Every word Ange Postecoglou said on Son and Udogie, Brighton vs Tottenham and Maddison snub

Here's every single word the Tottenham Hotspur boss said on Friday ahead of the Premier League match against Brighton and Hove Albion

Ange Postecoglou held his press conference ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s clash with Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend. Spurs are hoping to make it six wins in a row ahead of the international break.

The 59-year-old has needed to deal with several injury problems during the past couple weeks. Richarlison has been out for a while and recently both Son Heung-min and Destiny Udogie have missed games with problems.

football.london's football correspondent Tom Canton was among those putting the questions to Postecoglou at the press conference at Hotspur Way on Friday morning. Here's every single word the Australian said ahead of the match.

Tired?

Yeah, we got in late last night but yeah all good.

Latest team news?

First things first last night, all good. Obviously, fairly tired but physically no issues from last night’s game. Then out of the guys who sort of stayed back, Destiny we think will be okay.

We have training today and tomorrow so he has to get through that. Sonny unlikely, he’s pushing hard but I just don’t think the turnaround will be quick enough for him to be available at this stage. And then that’s it, the others are kind of long-term.

Can you rule Son out of the international break?

Well yeah, if he doesn’t play for us its not like he’s close then it makes sense. But then again we have to be mindful, that international duty, national teams take over they are the custodians of their players but we’ve given them all of the medical information, they understand and they are understanding of the situation.

READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou provides Son Heung-min and Destiny Udogie Tottenham injury update

READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou press conference - Tottenham boss on Brighton, Son and Udogie injury news

On Maddison missing out on the England squad

Yeah look I am sure he is disappointed but at the same time he is playing well. You know, it’s not, sometimes it’s all you can do. These things come along at times, it's not always perfect in your career and there are situations and circumstances that mean you don’t always get what you want but it shouldn’t deter from or detract from everything else that you’re doing. So he is playing really well for us, I think he’s been outstanding all year. He’s making an impact in every game he plays, he’s a really important part of our midfield setup and if he continues to do that I am sure he’ll be selected again but he can’t just sort of put everything into one basket just being disappointed just because you’ve missed out. I’ve said that shouldn’t have any effect on him and the way he’s playing because he has been brilliant for us.

50 games in charge of Spurs, where do you see Spurs in 100 games under your rein?

Many wouldn’t have said I’d make 50 mate, even when I was on about 46. Look obviously as managers we, there’s always a ticking clock against our tenure. Every time you reach a milestone it's always an indication that people believe in what you’re trying to do. It has flown by to be fair, obviously 15, 16 months, 50 games but I enjoy every one of them and hopefully, the next 50 are ones where we can make a real impact.

Best winning run for three and a half years, how close to the desired level is the team right now?

Well, it’s always kind of a shifting measurement or scale. Every time you go on any consistent run of form, and I think we’ve been consistent all year, obviously the results in the last five games have been rewards for the performance but you know that always makes you even more eager to keep pushing on and get better and see what kind of level we can reach. I think we’re a developing side, still very much a young side, the squad is still developing together which suggests whatever markers we set at the moment we should be able to exceed. But there’s no doubt when you win games like we have in recent times, that belief and that energy accelerates and the key to that is to keep it going, you don’t want to let it go you want to work as hard as we have to keep the momentum going.

Fabian Hurzeler 31 years old, how do you feel about his impact at such a young age?

Yeah, 31 it's crazy. That's about the age I started, albeit not at this level. Yeah, he's really impressive. When he was coaching at St. Pauli, he coached Jackson Irvine, who I had with the Socceroos -- he's a great player and a fantastic person, as well. He actually reached out to us and said Fabian likes what you're doing, can he come pay a visit? He spent a day with us last year. He asked a hell of a lot of questions and I gave him too many answers, that's for sure. If I'd have known he'd be Brighton manager. You could tell he's just a real student of the game, wanted as much knowledge... He was already a senior manager who got them promoted last year, so he was already doing a good job but you can tell when somebody's got that curiosity. I think that's the key for all managers, especially young ones. You've got to maintain that. It can get sucked out of you at times because when you get sucked into the battle, particularly at this level, of dealing with one crisis or another, you can forget that curiosity to find out more information. If he maintains that, I think he'll be an outstanding manager but he's done well. It's probably a perfect fit for him because I think Brighton are a fantastic club. They're careful about who they put in as manager. There's usually an alignment there. I wonder sometimes whether other clubs even think about that stuff. So he's in a great place.

Remember his questions he asked you?

He asked us a lot! I actually palmed him off at one stage because he was asking me too many, so I gave him to one of the other coaches. He was just inquisitive about everything. He was already a senior manager, doing a good job, but the fact that he wanted to ask and had observed us. I'm sure other clubs as well, it wasn't just us. But he made a real impression on everyone.

4-2 defeat at Brighton last year, what has you learned since then?

It was a curious one. It was one of those periods where we were a bit disrupted in terms of player availability and stuff. We started the game really poorly, really open, but by the end of it, it could have been 4-4, 5-4. We didn't handle the occasion well, particularly early in the game. It was indicative of our season. There was some good stuff in there that got overshadowed by stuff we really struggled with at times last year in terms of our consistency of performance. So far, in the away games we've had this year we've played really well. Leicester we should have won. Newcastle, we played really well but didn't win. Obviously Man Utd, we played well there. Even last night, we played really well in Europe so we're handling those situations better. And I think we're going to have to at the weekend too.

Solanke - surprised it's taken so long to get an England call-up?

