In the 22nd round of the EPL, Tottenham Hotspur played against Everton, and finally returned home with a defeat of 2-3. After the match, Tottenham's manager Postecoglou met the media and discussed the team's recent situation, injury list, reinforcements and his personal coaching career and other sensitive topics.
In the face of the first half of the loss, Postecoglou frankly admitted: "the first half of our play is not satisfactory, which is mainly due to my tactical adjustment mistakes. Although I changed the lineup and layout, the absence of the players made us encounter a lot of difficulties, and we failed to effectively control the game tempo, which gave Everton an opportunity to take advantage of. Despite the players' tenacious performance and perseverance until the end of the game, they were ultimately unable to reverse the situation."
Talking about the original intention of the formation adjustment, Postecoglou further elaborated, "With only 11 healthy players on hand, I could only try my best to adapt the existing players to the new formation. Despite the players' best efforts, the results were not ideal."
Faced with the team's successive injury blows, Postecoglou said helplessly, "The situation is really quite serious. Since the last game, we have lost three key players, plus seven to eight players who were unable to play. Solanke suffered an unfortunate injury in training yesterday and although we don't think it's serious, he could be out for a couple of weeks. Brennan Johnson is expected to take three to four weeks to return, while Bissouma has only a minor injury and hopefully he will be fit for next weekend."
Responding to the need for reinforcements, Postecoglou confessed, "Actually, this has been obvious for a long time. At the moment we have a number of players unavailable, none of whom will be back in the near future, apart from Bentancur whose situation requires further consultation. We also have a European game on Thursday, but with both Spence and Regillon unavailable, the situation is dire. The club are well aware of our predicament and are doing all they can to make reinforcement moves, but no deals have been agreed yet."
Talking about the relationship between his personal marquee and the team's lack of resources, Postecoglou firmly said, "I have separated my personal feelings from my responsibilities. It's not about me, it's about how to lead the current players out of their predicament. This is my duty and I have to give it my all. The consecutive injuries are really challenging, but I still think the responsibility lies with me and I must find a way to solve the problem."
Postecoglou also revealed what motivates the team to keep going: "Motivation comes from all sides, including the club, the fans and our season performance. We are still fighting on four fronts this season, having reached the semi-finals of the EFL Cup, with a couple of important European and FA Cup games to go. Despite our current league position, we are still hopeful of achieving a meaningful season."
