Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[-Afri-Coy-]

As a species, Strikers and defensive midfielders are the most expensive players in the market. Chances of us buying a world class no 6 are therefore slim to none.

Unless we unearth one like Leicester did with Kante, it’s going to be a very difficult signing to achieve.

 

[Oh Teddy Teddy]

I think it's more due to the fact that Contes system revolved around wing backs, and we gave him Emerson and Davies/Sess, he was never afforded this "he hasn't got the right players" excuse.

With Ange if one of Porro or Udogie are injured I've seen people literally say "how could he possibly be expected to win without Porro? You know how important full backs are to his system".

no fair enough and by the time we got him
Porro it was clear he wasn’t going to stay

 

[Joe Bjorn Hotspur]

I still don't understand why there is this reluctance to test young players. It is not possible for them to be so dominant at their level and so below the professional level.

All teams test their young people and discover good talents, we don't even give them that right.

Totally agree with this. Hopefully next season with being in one of the Europa competitions (at the very least), going on a League Cup run too will give Ange the opportunity to get some of the youngsters some playing time.

This season that was blown by the early exit in the League Cup and I’d imagine trusting / keeping the current squad happy with playing time as well as who to trust etc. Definitely a case of Spurs not being in the cups long enough and no Europe.

I reckon next season Ange will blood in some youngsters. All other recent positive eras at Spurs under Jol, Redknapp, AVB, even Sherwood onto Poch had this luxury of having more games to get the then youngsters involved.

I’m not getting too angry on whether it’s no CL as I’ve been prepared since the start of the season for that being the case (hope it’s the case or perhaps a delayed one for the majority of Spurs fans). As long as it’s one of the Europa comps with decent domestic cup runs next season, competition for places can be generated.

Said it before after a woeful defeat / performance please Spurs fans be patient with Ange.

 

[Now it's Spursonal]

This current positional setup is defensive suicide when up against teams who sit deep and look to play long to pacy wingers i.e. the vast majority of midtable teams in this league.

If Ange has decided to stick this system, no matter the opposition, then that is akin to cutting off one's nose to spite one's face and we should have serious questions about whether he's the right man for the job.

Fortunately though, I don't believe that he's a stubborn idiot and in fact I believe that he is 100% aware that we need to change and even beyond that has actually already identified how to do that.

Our very strong links to players such as Simakan and Kossounou made very little sense to me originally as they seemed like very expensive signings for who would only be backup CB's.
However, I now fully believe/hope that their signings are linked to Ange now knowing that at times we need more help at the back and could play a Simakan at RCB and then could leave three at the back in possession. Having a super pacy CB either side of Romero would erase a tonne of the issues we currently face in defensive transitions.

This theory is also further aided by the constant strong links of a significant transfer for Gallagher, as this positional setup requires two 6's and two 10's with the 10's being box to box and strong box crashers, both things that Gallagher excels at.

And the final and most obvious piece of evidence for this is our strong links to the likes of Baena, Gudmundsson, Gibbs-White, Eze etc.

We've all been wondering, "Why are we targeting all these 10's that can play on the wing, rather than an out and out winger specialist?". Well I believe the answer to that is that the player is likely to be asked to play as a 10 just as often as they are as a winger.

We're playing a team not setup to counter us? We play our usual 433

We're playing a team sitting deep? We play 3 at the back with two 10's and no wingers.

All of our major transfer targets make complete sense when you take all this into consideration.

1. A pacy CB/FB that can cover equally well as a backup CB or FB in our usual 433, but also as a starting wide CB in the 3-2-4-1.

2. A 6 that can usurp Bissouma as the DM in our usual 433, but also could partner a second DM in the 3-2-4-1 pivot.

3. A player that can both play as a 10 or on the wing in our usual 433, but can also play as one of two 10's in the 3-2-4-1.




This is good video analysis of the setup, and below is a good write up about the setup.

What is the pragmatic side of the Socceroo’s attacking 3-2-4-1 formation?

Ange Postecoglou is characterised as a gung-ho attacking coach, but does he have a defensive side?

timpalmerfootball.com

 

[only1waddle]

I just hate when people start comparing him to other managers. Let’s be real, he is not going to be the next Pep, Klopp, Ferguson and Arteta has much higher ceiling than Ange. The first two had already proven record on highest level, Ferguson is one in a generation, and Arteta has 15+ years experience in the PL. Hate to say it, but I don’t see much improvement from last season and can’t see him winning even one of the domestic cups next season, which is the bare minimum as far as I’m concerned. This is my realistic opinion, but would love to be proven wrong.

We've won two domestic cups in 30 years and a domestic cup win next season is your bare minimum.. ?
Okay.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

The funny thing is we’ve scored more goals this season than last. Which tells you that overall, the squad is stronger than it was last season, without Kane.

What it really shows you is that Ange has made us more of a team.

Conte just sat back and defended then relied on world class Kane to save us.

That simply isn’t sustainable. Top teams don’t play that way. Top teams are the protagonist, they control possession, they play front foot and they try to attack as a team.

Now before you say it, I know we are too open at the back and we’re getting caught out too easily but guess what, so did Arteta, Klopp and Pep before they had time to build their teams.

Point is it’s worth building a team under Ange because:

1. He actually wants to be here
2. He plays a style of football which aligns with what top teams play.

There is a huge difference between what Ange is building and the shit we were being served by Conte and Mourinho, which was never going anywhere as it was dinosaur football.

Now I can’t tell you Ange will definitely succeed. I certainly hope so but what I can say is the way he tries to play and the way he’s trying to build is exactly what the top teams do and therefore it’s worth persisting with.

