Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[McFlash]

I don’t know how you can state that confidently after Man United won a trophy just yesterday, despite having a dogshit season otherwise. Call me an optimist, but I’m bullish on our prospects of winning something of note in the very near future.

Because of fucking Levy and Enic, innit.

Really boring how some people continue to beat that drum when all the signs recently have shown a fair bit of progress and change of attitude.

Yeah, the club may fuck it up but can we not be positive a bit, for once in a while.

 

[Atomic Blonde]

It's not like we didn't go for it against City, we played our strongest available team. We just had a number of injuries and still took a late controversial goal.
It is crazy to think however that Utd have had the better season now. Of course it's the 2nd season for Ten Hag and only the 1st for Ange. Good job we got 5th though.

To be fair to Ten Haag, in his 1st season they won the League Cup, got to the FA Cup final and finished 3rd in the league.

 

[mil1lion]

To be fair to Ten Haag, in his 1st season they won the League Cup, got to the FA Cup final and finished 3rd in the league.

Yeah and Mourinho won trophies with them too. It's funny how they still get sacked though. Different demands I guess.

 

[Styopa]

Yeah and Mourinho won trophies with them too. It's funny how they still get sacked though. Different demands I guess.

Yeah it's definitely different demands. I think they're desperate for a coach who can make a them real force again, and them becoming a real force = rivalling Man C, Liverpool etc for the title and Champions League. They've won 5 major trophies since Ferguson left but it hasn't really helped them be truly competitive with Man C or Liverpool for those biggest prizes. And I think they have their doubts about TH being the man to lead them to the title, even though he has won a couple of cups with them.

 

[mil1lion]

Yeah it's definitely different demands. I think they're desperate for a coach who can make a them real force again, and them becoming a real force = rivalling Man C, Liverpool etc for the title and Champions League. They've won 5 major trophies since Ferguson left but it hasn't really helped them be truly competitive with Man C or Liverpool for those biggest prizes. And I think they have their doubts about TH being the man to lead them to the title, even though he has won a couple of cups with them.

I see Utd being pretty similar to where we were. They don't have a clear transfer strategy and change different style of manager. They seem to just sign names rather than anyone to fit a particular system. In that sense I feel a bit for Ten Hag. If we had got him and went a similar way we would be talking about not backing the manager again. All the more reason we need to back Ange and give him time.

 

[gavspur]

I think next season could be a huge one for us in terms of Trophies that are achievable. For me, we should go in to every new season believing we can win The FA Cup and The Carabeau Cup. That should be the minimal targets. League should be 4th spot or higher. Next year we have the opportunity, and should have the squad, to add a European trophy to that list too. Plus Ange will want us challenging for the league.
We have a few things going for us too, in that other teams are having managerial changes and some losing their older players. Ange will be in second season. We already have an improvement on the squad by Bergvall coming in, let alone whatever else we achieve.

I think Ange will be thinking the same.

And yes, supporting Spurs is very much like supporting England. Whom I also believe can win a Trophy this summer.

 

[npearl4spurs]

I think next season could be a huge one for us in terms of Trophies that are achievable. For me, we should go in to every new season believing we can win The FA Cup and The Carabeau Cup. That should be the minimal targets. League should be 4th spot or higher. Next year we have the opportunity, and should have the squad, to add a European trophy to that list too. Plus Ange will want us challenging for the league.
We have a few things going for us too, in that other teams are having managerial changes and some losing their older players. Ange will be in second season. We already have an improvement on the squad by Bergvall coming in, let alone whatever else we achieve.

I think Ange will be thinking the same.

And yes, supporting Spurs is very much like supporting England. Whom I also believe can win a Trophy this summer.

Yes I believe we can win the quadruple, minimum, every season too

 

[philll]

Paul "they're a bottom half team without Harry Kane" Merson with another banger of a prediction.

Ange Postecoglou's first Tottenham season analysed as Paul Merson believes 'he doesn't get next year'

Ange Postecoglou is approaching a year in charge at Tottenham; Sky Sports analyses whether his first season has been a success; listen to the latest Essential Questions podcast Has Anges first year at Spurs been a success? on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

www.skysports.com

 

[spursville]

Paul "they're a bottom half team without Harry Kane" Merson with another banger of a prediction.

