Every word Postecoglou said on Udogie, transfer deadline day, Maupay, Werner and Maddison

What did you make of that game, it had a bit of everything?

I think we started the game well, started with good intensity and good tempo, obviously they score and then we lost our way, we lost focus, i was a bit frustrated with our inability to stay disciplined, just too many stops and starts, it kind of plays into their hands, lots of set pieces and throw ins. We spent more time talking to the referee than playing the game. I was a bit frustrated we lost our real clear focus.

Second half I think for 25-30 minutes we were outstanding, scored three great goals and probably should have had a couple more. Then give a goal away which gives them a little bit of impetus in the game. And again after that it was a lot of stops, free-kicks, throw-ins which we had to deal with, and for the large part we dealt with them OK. In the end, from our perspective, great character shown by the lads to get the win.”

What changed in the second half?

Like I said, we just needed to get back to concentrating on what’s important to us, not spending time arguing with the referee or the opposition, or doing things that aren’t going to help us achieving our objective. Go out and just play our football. And I thought we did, and for that 25-30 minute spell I thought we were outstanding.

There was a lot of needle, with the darts celebrations, did that fire your team up?

I hope not because that’s exactly what I’m talking about. I’m not a fan of it, I don’t like the whole bravado, pushing people around. If you’re that brave about things, my players and their players, get into a UFC cage and I’ll see how brave they are. We’re out there to play football. And that’s what I want our guys to do, focus on playing football. And they shouldn’t get motivated by things that aren’t really that important to us. Like I said, we got sucked in first half. Second half was much better.

READ MORE: Tottenham player ratings vs Brentford as Richarlison and Werner impress and Udogie has mixed day

READ MORE: Postecoglou discusses Hojbjerg and Gil future and explains how Tottenham can challenge at top

What did you make of Timo Werner tonight?

I thought he was great. First half we probably didn’t support him enough in that left channel, he was a little bit isolated. Second half we got some better service to him. He’s a quality player, I think he’s proven at this level, and as he gets stronger and fitter and understands our game a little bit better, I think he’ll become even more effective and I know there’s goals in him as well that will come for Tottenham, so I thought he was good.

With the injury crisis receding, you’ve got options on the bench now, it must make a difference to you to be able to chuck on the likes of Brennan Johnson?

Yeah it does. I think it’s something that’s hampered us a little bit. Because if you want to change a game or throw some fresh energy on, it’s still the same sort of quality coming into the game. I think it probably did Brennan a little bit of good as well, because he’s played a lot for us recently. He could sit and watch the game a bit, maybe get a little bit of a different perspective. He was good when he came on, good that he got his goal. Pierre helped us start of the second half, getting a foothold in the game.

What did you make of James Maddison tonight, he seemed to grow into the game and was it just cramp at the end?

Yeah it was just cramp and I think that’s a fair assessment. He got more and more into the game and I think he’s one of the guilty ones who spent more time in the first half chatting to the ref than getting on the ball. That’s not what we want him to do. We want him to play football and I thought in the second half his quality shone through and when he’s like that, and I’m sure that game will do him the world of good, it just gives us so much more flow through that central area.

What did you make of Destiny Udogie this evening, it felt like a bit of a mixed bag from him?

Mistakes will happen mate. He’s a young man learning the game. He worked hard, he was instrumental in the first goal, driving through and obviously he scored. Just his drive and he continues to present himself. I’ve got no issues with Destiny and I thought he was good. He made a mistake but you know what I’ve made more mistakes today like that, let alone in a career.

When you say about your team getting sucked in, a lot of that was around Neal Maupay, do you have any problem with him doing what he did tonight?

I don’t have a problem with it because he’s not my player. I don’t really care what others do and that was the issue. For me we concentrate on how are we going to become the team we want to become and what obstacles do we need to overcome? Part of that is the maturity and laser focus to not veer away from the importance… a lot of our game is based on fluency and tempo. All those kind of things and there is always going to be natural stoppages in games, particularly against a team like Brentford who a lot of their game structure is around set-pieces and long throws, but what you don’t want to do is add to that with our wastage of time.

You’re back in the top four, does that set you up for big push in second half of the season?

It doesn’t make a difference. We’ve been there or thereabouts the whole season, so it’s nothing different for us. There is still a lot of growth in this team and nights like tonight, nights like Friday night just shows me we still have a long way to go. Within that context the fact this team still produces and gets results is a credit to them, but we need to keep improving in a whole lot of areas. It is good some guys got some game time tonight.

Pape is back today, which is good for us. Good for Radu to get some time. It is a short turnaround, we have probably got the shortest turnaround with the 12.30 on Saturday so we’ll need some fresh bodies. It will be a tough game so looking forward to it.

Anything likely to happen tomorrow on deadline day?

