Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[cockerel downunder]

Really concerning post match quotes, if he’s happy with what he saw.

What I took from you was an acceptance that when your squad players haven’t had game time all season they will be a bit rusty and off the pace on their first game. Plus the number of changes impacts the fluidity of the rest of the team. All quite understandable really.

 

[wrd]

We always knew we were one or two injuries away from relying on players who have failed to deliver for years.

In a way it's more distressing having to live with this knowledge after such a great start but thank heavens for the great start.

I hardly think we'll go on a ten game losing streak etc but it's going to be up and down until/unless injuries stabilise and we somehow can get players Ange actually wants in this January.

Well we're in a position now where, it's clear we have a great team who suits the manager, it's a great style of football and we need reinforcements, it's clear certain players and certain positions are affecting what we can achieve significantly. I think given the way thing's have gone has made it clear what the club needs to do and I think Ange has proven he's worth backing. The next 2 signings seem so easily discernible, with 2 CB's, least in my opinion.

 

[13VanDerBale13]

The next 2 signings seem so easily discernible, with 2 CB's, least in my opinion.

Unbelievably really that were into another season, where this is still the priority that needs addressing

 

[Tucker]

Well we're in a position now where, it's clear we have a great team who suits the manager, it's a great style of football and we need reinforcements, it's clear certain players and certain positions are affecting what we can achieve significantly. I think given the way thing's have gone has made it clear what the club needs to do and I think Ange has proven he's worth backing. The next 2 signings seem so easily discernible, with 2 CB's, least in my opinion.

I think, despite people‘s impatience, we really need to get the right defenders in to cover/compete. We need another speed demon, and another aggressive fucker.

I’d have personally kept Sanchez, but we all know we couldn’t really trust him to perform consistently, much like with Dier. This year is a rebuilding year, so maybe moving him on was more important that any perceived and unrealistic ambitions people got about us winning the league.

 

[wrd]

Unbelievably really that were into another season, where this is still the priority that needs addressing

I'm not sure I agree it's unbelievable haha, It's pretty common for us to leave ourselves short so it's entirely believable . I think most of us were crying for two cb's of quality so I can appreciate the frustration with regards to the CB's. However the situation is the situation now and I think if ever there was a time for some slack to be cut to the board, it's after such a quick and fantastic turnaround as we've had from the summer. I don't think any team comes close to having as good a summer as us in terms of incomings. VDV/Vicario are two of the best scout purchases the league has seen for a while. Yes we were left short but good foundations and we really do not need much.

I think it's caught most people by surprise how well we're doing, this is why I was so desperate to keep Kane because we actually had the pieces in the right place and I felt there was an opportunity this season but even so, I think frustration should give way to acceptance of where we are and that we actually appreciate that thing's are heading in the right direction. I think we should see how the club handles the next two windows before we're up in arms. To put it another way, I don't think our fanbase should be taken seriously if we can't manage some perspective.

 

[DCSPUR64]

Really concerning post match quotes, if he’s happy with what he saw.

Don’t be, the manager does not slag off his players in public, not like some previous Spurs managers I know.

 

[bubble07]

Villa is now a massive massive game

 

[wrd]

I think, despite people‘s impatience, we really need to get the right defenders in to cover/compete. We need another speed demon, and another aggressive fucker.

I’d have personally kept Sanchez, but we all know we couldn’t really trust him to perform consistently, much like with Dier. This year is a rebuilding year, so maybe moving him on was more important that any perceived and unrealistic ambitions people got about us winning the league.

Yeah I agree, this is where I was caught in the summer, I thought we was 1 additional CB (Tapsoba level not Lloyd Kelly level) and keeping Harry Kane from actually being up there simply because I felt that we had the players to buy into Ange quickly and with no europe and man city coming off a treble. The key thing was actually that I felt that the pressure would be off after we finally stopped trying to force things. Once we sold Kane, I felt we shouldn't bother signing defenders for the sake of it, sell Hojbjerg also and just risk developing the young players and lay the foundations.

We appear to now be caught between the two, I must admit it does feel like City are not at their peak this season but I think the sensible thing to do is to move slowly and don't try and force things, give Phillips the nod but I would be more open to Lloyd Kelly in the winter now and hope we sign a top quality CB in the summer.

I am hoping for a cheeky Jota signing I must say

 

[coy-spurs1882]

Unbelievably really that were into another season, where this is still the priority that needs addressing

it is inevitable when it was vdv OR Tapsoba instead of vdv AND Tapsoba. the board never learns

 

[allatsea]

Only red flag apart from being an aussie is this stubbornness to not make slight tactical adjustments. We don't even waste time late in games when leading. Even city kill time

He IMO is doing an educational job with the squad and it would a mistake to change tactics when his ideas aren't yet fully bedded in.

 

[spursfan77]

It is but I also think it's part of the change to var now that players have to get used too. This was a challenge he gets away with before var. It's one where the ref doesn't even pick up on it because he wins the ball. Var has changed the game now so these situations where a player wins the ball and leaves one on the defender has them intervening. So he needs to be aware of that going forward. Players are having to adapt to var in different ways.

It is even more of a non contact sport than ever before. Although it seems not to apply to some players.