Ange Postecoglou's first Tottenham season analysed as Paul Merson believes 'he doesn't get next year'

Ange Postecoglou is approaching a year in charge at Tottenham; Sky Sports analyses whether his first season has been a success; listen to the latest Essential Questions podcast Has Anges first year at Spurs been a success? on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

www.skysports.com

Could someone please explain this paragraph to me: "Nonetheless, it is a headache that the Australian has to be dealing with if Spurs are to take the next step under him after he became the first manager to complete a full season at Tottenham since Mauricio Pochettino in 2018/19."
Surely Mourinho & Conte completed at least one full season????

 

[lukalennon]

Merson is just a sad little man that knows absolutely feck all so much so his missus has write down the instructions to to his shoe laces then gave up and bought him slip ins so in what world would anyone take notice of the dribbling cabbage coming out of his mouth.

 

[Misfit]

I think next season could be a huge one for us in terms of Trophies that are achievable. For me, we should go in to every new season believing we can win The FA Cup and The Carabeau Cup. That should be the minimal targets. League should be 4th spot or higher. Next year we have the opportunity, and should have the squad, to add a European trophy to that list too. Plus Ange will want us challenging for the league.
We have a few things going for us too, in that other teams are having managerial changes and some losing their older players. Ange will be in second season. We already have an improvement on the squad by Bergvall coming in, let alone whatever else we achieve.

I think Ange will be thinking the same.

And yes, supporting Spurs is very much like supporting England. Whom I also believe can win a Trophy this summer.

You're basically the exact polar opposite of me in terms of general optimism/pessimism and I'm here for it.

 

[Yid-ol]

Could someone please explain this paragraph to me: "Nonetheless, it is a headache that the Australian has to be dealing with if Spurs are to take the next step under him after he became the first manager to complete a full season at Tottenham since Mauricio Pochettino in 2018/19."
Surely Mourinho & Conte completed at least one full season????

We got Jose in November 2019 so the 19/20 season wasn't a full season. He was sacked April 2021, so again the 20/21 season he never finished.

Cote was November 2021 to March 2023. So the 21/22 season he came in half way through and again didn't make it to the end of the 22/23 season.

So they never lasted a full season from start to finish, which is what they mean I think. But lasted longer than a season from signing to sacking.

 

[djhotspur]

One think I hope he works on is the defensive urgency when we lost the ball. You watch city and arsenal and the second they lose the ball the players all react and pounce and swarm the oppo
Their players also bust a gut to all get back whereas ours just amble back it’s so frustrating

 

[VoteMe4Prez]

One think I hope he works on is the defensive urgency when we lost the ball. You watch city and arsenal and the second they lose the ball the players alli react and pounce and swarm the oppo
Their players also bust a gut to all get baby whereas ours just amble back it’s so frustrating

We had better be doing that next season. All season this time.

 

[FuturistiC123]

I recently spoke to a guy who said we have a growing following, particularly in America, amongst those who follow baseball teams etc who haven't won anything in a long while. It's kind of romantic following losers, those that get close but never quite make it. Like that Bob Dylan line, 'There's no success like failure, and a failures no success at all.'

Anyone who thinks we don't need to win something will have to be prepared for the eventual departure of some of our players. We threw the CL away through sheer negligence.

 

[longtimespur]

You're basically the exact polar opposite of me in terms of general optimism/pessimism and I'm here for it.

Hence your name! Although you aren't alone with that outlook. Many supporters are negative in their thinking and many are positive.
It matters not as they will have no say in the outcome.

 

[Bobbins]

Could someone please explain this paragraph to me: "Nonetheless, it is a headache that the Australian has to be dealing with if Spurs are to take the next step under him after he became the first manager to complete a full season at Tottenham since Mauricio Pochettino in 2018/19."
Surely Mourinho & Conte completed at least one full season????

Sure, I can explain this paragraph for you:

 

[npearl4spurs]

I recently spoke to a guy who said we have a growing following, particularly in America, amongst those who follow baseball teams etc who haven't won anything in a long while. It's kind of romantic following losers, those that get close but never quite make it. Like that Bob Dylan line, 'There's no success like failure, and a failures no success at all.'

Anyone who thinks we don't need to win something will have to be prepared for the eventual departure of some of our players. We threw the CL away through sheer negligence.

We have a growing following in America because we are likeable, unlike other clubs

 

[hughy]

Paul "they're a bottom half team without Harry Kane" Merson with another banger of a prediction.

