Every word Postecoglou said on Bergvall, Son, Bissouma malaria and blue cards

What's the latest team news?

Sonny got back on Wednesday, did recovery on Thursday but trained with the team today. Biss trained, he obviously joined up as well this week. Lo Celso trained this week. I think the only ones still out are Solomon and Sessegnon at this stage.

Are they ready to start?

Definitely Sonny and Biss. They trained well. Gio trained all week but he's obviously missed a fair bit of football so we'll have to see how he is and whether we give him another week or not.

Is this the best position squad-wise you've been in?

Maybe the start of the season, the first two or three games I thought we kind a...I can only reference it from training and that... But it's probably, for want of a better word, the healthiest squad we've had for quite a while, anyway.

That must be a nice dilemma with so many options?

It's more preferable, absolutely.

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Micky van de Ven has sprinted his way into the record books, to become the fastest player in Premier League history, that probably wasn't a shock to you?

Obviously we kind of knew what we were getting with Micky rom a physical perspective. There was plenty of evidence that we'd already seen that his speed and his ability to recover was elite, for sure. But then it's not just about running fast, football is more than that. It's more than just speed, you've got to use that in the right way.

I'm really impressed with how he's adapted to Premier League football. He's up against the top strikers every week and obviously he was out injured but when he's played, his ability to use that speed in an effective way in terms of his defensive work, I think has been outstanding for a young man in his first year. Don't forget before he came to us he'd only had one year in the Bundesliga. There's so much more to come from him but I've been really pleased with the way he's gone up to this level and used what he has as his strengths.

He's only just back from a hamstring injury - do you grimace a bit when he's sprinting back?

No, you can't think of it that way. It's his game. He had the injury against Chelsea and there's always a possibility with high-performing athletes but he had a really good rehab programme and he hasn't missed a beat since he got back. Obviously if we had more games in this period of a shorter turnaround... obviously last week we pushed it to the maximum with a short turnaround between Brentford and Everton but we got through it OK and he's good to go.

You were a defender, did you have a touch of the Usain Bolt about you?

I was quick. Don't look at me now, to be fair. But I was quick, it was one of my strengths, thanks for asking.

Son has come back devastated from the Asian Cup exit but has made himself available already, is that the example he sets?

It wouldn't surprise anyone to see him be like that. He was very, very disappointed with Korea's exit because they haven't won it for quite a while and after they got past Australia, when you get to the semi-final stage you feel so close. But anyone who watched the tournament [knows] he gave everything for his nation and didn't leave anyone questioning his commitment to his country. He was spent by the end of it but I spoke to him not long after it and he was keen to come back, get amongst the boys again. He was keen to come back here. It didn't surprise me that he wanted to train straight away and be available. That's why he is the person he is.

The last game against Brighton was a crazy one, they have been quite up and down since that match, what are you expecting from them?

I don't think too much different. I know their results haven't been great but the identity they have, the kind of football they play doesn't change since Roberto has been there. That's why they're such a challenging opponent because irrespective of their form, they're still going to go out there and be brave on the ball and play their football. We've got to be ready for that. The last game was pretty entertaining and I dare say tomorrow won't be a dull affair either.

Roberto De Zerbi won't be on the touchline because he's banned, how much difference does it make when a manager isn't on the touchline?

I don't know. We all like to think it makes a massive difference otherwise why are we in our jobs. Disappointing that Roberto won't be there because I've got a lot of time for him and a great respect for him. It's the existence we have as managers these days. I think I'm one card away from sitting in the stands so I shouldn't cast judgement on others. So disappointed he won't be on the touchline but hopefully I'll get to say hello to him at some point.

You've been conceding goals late in matches, how much is it now about keeping that concentration right until the end?

It's disappointing to concede goals late. It's disappointing to concede goals early, either side of half-time is not great. Round about the 70th minute mate you get disappointed. Mate I don't care. I get it, people will want to analyse it. That's fine. We're always going to be a team that scores goals or concedes goals late. The way we want to close out games is by scoring more goals. That's not going to satisfy everyone and the statisticians' heads will explode with me explaining it that way but it's just the team we want to be and that's the most important thing for me. The thing for me that we haven't done so far and what we won't do is jump at shadows trying to fix what the current potential issue is. We're still building a team here and building a way of playing and for me that is still the most important thing. It was disappointing to concede late last week but overall, at a difficult place, for the most part we handled it ok.

Blue cards and sin bins are the latest thing to be trialled in football, is it time people stopped mucking about with football?