 

[Danny1]

This season was always going to be a test for a good number of reasons:

1 - Lack of real depth in key positions with centre back, defensive midfield, attacking midfield & our front line.
2 - Players getting used to Ange style of football.
3 - The fact we will lose Bissouma, Sarr & Sonny to International football.

The fact is that the 4 players missing on Saturday, and now Bissouma against Villa are completely irreplaceable in this squad. Now that is through no fault of Ange because he has only just got his feet under the desk.

Look at the players who will potentially more than 6/7 games of our season:

Bissouma, Romero, Van de Ven, Maddison, Sarr, Sonny, Sessegnon, Perisic & Solomon. Imagine any other team with that amount of players missing:

Liverpool - Szobozslai, VDV, Matip, MacAllister, Gravenberch, Salah, Tsimikas, Jota & Gakpo.
Arsenal - Rice, Saliba, Gabriel, Odegaard, Partey, Saka, Zinchenko, Trossard & Nelson.
Chelsea - Caicedo, Thiago Silva, Colwill, Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling, Cucurella, Madueke & Mudryk.
Villa - Douglas Luiz, Konsa, Torres, Diaby, McGinn, Watkins, Moreno, Zaniolo & Bailey.

If you were to replicate our players that are/will be missing then you really start to see how unlucky we have been. Villa have pretty much used about 13 players all season, and if they have 4/5 clear first team injuries they would literally plummet down the table.

Fact is, we need to use this season as a learning curve, improve the squad in January, improve it again in the summer & hopefully push on even more next season. It's not just about this season, its about the next & the one after. If we can get CL this year then that is fantastic & personally I still think we will. We have seen how good we are when we have the majority of our players on the pitch. After the City game we will be missing VDV & Maddison, I'd like to think that the other 9 are good enough to compensate for their absence.

 

[djhotspur]

Unbelievably really that were into another season, where this is still the priority that needs addressing

Yup. We needed a 2 cbs last season and 1 this season, we got 1 over the course of that time. We identified Kelly who we wanted who suited the system and he was ours but levy refused the pay the money.
If we had Kelly is a completely different outlook right now.

 

[Tucker]

It is even more of a non contact sport than ever before. Although it seems not to apply to some players.

It’s wildly inconsistent, even in the same game there’s decisions that are completely inconsistent with ones made a few minutes previously. Seems to depend on which team the ref favours imo.

 

[Rosco1984]

Ange needs Dynamism Dier, Hojbjerg and to some extent Kulu, Royal and davies are the least dynamic players you could imagine we can carry the odd less athletic player but we cant carry all 5 shadow of the team we can be.

 

[mil1lion]

This season was always going to be a test for a good number of reasons:

1 - Lack of real depth in key positions with centre back, defensive midfield, attacking midfield & our front line.
2 - Players getting used to Ange style of football.
3 - The fact we will lose Bissouma, Sarr & Sonny to International football.

The fact is that the 4 players missing on Saturday, and now Bissouma against Villa are completely irreplaceable in this squad. Now that is through no fault of Ange because he has only just got his feet under the desk.

Look at the players who will potentially more than 6/7 games of our season:

Bissouma, Romero, Van de Ven, Maddison, Sarr, Sonny, Sessegnon, Perisic & Solomon. Imagine any other team with that amount of players missing:

Liverpool - Szobozslai, VDV, Matip, MacAllister, Gravenberch, Salah, Tsimikas, Jota & Gakpo.
Arsenal - Rice, Saliba, Gabriel, Odegaard, Partey, Saka, Zinchenko, Trossard & Nelson.
Chelsea - Caicedo, Thiago Silva, Colwill, Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling, Cucurella, Madueke & Mudryk.
Villa - Douglas Luiz, Konsa, Torres, Diaby, McGinn, Watkins, Moreno, Zaniolo & Bailey.

If you were to replicate our players that are/will be missing then you really start to see how unlucky we have been. Villa have pretty much used about 13 players all season, and if they have 4/5 clear first team injuries they would literally plummet down the table.

Fact is, we need to use this season as a learning curve, improve the squad in January, improve it again in the summer & hopefully push on even more next season. It's not just about this season, its about the next & the one after. If we can get CL this year then that is fantastic & personally I still think we will. We have seen how good we are when we have the majority of our players on the pitch. After the City game we will be missing VDV & Maddison, I'd like to think that the other 9 are good enough to compensate for their absence.

I think we would be fine with Bentancur in for Bissouma but obviously he's not fully fit to do it yet. Other than that I agree, the drop off for Udogie, VdV, Romero and Maddison is huge. 3 of those are new signings though so at least we've improved the first team this time. We just need more of the same to give proper depth and competition for places.

 

[cozzo]

I think in two seasons we will be where Ange wants us

 

[spursfan77]

It’s wildly inconsistent, even in the same game there’s decisions that are completely inconsistent with ones made a few minutes previously. Seems to depend on which team the ref favours imo.

and all VAR has done is bring more people in to make these decisions worse. Too much incompetence.

 

[cjbyid]

I think in two seasons we will be where Ange wants us

This. Still mad to think we're only 12 games into his tenure and how well he's done.

But definitely agree another two seasons and more ins/out in the transfer windows to get where he wants.

 

[Sp3akerboxxx]

I think in two seasons we will be where Ange wants us

I hope so, considering he said he only sticks around for 3.