Ange Postecoglou's first Tottenham season analysed as Paul Merson believes 'he doesn't get next year'

Ange Postecoglou is approaching a year in charge at Tottenham; Sky Sports analyses whether his first season has been a success; listen to the latest Essential Questions podcast Has Anges first year at Spurs been a success? on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

www.skysports.com

"But I don't think he gets next year. I think the fans this year were alright, 'It's been an upgrade. It's entertaining. We're playing front-foot football', but you can't keep on getting beaten at Fulham away, there away and here away, and they're getting battered by teams. Sooner or later the fans are going to go, 'Wait there a minute, we're not having this', so that'd be my only problem.

This is a good point. Maybe if Arsenal hadn't they might have won the title.

 

[Now it's Spursonal]

Just a small bit of a think piece on Ange's tactics that I wanted to share.

Like I'm sure many on here did, I personally was reasonably stumped as to why Ange coveted Conor Gallagher so much.
Did I rate the player and see his strengths? Yes. But could I tell why Ange wanted those strengths so much? Not quite.

But as the season has come to an end and I've pored over much, if not all, of Ange's interviews and comments on his tactics, I've come to understand much better why Gallagher is such a perfect player for him.

And the main reason is very simple and something that we all learned over the season, and that is that Ange absolutely hates defending.

Ange simply refuses to set up his team to defend, it just doesn't stand with him or his philosophy. We saw this throughout the year as we were so vulnerable to long balls over the top and to counter attacks getting in behind. When we went down to 9 men against Chelsea did we sit back and decide to defend? Absolutely not. When we were riddled with injuries and suspensions did we sit back and defend? We did not.

So I think it's important for people to realise that Ange has zero intention of ever signing a player that will help us defend, its "just not who we are mate". So I think the people clamouring for a holding 6 that sits deep and protects the backline (like a Pahlinha) are going to be very disappointed. Think @Trix has even highlighted as such recently as well. Ange setting up to defend is just never going to happen.

At this point I would almost argue that the absolute cornerstone of Ange's philosophy and tactics is never having to defend. So is Ange super naive in this philosophy of never having to defend? Well seeing as its basically impossible to never have to defend, there definitely could be an argument for it But Ange is certainly an 'Idealist' style of manager who strives for the dream of his tactics, even if they're not entirely feasible.

So how does Ange strive for this idealistic style of football where we never have to defend? The answer will be obvious to many already, but it's to never let the opposition have possession in our half. If they never have the ball in our half, then we never have to defend.

And how do we set up to try and achieve this? Well I think it can be broken down into a few points.

1. Keep possession of the ball ourselves. If we have the ball, then we never have to defend. I think this is a point that we were quite good at this year as we came in second only to Man City in terms of possession stats in the whole league, averaging 61.6%. Ways to improve this point has been highlighted by @Nick-TopSpursMan quite well, in that we could do with some more possession-centric wide players rather than what we currently have.

2. Play a high defensive line. If we play a high line and manage to keep the opposition 'trapped' in their own half, then again we'll never have to defend. This is the easiest point to employ as it just requires standing high up the field, so obviously this point is checked off well. Again we were second only to Man City when it came to the highest average defensive line in the league.

3. Have lightning fast centre backs. Micky Van De Ven was an absolutely sensational signing as he was literally perfect for what we needed, a super fast CB that can recover and win the ball if the opposition try to play over or through the high-line. If the opposition pass the ball long past the halfway line but Van De Ven wins it, then again we never have to defend. This is another point that we have been very strong on.

4. Win the ball back in the opposition half If you win the ball back in their half then you don't have to defend and if you apply enough pressure then you don't have to worry about balls over the top either. This is the point that I think we have actually struggled with the most and as a result is where Ange's tactics are primarily failing. If you look at the stats, we actually fare quite well when it comes to high turnovers.
But this is purely because it's what the players are being instructed to do by Ange, and not because it's something the players are specialists at, and that's an important distinction to make.
If we were to fill the team with more specialists in high turnovers, then I think this team could explode and Ange's dream of never having to defend would become less of an absolute fantasy.

Thus it's absolutely no surprise to me any more why Ange views Conor Gallagher as perfect for his system, and I'd be willing to bet that Gyokeres would be right at the very top of his targets too if he was available at a more realistic fee. This fortunately also completely rules out Ivan Toney too, unless everything I said was completely wrong, which could very well be possible too. But I don't think I am.