Every word Ange Postecoglou said on ‘super exciting’ Mikey Moore, a new striker transfer and Son
Here’s every word the Tottenham Hotspur boss said after the 3-2 win against Vissel Kobe in Japan during the pre-season tour to Asia What did you make of the match?
I thought it was a good game. The conditions did make it difficult for both teams to be fair and we’ve had a hard week of training. Credit to the boys. I thought we played some decent football and they put in as much effort as they humanly could out there. Entertaining game, you want to provide some sort of entertainment for the supporters who made a great turnout tonight, not just Spurs supporters but football supporters in general. It’s always nice to give back in that way and overall I was pleased.
There were a lot of Spurs fans inside the National Stadium and they turned it into your home stadium, can you speak about them overcoming the differences in language and culture?
Absolutely. It’s not lost to us the support we have on this side of the world. As I said, our responsibility when we come here and the players have all been out in the community and we’ve tried to as much as possible reach out to everyone that supports us from this side of the world, which is challenging I know when distance and time zones make it really difficult.
You’re right, they created a fantastic atmosphere today and it felt like our home game. That’s why I’m pleased that we won, which is always good, but more importantly we played some good football, gave them something to cheer for. Myself, the players, everyone involved in the football club is very appreciative of the support we get here in Japan and on this side of the world.
For those new football fans who became aware of Spurs tonight, can you give those fans a message about what is so great about supporting Tottenham?
It’s a fantastic club. Our role within that and my role within that is to try to create a team that they can be proud of and want to support and hopefully it gives them some nice memories as I’m sure we did today. You played Son on the left today and he scored and he played through the middle last season at times, can you explain if tonight showed your plans for him for this coming season?
Sonny did well today. He scored playing left wing, he scored when he’s in the middle. There’s only one Sonny so I can only play him in one position. So depending on where we need him, we’ll play him there. He’s started pre-season really well and I’m pleased for him that he could get a goal because I know for him, he’s popular wherever he goes but particularly over this side of the world and he’s a bit of an ambassador for Asian football, not just Korean football I’m sure that he gave a lot of people that admire him some nice moments tonight.
The young players impressed tonight and Mikey Moore at just 16-years-old has scored again, he seems more mature than his years, how has he handled it all since you brought him in last season?
Mikey has been fantastic since we brought him in. He’s earned his spot on the roster at the moment – he did at the end of last year. He got a run with the first team because we could see in training that he was handling himself really well and that’s followed through into pre-season training. He’s been good in all the games – he probably should have had three tonight, to be fair – but he did take his goal well by being in the right areas. All we can do is keep allowing him to develop. We have to remember that last year he had some injuries and he is only 16, but yes – super exciting. I think the future with a lot of our young guys looks pretty promising, but it’s our responsibility to make sure they realise their potential and continue to work hard at their game. You’ve played Dejan Kulusevski up front tonight and you’re waiting for Richarlison to be fit, is it fair to say that you’d like a new striker in over the coming weeks to bolster your options?
I think I said yesterday, nothing’s changed. We had a strategy of the kind of players and what we need to bring in. We played Deki through the middle like we did last year, but obviously with Richy out and Timo was unwell today, we were a little bit short in that front third.
We’ve got a clear plan of what we need to do in this transfer period and that’s what we’re working towards and we know the areas we need to strengthen and the clear focus is on that. Five years ago you participated in this world challenge with Yokohama to test yourself against the best, now you’re here on the other side of the equation, how does that feel?
Firstly it’s great to be back because I kind of left Yokohama and when I left for Celtic I thought I’d be back sooner than this but it hasn’t worked out. It’s great to be back and reconnect with people in the game here. I’d like to think I’m a small representation of the J League because I’ve been a big supporter of it from the moment I left these shores, not just bringing players over but making people aware of the strength of the league. You can see that any foreign teams that come here find it difficult, particularly because they’re in season and Kobe was no different today.
Obviously I’m familiar with a lot of their players and it was a good challenge. I said to the boys that it would be a good challenge and it ended up being a good game, which was great. I guess on my travels around the world you kind of grab what you can along the way and take pride in it. A small piece of the J League is in me and Japanese football is in me. I’m happy to come back with such a big club and give something back.
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