Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[flying_dutchman]

I'm not trying to bate or cause any form of ange hating but have we seen any form of progression since he took charge? I know it's only been 1 full season and a handful of games but I just feel like we look lost sometimes when we play and there never seems to be a plan b. Honestly I can't see us getting top 4/5. Maybe we'll get to the europa final as its an away game we've got no chance going off his current record.

We've cleared the deck, playing attractive football and finishing on the same place. The squad is young, ready to be added to, and a new vibe is going on. So yes, we definitely improved.

On your negative feeling: his squad needs some serious investments, as we don't have a star trio like kane/Dele/son anymore. We all know it and we shouldn't boot Ange for that imo

 

[Stamford]

We've cleared the deck, playing attractive football and finishing on the same place. The squad is young, ready to be added to, and a new vibe is going on. So yes, we definitely improved.

On your negative feeling: his squad needs some serious investments, as we don't have a star trio like kane/Dele/son anymore. We all know it and we shouldn't boot Ange for that imo

Agree. This squad lacks quality that's what's actually missing. Add some actual quality, which requires spending big on wages and then let's talk

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

we don't have a star trio like kane/Dele/son anymore. We all know it and we shouldn't boot Ange for that imo

This is such a pertinent point. We played plenty of away matches where the team just didn’t perform to its level under Poch but an Eriksen/Dele/Kane would pop up with a goal to salvage a win or a point.

Our squad just isn’t at that stage in its development yet. I believe we’ll get there with the investment in young talent that has been made but not before we see more results like Sunday.

 

[rossdapep]

Seems like Odobert has had a serious injury setback.

I feel like this is a relevant thread to bring this up in because this is EXACTLY the situation many of us this summer could see happening whereby two of our attackers get injured (Son & Odobert) and we are now down to back-up options who are no where near good enough, regardless of the fact that Odobert isn’t anywhere near the finished article anyway.

We are now going into a run of big important games with a 17yr old Moore or a not good enough Werner as our LW options, Solanke and an unreliable and not really good enough option in Richy as back-up and then flogging Johnson at RW.

The squad wasn’t strengthened in the way it needed to be this summer and we and Ange are starting to pay for that with inconsistent performances and results.

Excellent points and points that shoudl eb taken into consideration this season.

You can't complain about our squad's quality in positions and then want Ange out if results don't become consisently good.

We, for whatever reason, decided to go down the youth route last summer and we will pay for that along the way.

Hopefully the youngsters all develop into top players but there are no guarantees.

 

[rossdapep]

There are 3 key aspects that I think prevent me from expecting more from Ange.

1. Youth - We have a lot of inexperience in key positions (Udogie) or players who are not consisently there yet (Johnson) without experience back-up/alternatives.
2. Recruiting players for the future - We required next level attackers but signed Odobert and pushed forward 17-year-old Moore - these players take time to develop so inconsitency is expected.
3. The midfield - We didn't sign a single midfielder for now. Gray came in but still needs a season or 2. The balance is still not correct and we lack a player effective at shutting down opposition's attacks.

You cannot expect Solanke and a few 18/19-year-olds to suddenly have turned us into a top unit.

In fact, if it wasn't for Deki being so good centrally, we would be in an even worse position.

We've gambled on the future.

 

[pablo73]

This is such a pertinent point. We played plenty of away matches where the team just didn’t perform to its level under Poch but an Eriksen/Dele/Kane would pop up with a goal to salvage a win or a point.

Our squad just isn’t at that stage in its development yet. I believe we’ll get there with the investment in young talent that has been made but not before we see more results like Sunday.

Yes and by that time our established players are either too old or have fucked off elsewhere because they’ve lost patience.

Rinse and repeat, round and round we go.

 

[marion52]

We have the third biggest spend this season after MU and Chelsea.
Its not the money spent it’s the quality purchased.
We‘ve bought quite well but also for the future, so I’m sure we will improve

 

[Pochemon94]

Purely on transfer fees we will be close. Wages, they are in another stratosphere

That’s the thing, we will never be able to truly compete with these other clubs due to our wage structure. It’s tying one arm behind your back because clubs know we are flush with cash so we still have to pay above the odds in transfer fees for players while not being able to get those top tier talents

 

[Shanks]

In 3/4 years time we gonna be flying with these youngsters!

 

[Ledley's Right Foot]

That’s kinda the problem.
"You can't teach an old dog new tricks"

He’s to stubborn with his way, that worked in Japan and Scotland.

He had his spell in the first half of the first season, when no one had a clue how to match his tactics.
Once found out- everyone adapted except Ange.
After that his statistics is horrible.

