ryan mason tottenham
Can you sum up your emotions after that – a win with positives but not enough to get you into Europe?
Absolutely, we had a job to do today and all we could do was come here today and win the game in difficult circumstances. We did that and I think we were good value for it as well. We scored some really, really good goals but also defended our box really well so I was pleased with today and how today went. Obviously the bigger picture is disappointment over how the season has gone as a whole because we’ve finished outside of Europe for the first time in a long time. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
Another two goals for Harry Kane to make it 30 Premier League goals for the season, can you just put into words how impressive that is within the context of this season and the World Cup in the middle?
I think he probably doesn’t the appreciation he should. The goals yes, outstanding, a 30-goal season in the Premier League is incredible but also his overall performances are just outstanding and I also think as well to go through what happened in the World Cup, from a mental point of view, to come back and do what he’s done for the past four or five months, I think it speaks volumes for the player and the person.
What will happen next with you? Will you sit down with Daniel Levy in the next few days?
I think there’s some huge decisions to make for the football club. First of it all it’s to understand who we want to be and where we want to go going forward. Then it’s realising who fits that, members of staff and also players as well. It’s an important few weeks now and hopefully we make the right decisions.
Could that be a future role for Pedro Porro, playing even further up the pitch than a wing-back does?
Possibly because he affects games of football. He scores and creates goals. I thought today his performance was excellent going forward and also he had the discipline in helping the team from a defensive point of view also. We’re very pleased with his impact. We know it’s very difficult to come into the Premier League halfway through the season and I think his character and his personality have allowed him to be some sort of success.
Was that the perfect final moment for Lucas Moura?
Yeah, he deserved it. It’s probably the kind of moment he would have been dreaming of last night and thankfully he came on, he was in a position where he could help the team. The goal itself was outstanding and we’re all very happy for him.
Did Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Ivan Perisic miss out through injuries?
Yeah, injuries.
When you say huge decisions for this football club, what do you mean by that?
A manager. (laughs). Honestly, I think as I said we probably need to understand where we want to go and who we want to be and that’s the most important thing. Once you decide that then you can employ the people that fit that and then I think everyone is quite clear on the direction we would like to go. We have quite big squad. Whoever is in charge in pre-season, there are a lot of players and decisions to make. Ultimately I think we need to get back to who we want to be, who our fans want us to be and then going forward we will have better results on a more consistent basis.
I don’t know what people think the best is because the best isn’t always necessarily the best option. The most important thing for any football club in world football is to have an identity, know who you are and who you want to be and stick to that. Then I think you can employ people along the way, people who fit into something as opposed to trying to make people fit into something and compensating. I don’t think that works. That’s the key decision. That’s the big decision and that’s the commitment that I think we need to make.
You brought on Matthew Craig and George Abbott late on for their debuts, would you like to see Spurs get back to having a young core of players like they did successfully under Mauricio Pochettino?
I think obviously that period we were quite fortunate because we had some outstanding young players. I’m taking myself out of that as I don’t want to blow my own trumpet. We had Harry Kane, Andros Townsend, Alex Pritchard, Adam Smith, I could name so many players that went on to play in the Premier League and have incredible careers.
But I would say the most important thing is to have people who have energy, who feel that pride to wear this shirt. Those two lads that came on I said it to them afterwards that they are an example of what an academy player should look like in terms of their work rate.
I’ve been in the academy, I know both of them very well and that’s not a gift for either of them. That’s hard work, consistently every day, doing it right, so they deserve that moment and I really value young players in any squad, because when you’ve got a player that feels the club and knows what it’s like to represent the football club it can be powerful.
If this is you signing off now how do you look back on this experience?
When I go on my summer holidays I would hope and expect that everyone inside of our training ground knows who I am, who my team and who we stand for. The hope and expectation is that you guys and everyone else sees that too. I know we’ve done a great job. I really do.
The circumstances were very difficult. I think anyone in the world coming into this situation for six games coming off the back of what had happened and the position we were in was going to find it tough. Also if you add into that being on an interim basis, where there’s uncertainty it makes it even tougher.
But we’ve stuck to what we believe in, we’ve transitioned a little bit I believe in a short space of time and the players have responded, they’ve given us everything and ultimately that’s all I can ask.
