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What is it like to be in Korea?
It’s a pleasure for me and the team and the club to stay here. We started the pre-season one week ago and now we are continuing to work here. We are enjoying our time in Korea, and we are preparing for tomorrow's game. We know very well that it will be a good test for us.
We are working a lot in these days on our idea of football and the tactical aspect and the physical aspect. I hope to see tomorrow during the game what we are trying to do in these days with the players and the team.
Korea is going through a heatwave, how has that impacted training and how will you plan for it in the game tomorrow?
Tomorrow in the game, my target is to give all the players at least 45 minutes because we are working very well and I think all the players deserve to play at least one half.
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What convinced you that you should stay at the club this summer and what is possible this season?
I always said that at the end of the season it was very important for me and the club to speak, and to take the best decision especially for the club, not for myself. It was simple to continue this project because first of all, I have another year of contract. I am totally involved in this project.
I think we have just started this project with the club. You know very well my ambitions. I want the club to continue to improve. Last season, I think to finish in the top four was a great achievement for us, for the players, for the club, for me, for our fans, but as I said we have just started this project now.
We need to have time and patience but at the same time it is very important to be stronger than in the past and try to be competitive because we have four competitions and we want to be competitive and have ambition. I have ambition and my players want to be ambitious, it’s the same for the club.
What was it like to meet the Korean fans and Son at the airport?
The welcome we received has been amazing. I want to tell thanks to everyone because to see all these people giving us this type of welcome was amazing for me, and for the players. Thanks for this and also to find Sonny, it was great to see him and give him a big hug.
Also, because I didn’t see him for one month and it was a lot of time, and now we are happy to stay here in Korea and we are enjoying our time here, and it is a pleasure to stay in Sonny’s home. We want to enjoy this time and we are happy.
You spoke a lot about ambition and the club matching your personal ambition, is this that sign of ambition or do you want more?
In the last season, I always said since I arrived at Tottenham that we need time and patience to build something important for this club. I think last season was really important to finish in the top four because it means you can accelerate this process. For sure, the club want to try to build something important for the fans.
Our ambition has to be to try to improve and be competitive in all the competitions. Next season, we are going to play Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. It means that you need a deep squad because you need many players to face these competitions and be competitive, because our ambition has to be to be competitive in every competition. Then I know to win is very difficult.
As I said we have just started this process but at the same time, it will be very important to have ambition to be competitive. We will see. We are working very well to improve our idea of football from the past and to add something more this season. I know I have a good group of players. We added players with quality and the right characteristics to improve this squad. Our ambition has to be competitive and to try to fight for everything.
There's been a controversial debate running in Korea about people asking whether Son is world class or not, what do you say?
Sonny every time I had the pleasure to speak about him I can tell only positive things, because we are talking about a world class player. He is one of the best players, and I think maybe many people underrated him. Sonny can play in any team in the world. He knows my thoughts about him.
We are very lucky he stays with us and I’m very lucky to have him in my team. It’s a pleasure when you have a player like him. He’s always with a smile and you can see during the training sessions, always a great attitude, great commitment. He is top class, has fantastic quality, right foot, left foot, he runs a lot. I think it’s very difficult to ask for something more from your player. For sure we are talking about a world class player, one of the best in the world.
Spurs made those five signings early in the window, which is unusual for the club. Was that something you asked for and do you want more new signings?
Yeah, we signed five players and when the ideas are very clear it’s more simple to go into the transfer window and sign the players. Our plan was very clear about the positions and the roles in which we needed to improve and we did it.
I think the club worked very well in this window. For every coach to have the players quickly is very important because you can work with them and try to put them into our idea of football. In the past.... I think it was good to sign five players quickly.
Now we’ll see what happens. We are always looking to strengthen the squad if there is the opportunity. We want to improve numerically the squad. I repeat to play four competitions is difficult. You need a really good squad, with the numerical aspect and the quality aspect. It will be a tough, really demanding season for us but I'm sure that we want to enjoy this season to play four competitions and try to be competitive in every competition that we are going to play. Then we’ll see what happens. In two months if there’s the possibility to strengthen the squad we’ll do it.
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