Postecoglou on does he accept that on Thursday night Spurs can't be as open at the back as they were today in the first half...
"I think the openness just came from us giving the ball away in really key areas. Most of the time we were giving them the ball in pretty critical areas. Vic had to make some fantastic saves to keep us in it. I don't think it was a case of being open because we were throwing men forward, we just kept giving the ball away. We certainly need to be better in the way that we execute that part of our game."
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"I think the openness just came from us giving the ball away in really key areas. Most of the time we were giving them the ball in pretty critical areas. Vic had to make some fantastic saves to keep us in it. I don't think it was a case of being open because we were throwing men forward, we just kept giving the ball away. We certainly need to be better in the way that we execute that part of our game."
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Ange Postecoglou on 15 League defeats this season and a message to the fans...
"I get their disappointment. It's unacceptable to see 15 league defeats. It's nowhere near good enough, nowhere near the level we need to be and I understand the supporters' frustrations with that. Today wasn't so much about performance, it was just another day when we let a game get away from us that we shouldn't have. We weren't played off the park and I felt that up until the point they scored, we were the team that was getting on top. We had a couple of good chances to go 1-0 up and that would have put the pressure on them but it's happened too many times this year. We've given the opposition a lift into the game by conceding soft goals."
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"I get their disappointment. It's unacceptable to see 15 league defeats. It's nowhere near good enough, nowhere near the level we need to be and I understand the supporters' frustrations with that. Today wasn't so much about performance, it was just another day when we let a game get away from us that we shouldn't have. We weren't played off the park and I felt that up until the point they scored, we were the team that was getting on top. We had a couple of good chances to go 1-0 up and that would have put the pressure on them but it's happened too many times this year. We've given the opposition a lift into the game by conceding soft goals."
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Ange Postecoglou on the penalty incident involving Lucas Bergvall...
"I'll leave that to the officials but I will say that we don't carry on like a lot of other clubs and I think that hurts us for sure. I don't think there's ever any noise around us and decisions. We get one slightly in our favour and there's national headlines for a week. Things go against us and there's not even a sentence on it."
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"I'll leave that to the officials but I will say that we don't carry on like a lot of other clubs and I think that hurts us for sure. I don't think there's ever any noise around us and decisions. We get one slightly in our favour and there's national headlines for a week. Things go against us and there's not even a sentence on it."
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Ange Postecoglou on he is having problems getting through to Yves Bissouma...
"It's not about getting through to him or a lack of effort. I just think with players sometimes they go through these spells and he needs to find a way to break through that and we need to find a way to get that out of him."
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"It's not about getting through to him or a lack of effort. I just think with players sometimes they go through these spells and he needs to find a way to break through that and we need to find a way to get that out of him."
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Ange Postecoglou on Yves Bissouma...
"I just feel Biss can sometimes let the game drift by him. He needs to be a little bit more dominant in the way he gets on the ball. At times I think the game gets away from him and today we needed more in that position. I needed him to play though, because he hasn't played a lot. At the same time you've got to perform. It's fair to say, Biss and a few others are probably lacking a bit of confidence. That's affecting him but we're at the point of the season now where we need guys to get out there and put those things to one side and perform."
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"I just feel Biss can sometimes let the game drift by him. He needs to be a little bit more dominant in the way he gets on the ball. At times I think the game gets away from him and today we needed more in that position. I needed him to play though, because he hasn't played a lot. At the same time you've got to perform. It's fair to say, Biss and a few others are probably lacking a bit of confidence. That's affecting him but we're at the point of the season now where we need guys to get out there and put those things to one side and perform."
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Ange Postecoglou on not getting something out of the game and is losing in the Premier League now a habit...
"I don’t know if it has become a habit but I think if you accept it just becomes a lot more easier to not deal with adversity and I don’t want us to be that kind of team. I thought we showed last week against Bournemouth we knuckled down and got something out of the game and we didn’t allow it to get away from us. We won the last two away games. We showed some resilience but today for 75 minutes I thought we were kind of where we wanted to be and the fact we have come out of that game with nothing is disappointing."
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"I don’t know if it has become a habit but I think if you accept it just becomes a lot more easier to not deal with adversity and I don’t want us to be that kind of team. I thought we showed last week against Bournemouth we knuckled down and got something out of the game and we didn’t allow it to get away from us. We won the last two away games. We showed some resilience but today for 75 minutes I thought we were kind of where we wanted to be and the fact we have come out of that game with nothing is disappointing."
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Ange Postecoglou on Spurs now being 11 points away from 9th spot in the Premier League table and is it an issue to motivate players for League games...
"No, I don't think so. I hope not. Obviously I made a lot of changes today because when we get back this is going to be our sort of schedule. We have already seen we can’t do that with 11 players. We need to make sure we have as many up and running and in good condition. I thought Mathys, Archie, Bentancur, Bissouma, Brennan they needed to play today to make sure we are topping them up. We had to rest a couple as well but I said to the players I’m not going to allow anyone to think about Europa and nothing else. We can’t let this league season go the way it has. We have lost way too many games. Unacceptable. Today was another day where it's not like the opposition have blown us off the park. We should have got something out of the game. We have had too many games this year where the opportunity to get something out of the game was there and we haven’t done that. I don’t want there to be an acceptance of us just losing games like that."
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"No, I don't think so. I hope not. Obviously I made a lot of changes today because when we get back this is going to be our sort of schedule. We have already seen we can’t do that with 11 players. We need to make sure we have as many up and running and in good condition. I thought Mathys, Archie, Bentancur, Bissouma, Brennan they needed to play today to make sure we are topping them up. We had to rest a couple as well but I said to the players I’m not going to allow anyone to think about Europa and nothing else. We can’t let this league season go the way it has. We have lost way too many games. Unacceptable. Today was another day where it's not like the opposition have blown us off the park. We should have got something out of the game. We have had too many games this year where the opportunity to get something out of the game was there and we haven’t done that. I don’t want there to be an acceptance of us just losing games like that."
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Ange Postecoglou on taking off Bissouma and Johnson at half-time...
"I felt we needed more going forward and I thought we started the second half a lot more positively. I felt it was going to be a kind of a game where there wasn’t going to be a lot of openings but even within that in the first half I thought we could have been a lot more positive with our play on the ball. I think that happened in the second half but again, irrespective of that, if you concede soft goals like we do then you make the game really difficult."
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"I felt we needed more going forward and I thought we started the second half a lot more positively. I felt it was going to be a kind of a game where there wasn’t going to be a lot of openings but even within that in the first half I thought we could have been a lot more positive with our play on the ball. I think that happened in the second half but again, irrespective of that, if you concede soft goals like we do then you make the game really difficult."
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Ange Postecoglou on the 2-0 defeat at Fulham...
"It was a tight game and we knew it would be - it always is here. It’s a tight ground and a windy day, and you know when you go that it is not going to be open. First half defensively we were pretty solid and they didn’t really create anything. We weren’t great with the ball and didn’t create much ourselves but I thought second half started really positively and had a couple of really good chances to get in front. We were definitely in much better control. Like we have done a lot of times this year we concede a soft goal. That just gives the opposition everything to gain from and get momentum out of it and the game gets away from us."
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"It was a tight game and we knew it would be - it always is here. It’s a tight ground and a windy day, and you know when you go that it is not going to be open. First half defensively we were pretty solid and they didn’t really create anything. We weren’t great with the ball and didn’t create much ourselves but I thought second half started really positively and had a couple of really good chances to get in front. We were definitely in much better control. Like we have done a lot of times this year we concede a soft goal. That just gives the opposition everything to gain from and get momentum out of it and the game gets away from us."
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