Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[Archibald&Crooks]

If our forwards click we are going really start dishing out some hidings.

People keep bemoaning the tactics and high line, but that’s not going to change, so they either need to build a bridge and get over it, or just admit to themselves and us that they want a change of manager. He’s not going to suddenly change the way he’s always played the game.

We are an attacking side, we play some lovely stuff, and that’s clearly not only the brief he’s been given, but also how he sees the game should be played. We are a team with an identity and a clear plan of how we want to go about things, it’s pretty obvious what needs to be done, both on the pitch and in the transfer market to make this plan work.

Thank you.

Something that I often wonder about is when we get a poor result, it's the tactics, Ange should have done this, Ange should have done that yet at the same time, this or that player isn't good enough, made a mistake or any number of magic things. OK fine, if it's the tactics then it's not the players, if it's the players then it's not the tactics. Or it's the players AND the tactics, in which case we're double fucked.

At Newcastle, we never took our chances, we made a mistake and gifted them a goal and most people would accept the performance was good enough to have got a point and probably a win. Yet it's the tactics. Genuinely and not having a pop at anyone, but I really can't get on board with all that

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Excellent point fishy. This used to be what we asked for, what we expected from Spurs. Now, if you call it 'entertaining' you'll get someone writing that off and telling you something along the lines of 'if you call losing entertaining'.

Now i'm an old fart, I accept that and i'm a little bit rooted to our past and our history, despite what the modern game has become and for far too long, we were drab, average and poor. Seeing us play (sorry but i'm going to use that word) entertaining football is actually rather nice, of course, it's disappointing when we lose, it always is but playing entertaining football is at the root of the clubs identity, yes, yes, yes, I know, that doesn't count for much with a lot of the whippersnappers on here, but it does for me.

I'm not sure where i'm going with this, I think I just wanted to throw the word 'whippersnappers' out there Ah yeah, I remember, yes, I want us to be up there, win things and all that jazz but now that we've got who I consider to be the right guy in charge I can totally get behind what he's trying to do and suffer the disappointments along the way.

Bah

COYS

Thanks mate and completely agree with this.

Just hope the 'whippersnappers' can have a degree of patience to let Ange keep building and progressing and then have to hope that now we've trimmed and shaped and cleaned up the squad that the windows moving forwards we will start to add some real quality to 'move the needle' as the yanks love to say.

If that happens then happy days, if not, well we are playing some very nice football which is inline with the DNA of our club, we have a manager with good principles who actually wants to be here and be our manager, one who doesn't throw his toys out of the pram or act like a spoilt brat because we've not signed him prime Messi and Ronaldo, one who doesn't blame the referees when we lose, he doubles down on it being his responsibility to help the team continue to grow and develop, one who aims for the top all the time but as our greats have said if we fail then we do so playing the right way and with an echo of glory.

Aside from Slot I couldn't have handpicked someone more suited to our great club than Ange.

He is building something, we are progressing and there are plenty of positive signs, we just need to ride out the ups and downs, hope we continue to properly back him moving forwards and see where it takes us.

Just my onions anyways.

Enjoy the week people and as always COYS.

 

[Styopa]

Someone on x said this earlier and I agree- why do we always think that a project means cheap? Having a project as a club doesn’t automatically mean we have to buy young or cheaper players.
I think ange wants young players sure but I also think anyone, including him would want top players

It doesn’t have to be this way, but "project" has come to be a euphemism for acquiring young players at a relatively low cost with the goal of developing them into established senior players who have much higher value. I think calling it a "project" makes it more palatable for the fans. But I think it's a business strategy as much as a footballing strategy.

In reality, most coaches don’t stay long enough to see a full "project" through, and the rising stars of the project also leave. Bale was here when Jol was here, Modric was here when Ramos was here. They were all gone by the time Kane emerged.

Even if Ange remains with us in three years, making him one of the longest-serving coaches in our modern history, many of our highly rated young players will still be in their early twenties and other important players, like Romero or Son, will have left or need replacing. I think @WiganSpur hit the nail on the head when he said the rate of evolution under ENIC isn't sufficient, so we spend a lot of time treading water.

 

[HildoSpur]

We look like a very good side that hasn't really 'clicked' yet. You can see the potential in the side but we have yet to really have everything come together and realise that potential. Part of that is down to us again being very unlucky with injuries. I think we just need a bit more luck and a bit more belief in ourselves.