One trick pony

Eh? That's re-writing last season in ways ive not seen before. What statistics do you mean?

 

[stormfly]

Atm we probably have the 6th best squad in the league. Therefore we can’t expect much more than 6th place unless one of the teams above have a bad season. A top manager might come in, make us hard to beat and we might slightly punch above our weight but that wasn’t enough for us during the Conte/Jose years. We were a much better squad than Arsenal 5/4 years ago but now they are ahead of us mainly because they stuck with a manager and spent money. As long as we are not in a relegation battle I say we stick with Ange for another season or two.

 

[wishkah]

Its all got to start clicking for Ange soon in some regard. The signs are there but the stats are becoming horrible.

Since that Chelsea game on 6th of November 2023 in the league, 16 Wins, 5 Draws, 16 Losses => 43% win rate.

Ange has now lost more league games in his last 37 games than Conte did in 56 games.

Ange has lost 4 out of 9 games this season and won only 3 away games in 2024.

United are just 2 points behind us in the table and they already sacked their manager who won them 2 trophies in 2 seasons and got them to the CL and EL in Europe.

I’m not saying it’s stick or twist and I know there is a lot to admire re what’s happening behind the scenes. But I question whether as a manager he’s tacticfully good enough

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

In 3/4 years time we gonna be flying with these youngsters!

The big boys will be hovering around with every intention of sweeping them up one by one..

 

[E17yid]

Its all got to start clicking for Ange soon in some regard. The signs are there but the stats are becoming horrible.

Since that Chelsea game on 6th of November 2023 in the league, 16 Wins, 5 Draws, 16 Losses => 43% win rate.

Ange has now lost more league games in his last 37 games than Conte did in 56 games.

Ange has lost 4 out of 9 games this season and won only 3 away games in 2024.

United are just 2 points behind us in the table and they already sacked their manager who won them 2 trophies in 2 seasons and got them to the CL and EL in Europe.

I’m not saying it’s stick or twist and I know there is a lot to admire re what’s happening behind the scenes. But I question whether as a manager he’s tacticfully good enough

The big difference I see between the Conte and Mourinho situations to Ange is that you could tell with Jose and Conte that they had lost the players. I don't see that at all with Ange yet.

Obviously I could see it going that way if results get really bad but then again they’ve been bad since November and they’re still right behind him. I had concerns about his apparent distant style of management not connecting with the players but to be fair he must be doing something right in getting the players behind him he just needs to get them winning more games of football. All of them preferably.

 

[Shanks]

The big boys will be hovering around with every intention of sweeping them up one by one..

Special relationship with Madrid though.... right?

 

[mil1lion]

Yes and by that time our established players are either too old or have fucked off elsewhere because they’ve lost patience.

Rinse and repeat, round and round we go.

I'm actually not too worried about that at this moment. Our established players are Romero, Bissouma, Bentancur, Maddison, Solanke and Richarlison (Werner for this season too). The ones who are getting there maybe are the ones we need to tie down long term in Kulusevski and Porro. Obviously Solanke is long term and I'm happy with him. Maybe Romero if he gets it together and really wants to be here can be tied down. Other than those I'd be happy to replace. That for me is where we just fall short. The established players around their peak are not good enough. If we replaced them with genuine quality like we had under Poch those younger players would also develop better. Then you have succession going forward that was lacking previously under Poch. Just keep signing prospects going forward with the occasional peak player and we're laughing. It's just that extra part of the puzzle the owners never take though.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

 

[mackelman]

The summer window was a pathetic attempt at standing still let alone progressing. We aren't a serious club, its as simple as that.

Conte knew. Look what he's doing at Napoli after a wet week. Our foundations are sand. Recruitment been speculative for levys entire tenure. Ange should be doing better at mo but fundamental issues/faults lie deeper/higher.

 

[GioW]

Some strong quotes from Ange as to be expected .

My worries are that despite the reference of Liverpools and Arsenal's projects , it was Liverpool spending 140 m on Allison and Van Dijk that truly kicked them on to the next gear.

And I'm not sure we'll identify the weaknesses and go and get the absolute best available like that . Well infact , I'm sure that we won't.

 

[Ribble]

Some strong quotes from Ange as to be expected .

My worries are that despite the reference of Liverpools and Arsenal's projects , it was Liverpool spending 140 m on Allison and Van Dijk that truly kicked them on to the next gear.

And I'm not sure we'll identify the weaknesses and go and get the absolute best available like that . Well infact , I'm sure that we won't.

They could only do that (effectively a massive shortcut) because an absolute fortune landed in their laps though, due to a situation that's unlikely to ever re-occur.