Tottenham Manager Postecoglou Discusses Player Injury Status, Cup Draw, and Team Development

Ange Postecoglou, the manager of Tottenham, addressed reporters ahead of the Premier League match scheduled for Sunday against Aston Villa, which is set to kick off at 14:00 GMT. The following are the main points from his press conference: Micky van de Ven is confirmed to be out of Sunday’s fixture due to a “strained hamstring,” though the injury is described as “not too serious,” with his return anticipated after the upcoming international break. Postecoglou further stated: “He was disappointed, obviously, and he was looking forward to the [Manchester City] game so was a bit emotional, but it’s definitely not a bad one like last time, which kept him out for a while.” Regarding other player fitness issues, Postecoglou noted: “The others were [Cristian] Romero and [Timo] Werner, but at the moment they still have a chance for the weekend. Son has trained today. If he gets through training tomorrow, he should be OK.” Concerning the Carabao Cup draw, which pits them against Manchester United, Postecoglou commented: “It’s a good draw, in terms of it’s a home game which, for all clubs, is welcome because you know it isn’t going to be an easy game whoever you play. Being at home for us against a club like United, it will be a really good fixture, but you expect that at the quarter-final or semi-final stage of a competition.” When questioned about whether supporters should anticipate inconsistent results, Postecoglou remarked that “fans are fans” and that every fan globally desires their team to consistently perform well. Addressing the progression of Spurs, he further stated: “What we have to do before the game and after the game is stay really focused on continuing to evolve into the team we want to be. At the moment in the league we have had some disappointing results, but only really one disappointing performance with the Palace game. It wasn’t a great performance and we got what we deserved.” He also added: “What we have to focus on is we continue to learn from that. When we have had disappointments we have bounced back straight away which I think is really important and part of the evolution. It’s not going to be a smooth ride but we knew that. We don’t want to have too many times when we’re not playing the football we want to.” Regarding Unai Emery’s tenure as Aston Villa manager, Postecoglou observed: “It shouldn’t surprise anyone. He was an outstanding manager before. It is another cautionary tale of writing people off. When he was at Arsenal people were a bit dismissive of him, others’ memories fade but when you are a manager and you see what another manager goes through, it is firmly imprinted in your mind.”