 

[gerishep]

The problem for me is this way of playing requires you to totally dominate the midfield, and as soon as you lose it you need to close down extremely quickly. If you can't win the ball back, you at the very least have to stop them playing forward. There is so much open space to hit, the pass doesn't even need to be that accurate as long as the forward is quick. Any lapse in concentration, a slip, or a player being out muscled leaves you at best in a one v one foot race, and at worst the forward clean through on the keeper.

I'm not asking for major changes either, I'm asking for tweaks, especially when VdV is out and that footrace becomes much harder to win.

Perhaps we need an old-fashioned Sweeper?

 

[E17yid]

Thank you.

Something that I often wonder about is when we get a poor result, it's the tactics, Ange should have done this, Ange should have done that yet at the same time, this or that player isn't good enough, made a mistake or any number of magic things. OK fine, if it's the tactics then it's not the players, if it's the players then it's not the tactics. Or it's the players AND the tactics, in which case we're double fucked.

At Newcastle, we never took our chances, we made a mistake and gifted them a goal and most people would accept the performance was good enough to have got a point and probably a win. Yet it's the tactics. Genuinely and not having a pop at anyone, but I really can't get on board with all that

I make you right but the only thing I’d slightly disagree with is the not taking our chances. This game and Leicester we’re not really creating that many clear cut chances. Lots of good half chances and we’re getting the ball into the right areas but we’re not converting that into clear cut chances at the moment. Still early days, though.

 

[Mooger Fooger]

Still has my full backing. Some of the tactics like the high line are frustrating to watch whilst we go through this process but in some ways I'm pleased we are not budging.

We are close. We've played well in all three games. Better finishing and we would've won all three.

Extremely unlucky to have all three strikers out at the same time.

 

[PLTuck]

I thought we absolutely battered them yesterday and if the result reflected the overall performance we would have won by 2 or 3 goals. Johnson alone put in multiple delicious crosses that Solanke will gobble up when he gets up to speed.

What some are saying now are exactly the sort of things gooners were saying about Arteta in his 2nd season. Patience means multiple seasons of patience, not 3 games into season 2.

 

[ljinko888]

If this system is dependent on having the fastest CB in the league being available every week then it is not sustainable. If anything it is going to harm Micky Van de Ven long term by putting his hamstrings under constant strain of having to do recovery sprints.

I am very happy with the way Ange has improved our attacking movement. We still have work to do in actually turning very good approach play in and around the penalty box to clear cut chances. But hopefully with Solanke as an out and out striker we see more instinctive play when he returns.

However this defensive record in 2024 is abysmal. People can't have it both ways where we hype up our defenders as individuals but then not look at the fact we collectively leak goals for fun. It's a contradiction .... unless you sincerely believe the problem is that 3 of the back 4 are not up to it but in that case the talent pool to upgrade is extremely tiny.

 

[funkycoldmedina]

The bit in bold is exactly the same problem we had under Conte.

You can't expect players to keep concentration levels at 100% for an entire football match, they're humans and they'll make mistakes.

Any system that can be beaten by one or two lapses in judgement or concentration will never succeed in a league as demanding as the Premier League.

And yet the successful teams have shown that you can, Liverpool being the prime example.

 

[Westmorlandspur]

I thought we absolutely battered them yesterday and if the result reflected the overall performance we would have won by 2 or 3 goals. Johnson alone put in multiple delicious crosses that Solanke will gobble up when he gets up to speed.

What some are saying now are exactly the sort of things gooners were saying about Arteta in his 2nd season. Patience means multiple seasons of patience, not 3 games into season 2.

Arteta has changed and has strengthened the defence. They don’t play the football they played the first season they finished second. Ange is adamant he won’t change . He might have to or he won’t be here next season. He’s been worked out .

 

[alfie103]

And yet the successful teams have shown that you can, Liverpool being the prime example.

When you buy the best players and pay them accordingly.

 

[Jamturk]

The bit in bold is exactly the same problem we had under Conte.

You can't expect players to keep concentration levels at 100% for an entire football match, they're humans and they'll make mistakes.

Any system that can be beaten by one or two lapses in judgement or concentration will never succeed in a league as demanding as the Premier League.

I watched the West Ham v Citeh game on Saturday and I commented that Citeh were being countered exactly the same as we do.

The only real difference was that they had Haaland at one end and Akanji, Diaz and Gvardiol at the other.

As the Great Conte says the game is won and lost in both boxes.