I don't know about surprises. With Dom, he's had to work awfully hard in his career and it's a salient point to all young players that your trajectory doesn't always go in a linear fashion. He started at big clubs, he was a youth international, he obviously made an impact but for one reason or another, he did get started. But it didn't deter him. He went to Bournemouth, worked awfully hard, obviously had a year in the Championship. So I think there are reasons why he wasn't selected, but certainly his last 13 or 14 months in terms of his goal output, even before that but certainly last year in the Premier League, got him in the frame for the Euros. He was really close to getting selected there. It's all down to him, mate. I've had him for a month. I've got zero to do with his getting in the England team. And even the way he's handled his move here - big club, again, for him big expectations. Unfortunately, he got injured but since he's back he's been brilliant for us in all aspects. Great for him but most exciting for me is I know there's more to come.

Archie Gray being called up for England Under-21s, what do players learn from youth football?

I guess it depends. I will always think these things you should treat them on an individual basis. For different footballers at different levels in their career and depending on their workloads, international football can be a real benefit. I think Archie will benefit a lot from being with the U21s.

You have to remember with Archie that he has had one year of senior football and that was in the Championship, he is just breaking into this level, Premier League level, now. I think the more experiences we can gave him at this young age the better he will be moving forward. But, there could be another player who has already got that by 18/19, has that experience, has two or three years of senior football and I can understand maybe U21 international football, particularly when you are talking about Premier League players and there workloads, you kind of think is there a benefit? I really think for the most part you treat it on an individual basis. I’m always an advocate for international football because I have seen how much it helps young players develop but again you have to always measure that against where they are at in there club situation.

You put trust in young players?

I think most managers would like, if they have talented youngsters, to use them. For us where we are in terms of a club, I think it is really important for what we are trying to build. I have always thought that clubs that have sustained success always have a strong underpinning of young players who grow with the team so that invariably over a period of times players move on and you are looking for replacements that they are already here. Whether that is guys who are club trained like Mikey, Will has had a couple of years with us, or we are bringing them in. Like I said last night, with the ones we are bringing in, we worked really hard to get Archie and Lucas to our club. Part of that was me saying ‘you come to our club, we will develop you, you will play and get an opportunity.’ It is easy for me to say that, get them to sign a contract and three months later they haven’t played at all and then come next window I go again and speak to the next 18-year-old and he turns around and says ‘actually, the evidence doesn’t back up what you are saying.’

I have that responsibility but at the same time they have earned it and it is an easier decision for me to make when I see them every day and I have no fear about throwing them out there. They are ready for it and want to contribute. It is always a balancing act and for a club like ours I understand how important it is, particularly for club-trained players like Mikey to make sure we keep that pathway open for them.

How is Archie Gray so comfortable playing in different positions at such a young age?

Well, he has got no choice because I’m putting him there and that is part of his development. But look, it probably helps that he comes from a footballing family and has been exposed to football since the moment he was born so I think he understands the game. He takes in information really well. Training, he is constantly looking for more and more information which he helps And then he just has a great temperament. He seems to take things in his stride and not let it affect him.

Last night, played him in two different positions and both are probably the last preferred for him. You know he has played right full-back and in centre midfield, I had him at left centre-back and left-back last night and I thought he did brilliantly again. I;m not going to just put him in different positions at the moment we are using him where we need him. I think hopefully that gives him confidence in how much I trust him. Eventually, we will settle him into an area but him playing at the moment, he has played Carabao Cup game away, two European games, exposure in the Premier League already in the first 10 games of his Tottenham career which I think is brilliant for us.

Giving advice to Hurzeler

Absolutely, I've been open to it. I just don't think there's any real secrets in football, anything you need to know is kind of out there. I think it's good for my staff to be exposed to it as well because football can be fairly insulated. All the noise you get is important. These guys from different football clubs, sports, who come in, I always enjoy it and it works both ways.

Criticism and progress after these five wins, does it feel like good times now?

What's the date? I reckon it was 14 days ago where it didn't feel like that (good times), it's just the way football is. There's a fine line of people's perception of how you're going and that's why that can't be your guide. That doesn't mean you ignore everything because there's some astute observations as to how you're going and what some people see is important to us, but ultimately you have to rely on something else to where the spotlight is.

It didn't feel like long ago when people were questioning everything, nothing's changed 14 days later except the results.

It's not going to be a smooth road. We're not at the stage as a team where things click all the time. We will still suffer, that's important, otherwise you don't know how you'll handle it. We've handled it well.

Kulusevski, playing the inside role, how impressed have you been?

Deki is doing great. He's been out of this world in many respects as to what he's able to do in a central role. We used him wide last year because we didn't have too many options out there and that's where he was comfortable in. We started using him inside and I felt he felt that it unshackled him a little bit. He has an unbelievable capacity to run on and off the ball, his physical numbers are ridiculous and he has the quality to hurt teams with that.

At times out wide he might've felt suppressed, especially in our system where you have to hold your position and not be involved, he's a player who wants to be involved. We brought a couple of wide players in this year and I thought let's go with him inside. We played with him as a nine in pre-season and he made an impact. The beauty of Deki is he's just getting started, he enjoys the role, he brings a different dimension to us because there's not many players like him.

Would you of let Hurzeler in to the training ground if you knew he was to become a Premier League manager?

"Yes, mate, I would've done. There's nothing wrong with being a nice person, if someone knocks on your door and wants a cuppa, let them in your house mate. He's not going to take your furniture or steal your cutlery. I would let him in mate."