 

[thebenjamin]

A thought experiment -if Mikel Arteta had been our manager (God forbid) would he have made it to his fifth season having come 8th twice, would he have been given patience and understanding that fundamentally changing the culture of a club takes time, or would our fans have hounded him out? Probably after the second 8th placed finish?

 

[mattstev2000]

Performances haven't been good enough with the squad we've got, can't say I'm as sold on Ange as a lot of people here seem to be.

Purely from an entertainment pov he's a step up from the last two or three managers but performance wise I don't think we've made the movement forward we should have with the recruitment we've done.

 

[TOLBINY]

Conte didn’t want to be here. Let it go.

Who said so - quotes from Conte or Levy or players please - not speculation from other parties or "it was obvious" - because a few days before his last game he was asking for time and patience - so why do that if it is "obvious" you want out?

£15M per year - third highest paid manager and he didn't want to be here - if it is true that he did not want to be here then have you ever stopped and asked yourself why - or just swallowed the narrative?

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

A thought experiment -if Mikel Arteta had been our manager (God forbid) would he have made it to his fifth season having come 8th twice, would he have been given patience and understanding that fundamentally changing the culture of a club takes time, or would our fans have hounded him out?

Absolutely zero chance he’d have made it and to be honest the only reason he made it at Scum is because both seasons he finished 8th were the covid years with no crowd from halfway point of 19/20 onwards.

 

[Bobbins]

We hold onto players who aren't a good fit, aren't working out or are on a clear decline way, way too long.

We certainly used to do that, and our selling behaviour generally is absolutely the worst in the league aside from United, but that’s still just looking at more turnover being the answer.

We need to stop buying the wrong players all the time in the first place. Sometimes they’re the right player at the time but 18 months later we change manager and suddenly it’s impossible to get any success without completely revamping the entire squad again.

 

[Bobbins]

Another thing I’ve noticed - Ange has made great play of his policy of not necessarily bringing in the best or most expensive players, but instead buying the right personalities and characters.

It’s early days but I’ve seen very little evidence of that so far. We seem just as weak-willed and sallow-spirited as we always have.

 

[RuskyM]

Probably his worst day here and he knows it. We do badly need our set pieces looked at; they're a real concern. A good DM is an absolute must in the summer; as is an alternative to Maddison when he's doing what he's doing now.

Bad day at the office.

 

[Archibald-CPH]

Okay Lo Celso is not in our long terms plan... fair enough. But not playing him instead of Maddison is not the best for the team and our season.

I respect Ange and what he has done for the club and I love seeing us play again, but not using Lo Celso more is a mistake

 

[chas vs dave]

Probably his worst day here and he knows it. We do badly need our set pieces looked at; they're a real concern. A good DM is an absolute must in the summer; as is an alternative to Maddison when he's doing what he's doing now.

Bad day at the office.

I think a physically dominant cdm, a winger and a striker who can physically compete up top are a must.

 

[RuskyM]

Another thing I’ve noticed - Ange has made great play of his policy of not necessarily being the best or most expensive players, but instead buying the right personalities and characters.

It’s early days but I’ve seen very little evidence of that so far. We seem just as weak-willed and sallow-spirited as we always have.

Weren't we saying a few months back that it was our best summer ever, bringing in Vicario, Van de Ven, Maddison and Johnson?

Yeah, we got hammered at Newcastle. We did last year too. And under Poch. There's almost no overlap in those teams/management staff/styles, so I think it's correlation, not causation, as fucking annoying as that correlation is.

 

[Sp3akerboxxx]

When asked whether he would consider hiring a specialist to work on offensive and defensive set-pieces, the Australian told Football.London: “I’ve never had a specific set-piece coach. I’ve always had someone who’s responsible for that.

“I always think it’s better if that’s somebody who’s a part of the coaching staff because then that’s an extension of how we play our football. I don’t separate set pieces from everything else we do, in terms of the team we want to be. It all hopefully links in.

“Here we’ve split the roles between Mile [Jedinak] and Ryan Mason in terms of attacking and defensive set-pieces and they put a lot of work into it with the analysis staff. I’m sure every club does. Some have gone down the specialised route which I understand.

 

[arunspurs]

I dont think we have serious issues in set pieces as implied. We are not the worst in the league - infact nowhere close to it. We do have few problems to iron out. Vicario has to be protected better so he isnt blocked. Otherwise a goal like today can happen time to time but it isnt a perennial issue

 

[Sp3akerboxxx]

I dont think we have serious issues in set pieces as implied. We are not the worst in the league - infact nowhere close to it. We do have few problems to iron out. Vicario has to be protected better so he isnt blocked. Otherwise a goal like today can happen time to time but it isnt a perennial issue

They could, and probably should, have scored 4 or 5 from set pieces today

 

[Bobbins]

Weren't we saying a few months back that it was our best summer ever, bringing in Vicario, Van de Ven, Maddison and Johnson?

Yeah, we got hammered at Newcastle. We did last year too. And under Poch. There's almost no overlap in those teams/management staff/styles, so I think it's correlation, not causation, as fucking annoying as that correlation is.

Didn't we also say that in Jose's first window, and then Conte's as well? "Spurs won the transfer window" seems to be a familiar refrain!

I think, that whilst that's acknowledging that Newcastle is always a tough place to go and is especially difficult if you let them get a start, that against this injury-ravaged Newcastle side, with a full Spurs squad aside from Richy, and a manager who has made it clear he has a very particular style, when Anthony Gordon after the game says they specifically changed their tactics to beat us today, that questions need to be asked.

Not least we also saw the exact same performance a couple of weeks ago against Fulham.