The Citeh defenders just don't have the same kind of lapses that ours do.

Maybe the game that Ange wants to play is only really optimal with the better team, he has shown he can adapt (Citeh last season) and he should be humble enough to do so against the right teams.

 

[funkycoldmedina]

Thank you.

Something that I often wonder about is when we get a poor result, it's the tactics, Ange should have done this, Ange should have done that yet at the same time, this or that player isn't good enough, made a mistake or any number of magic things. OK fine, if it's the tactics then it's not the players, if it's the players then it's not the tactics. Or it's the players AND the tactics, in which case we're double fucked.

At Newcastle, we never took our chances, we made a mistake and gifted them a goal and most people would accept the performance was good enough to have got a point and probably a win. Yet it's the tactics. Genuinely and not having a pop at anyone, but I really can't get on board with all that

You can see how we're moving towards needing that one, elite, push the boat out type of player, like VVD or Rice. We were nowhere near that last season, the squad needed building, but if by the end of this season we're still dominating but Ange can't quite his midfield or wingers or whoever to do what he wants then that's the time for the big buy. Whether Levy will do that remains to be seen but we're not there yet.

 

[funkycoldmedina]

When you buy the best players and pay them accordingly.

Who have they bought?

 

[absolute bobbins]

Thank you.

Something that I often wonder about is when we get a poor result, it's the tactics, Ange should have done this, Ange should have done that yet at the same time, this or that player isn't good enough, made a mistake or any number of magic things. OK fine, if it's the tactics then it's not the players, if it's the players then it's not the tactics. Or it's the players AND the tactics, in which case we're double fucked.

At Newcastle, we never took our chances, we made a mistake and gifted them a goal and most people would accept the performance was good enough to have got a point and probably a win. Yet it's the tactics. Genuinely and not having a pop at anyone, but I really can't get on board with all that

I think Spurs are in a position that when the front line sort their collective shit out we will go on a very long run and someone very serious is going to smashed by Spurs. Furthermore when the frontline is actually firing the backline will have an easier job partially due to the psychology of winning and as teams will realise they're going to need to try something else and then play into Ange's hands.

There is little in the performance that is wildly concerning except for chance conversion which (I pray) Solanke will solve.

 

[felmani26]

I thought we absolutely battered them yesterday and if the result reflected the overall performance we would have won by 2 or 3 goals. Johnson alone put in multiple delicious crosses that Solanke will gobble up when he gets up to speed.

What some are saying now are exactly the sort of things gooners were saying about Arteta in his 2nd season. Patience means multiple seasons of patience, not 3 games into season 2.

Again, I don't honestly see calls for Ange to be sacked here but more constructive criticism in identifying persisting issues - particularly in how we defend as a team against transitions.

Not aimed at you Tuck but why generally does there always seems to be a binary narrative and that nuance is removed?!

 

[absolute bobbins]

You can see how we're moving towards needing that one, elite, push the boat out type of player, like VVD or Rice. We were nowhere near that last season, the squad needed building, but if by the end of this season we're still dominating but Ange can't quite his midfield or wingers or whoever to do what he wants then that's the time for the big buy. Whether Levy will do that remains to be seen but we're not there yet.

Was Rafa a 'push the boat out' signing or Real offloading their schtrops?

 

[Gassin's finest]

I make you right but the only thing I’d slightly disagree with is the not taking our chances. This game and Leicester we’re not really creating that many clear cut chances. Lots of good half chances and we’re getting the ball into the right areas but we’re not converting that into clear cut chances at the moment. Still early days, though.

Nutshell for me. All we do is get it to the wide forward position and blindly whack it across into a crowd. Didn't matter if it was Oberbert, Johnson, Son, Werner, Kulu or Maddison. Same thing every time. Which means that's the tactic. And the full backs charge up there too, leaving the 2 CM's the impossible job of supporting the attack, covering the full backs and protecting the CB's. Which leaves holes all over the place, and any half decent counter attack will likely, and frequently does, scythe straight through.

Which is rubbish. And astonishingly naive. I love free flowing football, but this is pure kamikaze football.

I do not want any more changes of manager, we need a good run of consistency. But Ange needs to come to his senses, stop with all this "its who we are, mate" stubbornness, and start being more balanced with his strategy. Because Daniel is the one who will run out of patience first.

 

[alfie103]

Who have they bought?

When they bought Van Dijk and Alisson.