No, as I said yesterday unlikely and I guess less likely than yesterday.

What did you make of that game, it had a bit of everything?

I think we started the game well, started with good intensity and good tempo, obviously they score and then we lost our way, we lost focus, i was a bit frustrated with our inability to stay disciplined, just too many stops and starts, it kind of plays into their hands, lots of set pieces and throw ins. We spent more time talking to the referee than playing the game. I was a bit frustrated we lost our real clear focus.

Second half I think for 25-30 minutes we were outstanding, scored three great goals and probably should have had a couple more. Then give a goal away which gives them a little bit of impetus in the game. And again after that it was a lot of stops, free-kicks, throw-ins which we had to deal with, and for the large part we dealt with them OK. In the end, from our perspective, great character shown by the lads to get the win.”

What changed in the second half?

Like I said, we just needed to get back to concentrating on what’s important to us, not spending time arguing with the referee or the opposition, or doing things that aren’t going to help us achieving our objective. Go out and just play our football. And I thought we did, and for that 25-30 minute spell I thought we were outstanding.

There was a lot of needle, with the darts celebrations, did that fire your team up?

I hope not because that’s exactly what I’m talking about. I’m not a fan of it, I don’t like the whole bravado, pushing people around. If you’re that brave about things, my players and their players, get into a UFC cage and I’ll see how brave they are. We’re out there to play football. And that’s what I want our guys to do, focus on playing football. And they shouldn’t get motivated by things that aren’t really that important to us. Like I said, we got sucked in first half. Second half was much better.

READ MORE: Tottenham player ratings vs Brentford as Richarlison and Werner impress and Udogie has mixed day

READ MORE: Postecoglou discusses Hojbjerg and Gil future and explains how Tottenham can challenge at top

What did you make of Timo Werner tonight?

I thought he was great. First half we probably didn’t support him enough in that left channel, he was a little bit isolated. Second half we got some better service to him. He’s a quality player, I think he’s proven at this level, and as he gets stronger and fitter and understands our game a little bit better, I think he’ll become even more effective and I know there’s goals in him as well that will come for Tottenham, so I thought he was good.

With the injury crisis receding, you’ve got options on the bench now, it must make a difference to you to be able to chuck on the likes of Brennan Johnson?

Yeah it does. I think it’s something that’s hampered us a little bit. Because if you want to change a game or throw some fresh energy on, it’s still the same sort of quality coming into the game. I think it probably did Brennan a little bit of good as well, because he’s played a lot for us recently. He could sit and watch the game a bit, maybe get a little bit of a different perspective. He was good when he came on, good that he got his goal. Pierre helped us start of the second half, getting a foothold in the game.

What did you make of James Maddison tonight, he seemed to grow into the game and was it just cramp at the end?

Yeah it was just cramp and I think that’s a fair assessment. He got more and more into the game and I think he’s one of the guilty ones who spent more time in the first half chatting to the ref than getting on the ball. That’s not what we want him to do. We want him to play football and I thought in the second half his quality shone through and when he’s like that, and I’m sure that game will do him the world of good, it just gives us so much more flow through that central area.

What did you make of Destiny Udogie this evening, it felt like a bit of a mixed bag from him?

Mistakes will happen mate. He’s a young man learning the game. He worked hard, he was instrumental in the first goal, driving through and obviously he scored. Just his drive and he continues to present himself. I’ve got no issues with Destiny and I thought he was good. He made a mistake but you know what I’ve made more mistakes today like that, let alone in a career.

When you say about your team getting sucked in, a lot of that was around Neal Maupay, do you have any problem with him doing what he did tonight?

I don’t have a problem with it because he’s not my player. I don’t really care what others do and that was the issue. For me we concentrate on how are we going to become the team we want to become and what obstacles do we need to overcome? Part of that is the maturity and laser focus to not veer away from the importance… a lot of our game is based on fluency and tempo. All those kind of things and there is always going to be natural stoppages in games, particularly against a team like Brentford who a lot of their game structure is around set-pieces and long throws, but what you don’t want to do is add to that with our wastage of time.

You’re back in the top four, does that set you up for big push in second half of the season?

It doesn’t make a difference. We’ve been there or thereabouts the whole season, so it’s nothing different for us. There is still a lot of growth in this team and nights like tonight, nights like Friday night just shows me we still have a long way to go. Within that context the fact this team still produces and gets results is a credit to them, but we need to keep improving in a whole lot of areas. It is good some guys got some game time tonight.

Pape is back today, which is good for us. Good for Radu to get some time. It is a short turnaround, we have probably got the shortest turnaround with the 12.30 on Saturday so we’ll need some fresh bodies. It will be a tough game so looking forward to it.

Anything likely to happen tomorrow on deadline day?

No, as I said yesterday unlikely and I guess less likely than yesterday.