I don't think people will be surprised by my thoughts on it. I struggle to understand why this urgency all of a sudden to bring in new things. I don't know if there's that much wrong with the game as I see it. My biggest issue with the game right now is that VAR has changed the experience, whether you're a player, a manager or a supporter or whatever you are I think it's changed the experience of football.

I assume that's a means to an end, that the introduction of technology is going to get us to a better place. I remain to be convinced about that. Beyond that, I don't know why a different colour card is going to make any difference. I struggle with this whole taking from other sports.

What I do know about other sports is that most of them are trying to introduce rules to speed up and unclutter their game. We're going the other way and I don't know why. That's always been the difference with football compared to other sports. Football always has a life of its own. and within that there's mistakes, there's flaws and imperfections. Other sports tend to be able to stop and start and stop and start without affecting it. Even in that, most sports I look at are trying to speed up their game and make it a better spectacle. I don't know why we're trying to go the other way. I guarantee though that I won't be in the room when they're making those decisions.

What do you make of the current 'celebration police' idea, should teams be able to celebrate wins without fearing being taken to task?

(Laughs) Yeah, I think that's why we're doing what we do. I guess we're running out of things to talk about if we're talking about that stuff. It's of no interest to me. I think people should be happy when things go well and sad when they're not because that's what life is about.

The Mali coach was quoted as saying Yves Bissouma had been suffering with malaria during the tournament, is that something you need to be mindful of and ease him back in?

No, that's not right. He had a slight form of malaria before the tournament started but it cleared up after the tournament started. He had no issues after that.

So he's 100%?

Yeah nothing, nothing.

You've signed Lucas Bergvall, will it be a case of being patient with him when he arrives and adapts to a new life, culture and league or could he make a quicker impact than people expect?

Well considering he's in Sweden I'm going to have to be a little bit patient. At least six months or so, nah mate he's just signed for us and we're really happy to get him in. I think he's a really talented young player. Obviously he's just beginning his career. Johan and the scouting department did a lot of work with him. We met the family, great family and he's a great kid. Let's just wait until he's got his slippers under the door here before we start putting expectations around him.

What's the latest on Manor Solomon?

He had another procedure on Monday on his knee. Nothing major but we're looking at another two or three weeks for him.

Can Richarlison and Son be a dangerous partnership moving forward with the Brazilian having been so important in recent weeks?

Yeah, obviously very important. We've needed Richy to step up in Sonny's absence because Sonny until he left was pretty much the in-form attacking player in the competition in terms of his goals, assist and general play. Him going, Richy has taken on that responsibility and not just his goals, but his general work-rate, his general play with us has been really good. He's in a great spot and great to get Sonny back. Obviously Timo's getting stronger, we still have Brennan and Deki Kulusevski. It's good and good we have some strong options in that front third because we'll need them, not just to start games but to be able to change games as well. To put players on that can make an impact will be important for us in this run-in.

How well have the team navigated this difficult period while waiting for everyone to come back?

It's been okay. From the point of view that the players have given their absolute maximum, yeah! In terms of our football, it has been okay and results have been okay but I've been at pains to say along the way it is just something we had to deal with. I thought the group as a whole dealt with it well, it could have been very easy for us to fall into a hole or make excuses, but we tried to maintain our standards. We didn't always reach them but not for a want of trying and those kind of things will hopefully make us stronger moving forward.

You've got Bentancur and Bissouma back now, you said earlier in the season that you have got plans for them together, could you expand on that?

Yeah, look at least there is that possibility now. Biss started the season really well and then had some disruptions, some of his own doing. Rodri came back, then got injured. When Rodri was up and running, Biss and Pape left. So it's not just about those two but about the midfield mix. Madders has been out and we've just got Madders back. We haven't had luxury of being able to come up with different variations of our midfield set-up because they are all unique in their skillset and I think it gives us a real ability to tackle different challenges along the way. We've had Pierre in there and Skippy as well. I think for us moving forward, as much as it is great they are available for games, the level of training will be so much better.

That for me is always the key. I still think training is the most important thing and part of what we do at the moment. Our training levels, today is the first day we've had everyone in and you can just see everyone pushes each other, so the demands are greater and it just means people raise their level, whether that is Rodri, Biss or Pape, now Madders is getting in real good shape, Pierre, Skippy and Gio now he is up and running. It just gives us more avenues to create a midfield mix that could challenge most teams. Today is first day we've had everyone in and everyone pushes each other.

Do you see Bentancur as a number six or eight?

I see him as a midfielder who can play for us and hopefully we're getting away from sixes and eights.