Ange Postecoglou has praised the likes of Ben Davies, Emerson Royal and Oliver Skipp for their attitude and performance in training, admitting that it keeps the others on their toes.
Postecoglou’s starting eleven has been unchanged for the most part so far this season, barring one or two positions, and that looks set to continue unless there is a dip in the team’s form.
That means a whole host of first-team stars at Tottenham are yet to start a single Premier League match so far this season.
However, the Tottenham head coach has now insisted that his job is not to keep those who are out of the team happy, and praised the professionalism that some have shown.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Postecoglou told Football.London: “I’ve never seen my role as keeping players happy. My role is to try to create an environment where they feel like they’re valued, they contribute.
“The reality is 11 players will play and some players have had more game time than others. I mentioned it to the lads this week, if you see our training our best trainers are guys like Ben Davies, Skippy, Emerson Royal – unbelievable training, and these guys aren’t playing.
“So that sets the standard for the whole group. If you’re not training well, these guys are ready to step in. They’re disappointed they’re not playing, 100 per cent, as they should be.
“The way they train, I think I mentioned Fraser Forster a couple of weeks ago, the reason we’ve had a strong level of performance so far is because our training has been at such a high standard.
“They’re the guys who can potentially affect your training. If they’re not at it or if they’re feeling sorry for themselves it affects the whole training group but that they’ve been the best players means the guys who are playing know they had better train well or ‘these guys are ready to take my spot’.
“That doesn’t mean they’re happy. I wouldn’t expect them to be happy but that’s not my role. I don’t go round taking surveys on how people feel every day.
“It’s about setting the right environment where they feel valued, we work with them, we treat them all the same and when the opportunity arises they get the opportunity to contribute.”
Eric Dier is remaining professional at Tottenham
One senior player whom Postecoglou does not appear to fancy is Eric Dier, with the 18-year-old Ashley Phillips even making the bench on a couple of occasions ahead of the England international.
Some reports over recent weeks have indicated that Spurs have already decided to cash in on the 29-year-old in January (Football Insider) but Postecoglou insisted that the centre-back is in the same boat as everyone else.
The Australian said: “I haven’t had any chats with Eric. He’s had a couple of disruptions, and a couple of injuries and last week he wasn’t well. He was in the squad but he wasn’t well so we left him out. He’s training and he’s making himself available.
“With all these guys, if they feel the need to discuss their future I’m more than happy to do that but I’m not going to go out and seek it unless I see there’s an issue. For me, the issue is: are they training well? Are they contributing to what we’re doing? If they’re doing that I see no reason to have extra discussions with them.”
Spurs Web Opinion
The fact that we do not have European football this season has robbed the likes of Davies, Skipp and Emerson of the chance to get some game time under their belt. It is difficult to see any of them starting games unless there are more injuries.
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