What do you make of that?
Obviously disappointed with the outcome, getting knocked out of the cup. We weren’t at our fluent best particularly early on which was not surprising considering the amount of changes I made. A lot of the boys tonight, it was their first start of the season.
We lacked cohesion and fluency. But I really liked the way we hung in there. There are many different ways to grow as a team and we showed some real character tonight. To hang in there and we had our moments in the second half to maybe go and win it. We weren’t able to get over the line and lost on penalties.
Should the cups not have been more of a priority?
It is my priority but there is no European football so how am I going to find out about our players? What opportunity would I have to do that other than the game? They are all part of our club. We thought they’d be able to bring a different energy tonight, and that doesn’t mean the cup or any game isn’t our priority.
From my perspective, we’re very much at the discovery stage so we need to find out and give the players the opportunity to contribute. Because that’s why they’re here – they’re not just here to make up the numbers. They keep working hard and deserved the opportunity to go out and play tonight.
Does that change anything re your ideal squad size?
No, not really. The size of the squad in my mind is the same as it’s always been. We want to have a squad that’s resilient enough to be competitive in a tough Premier League season.
How was Richarlison’s ankle as it seemed to affect him when he was coming off?
I think he got a bit of a knock. I guess because everyone’s been talking about it it’s great for him to score a goal but I think he’s played better for us in the other games. I get why other people look at that and I understand that but for me it’s about contributing to our football, how we play.
I thought we gave away the ball a bit too much tonight, not just him but a few players in that boat. It’s an important part of our game and that’s the stuff I want Richy to improve on. I think the goals will come. Our strikers, our attacking players will get opportunities to score. Our all-round games is much more important at this stage.
Do you feel like you would like more players to come in over the next few days?
My views haven’t really changed. We need to trim the squad and get it to a more manageable state and see what’s available for us to bring in players to strengthen a couple of players we may need.
Learn who you can or can’t rely on?
I wouldn’t say can’t rely on, that’s a bit harsh for me. I liked the way we hung in there, that character and resilience is going to be important for us and needed going forward amongst the group. We’ve come away in a cup game to a Premier League side and lost on penalties. If we’d lost 4-0 or got blown away, maybe they’d be a different discussion to be had but if we’d won on penalties would my view be different right now? No. They’d be exactly the same. It’s not measured by the outcome, it’s measured by the whole experience of seeing the guys out there and how much they’re understanding our football. There were some good moments and some moments we have to improve on.
Did your players have difficulty in picking each other out in their cappuccino away shirt?
Ok, I don’t know is the real answer to that genuine question. That’s my genuine answer, I’m not really sure. I don’t think it would have played a massive part. I think some of it is like I said in a team function when there isn’t familiarity there, guys who’ve not played with each other for three games, there’s not going to be fluency there we’ve seen. That’s understandable.
But again that’s part of the process where we’re at at the moment. We need to find out about our players, find out about how the group, the character and the personality and maybe we need to check out colour matching.
What did you make of Dane Scarlett’s performance and is it your intention to keep him at the club beyond the end of the window?
Yeah I thought he was bright when he came on. He has been really good for us in training, he’s working really hard. Look, I’ll sit down with Dane over the next couple of days and sort of chart a way forward for him. I really think he’s definitely got a future at our club and I really like his attributes as a striker.
It’s always a balance with young players, will they get enough game time because for him the next stage of development is to play. He played a fair few games last year and I think he’s improved as a player since then. I’ll make that decision over the next couple of days and sit down with him, but I certainly see him as a Tottenham player and a lot of that will depend on what else happens over the next two or three days.
