Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-2 to Newcastle United at home in the 20th round of the English Premier League. After the match, Tottenham Hotspur's manager, Mr. Postecoglou, gave an insightful speech on the match and related topics in the press conference.
Postecoglou began by expressing his praise for the players, "I am very proud of the players' performance, even though the final result was not ideal. They showed a very high level of soccer skills in today's game. The opponents were also very strong, in good form and ranked high. I think it was a great game and we should have won. If not for today, we would have had the last laugh."
Facing a question about Newcastle United's first goal, Postecoglou deftly skirted around the issue of the referee's call, "I don't want to discuss that call anymore. I understand the expectations, but my point is simple: in a fair, equal and logical game, we deserved to win."
Speaking about the debut of new signing Brandon Austin, Postecoglou was extremely complimentary: "He was outstanding, as was the whole team. Considering the struggles we faced, such as Radu and Archie just getting up from their hospital beds to compete, Radu was out of his depth after half time, and Brandon wasn't confirmed until the day before the game. I couldn't be prouder of the players for their hustle."
Talking about the sudden outbreak of the disease in the team, Postecoglou revealed, "It's a disease that has kept players like Radu, Archie, Frazier and others bedridden all week. We actually only had 11 healthy players in practice on Thursday. But none of this affected me, all I cared about was that the players showed great performances and played great soccer."
On the decision to place Bissouma, Maddison and Sunseri on the bench, Postecoglou explained, "It was the result of thorough consideration. I think we need more running ability and energy early in the game. As the game progressed, we could utilize the experience of the substitutes. I think this strategy worked well and we were particularly good in the final stages of the game."
Speaking about Dominic Solanke's outstanding performance in front of Tuchel, Postecoglou said, "He was extraordinary, but the whole team deserves credit for their performance. Considering what we've been through and where we are at the moment, to put in a performance like that, I'd like to tip my hat to the players."
When asked if the performance gave him the confidence to turn things around, Postecoglou firmly replied, "I've never lacked confidence. I know we didn't do well, but I see a lot of positives. We need to win games and usually when you play well and do most things right, you get rewarded. Unfortunately, we didn't do it this time."
Finally, when asked directly if he was angry with the referee's enforcement, Postecoglou once again chose to remain silent: "I know you want me to comment, but I won't. I think it's been pretty clear. I'm not interested in these types of discussions. What I will say is that in any fair, equal, logical game, we would have won that game."
