Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[mil1lion]

With the squad getting closer to what we need there's absolutely room to spend big on a player now. The issue is more when you spend big and there's a lot work to be done. Like the summer after we signed nobody the prior year and we spent big on Ndombele and Lo Celso. We had a lot of work to do on the squad so needed to spend better on more depth. I think we're very close to being there now, maybe not just yet but could be.

The thing with Rice as an example is that arsenal had already built their squad over the years. Spending 110m on a player doesn't hurt so much when you only need a few signings. The one position I think we need to go strong on in the summer would be an attacker. If we have to spend big on a proven Son mk 2 then for sure we should. I'm sure with ffp we have room to spend 100m each window. We should get to a point where the squad is strong and we just need a top player or two for the first team and some cheap young prospects.

 

[spurs9]

Which is a big part of the reason why we need depth suited to the system though. At City, Guardiola realised early that Phillips just didn't fit in. When he had an injury, he'd play any combination of Lewis at 18 y/o, or Silva dropping deeper, or Nunes after he arrived. When we have an injury, or an AFCON absence, or a suspension, we rely on Hojbjerg and Skipp. Two good players who simply don't suit the system. That doesn't just throw our game off for a week, it means that, now our better mids are back (rushed back, because we needed them), the rest of the team aren't quite in sync either.

That means we need CMs who can press and play progressively, in the first XI and in the wings. Why do you think we're so keen on Gallagher and were linked to Joao Gomes heavily in January?

Yeah, this. A mixture of being unlucky with injuries, AFCON, suspensions and out 6th & 7th choice (PEH and SKipp) not suiting our style of play has been a big issue IMO.

PEH and Skipp's PL minutes combined (1540), is more than any single CM's (Sarr the highest with 1353) and you compare that to Arsenal's who's 3rd most minitues in CM is Havertz on 1526 is more than every other player to have played in CM (excluding the top 2) combined (1036).

 

[freeeki]

Surely a new LWB and RWB have to be a priority this summer.

Having Porro and Udogie in those positions is crucial to Ange's system, and we really don't have anyone who can deputise for them, aside from maybe Perisic who sadly we won't be seeing again.

I like Davies and I like Emerson, but they are both upgradable, and could probably fetch £30M~ between them.

 

[Styopa]

Surely a new LWB and RWB have to be a priority this summer.

Having Porro and Udogie in those positions is crucial to Ange's system, and we really don't have anyone who can deputise for them, aside from maybe Perisic who sadly we won't be seeing again.

I like Davies and I like Emerson, but they are both upgradable, and could probably fetch £30M~ between them.

Yeah I agree. The problem with Davies and Emerson is not only is there a drop off in quality when we play them but also they are a bad fit. You expect some drop in quality from key players to squad players but the combination of less quality and bad fit really harmed us on Saturday.

I like them both as professionals, and they come across as reliable and hardworking. But it’s an obvious area to improve imo.

 

[McFlash]

I remember West Ham wanting to show themselves as a big club by buying a £20m striker.

Oh god, I forgotten about that "massive" moment of stupidity from them, telling the world.
That was hilarious!

 

[McFlash]

With the squad getting closer to what we need there's absolutely room to spend big on a player now. The issue is more when you spend big and there's a lot work to be done. Like the summer after we signed nobody the prior year and we spent big on Ndombele and Lo Celso. We had a lot of work to do on the squad so needed to spend better on more depth. I think we're very close to being there now, maybe not just yet but could be.

The thing with Rice as an example is that arsenal had already built their squad over the years. Spending 110m on a player doesn't hurt so much when you only need a few signings. The one position I think we need to go strong on in the summer would be an attacker. If we have to spend big on a proven Son mk 2 then for sure we should. I'm sure with ffp we have room to spend 100m each window. We should get to a point where the squad is strong and we just need a top player or two for the first team and some cheap young prospects.

Yep, if we can keep in picking up a Sarr, Udogie or Bergvall every window, we keep back-filling the squad and ensuring there's always quality coming through, for not a lot of money.

Then, if that big juicy cherry becomes available to put on top, we'll have the money and ffp wriggle room to do so.

It seems so simple but with proper planning, we shouldn't end up with a stale squad ever again.
But, and it's a big but (I cannot lie) we need to provide a proper pathway for these youngsters through loans and opportunities.
Things are looking good so far and we need to stick to this strategy.

 

[Real_madyidd]

It’s not just about cost but sometimes you have to buy big if they are the right players. Liverpool spent nearly 150 million euros on Alisson and van Dijk. They went from 75 points the season before Alisson and v Dijk joined, and conceding 38 goals, to 97 points the season they joined and conceding 22 goals. That’s a huge difference! 22 additional points and 16 fewer goals conceded.

You make a good point. You also kind of make my point. Had they got the same two players for less (and remember they tapped up VVD the previous year so had to overpay as Southampton had them bang to rights) then they would still be as good players. If we got the next VVD for 20M people would immediately say that we "went for the cheap option".

The best example I can think of is Rafa VdV when he came to us. Absolute quality but very cheap.

I guess all I am saying is we mustn't judge our purchases purely on the basis of price and actually wait to see if they are good for us.

 

[Monkey boy]

You make a good point. You also kind of make my point. Had they got the same two players for less (and remember they tapped up VVD the previous year so had to overpay as Southampton had them bang to rights) then they would still be as good players. If we got the next VVD for 20M people would immediately say that we "went for the cheap option".

The best example I can think of is Rafa VdV when he came to us. Absolute quality but very cheap.

I guess all I am saying is we mustn't judge our purchases purely on the basis of price and actually wait to see if they are good for us.

Or even Mickey VDV as a more recent example. Was supposed to be the cheap option as opposed to Tapsoba but hes been top quality.

 

[Yiddo1982]

Surely a new LWB and RWB have to be a priority this summer.

Having Porro and Udogie in those positions is crucial to Ange's system, and we really don't have anyone who can deputise for them, aside from maybe Perisic who sadly we won't be seeing again.

I like Davies and I like Emerson, but they are both upgradable, and could probably fetch £30M~ between them.

Ait-Nouri from Wolves and Doughty from Luton would be great PL options.

 

[RuskyM]

Surely a new LWB and RWB have to be a priority this summer.

Having Porro and Udogie in those positions is crucial to Ange's system, and we really don't have anyone who can deputise for them, aside from maybe Perisic who sadly we won't be seeing again.

I like Davies and I like Emerson, but they are both upgradable, and could probably fetch £30M~ between them.

Wonder if the idea is to get someone who can be a CB/DM too - the way City use Ake, Lewis, etc. (I still think Emerson can do this but I do think if we get a good offer we'll sell. I just like him is all.)

 

[TC18]

For me, I really think we need to find a forward that is deadly at finishing, that doesn’t require countless chances before scoring.

the more chances we waste, the more the pressure builds on the team and the player/s missing them.

if we get an early goal, we force the opposition out, they have to, that then gives us opportunities to score more.

Yes it’s a simplistic way of looking at it, but most of the games we have lost, we’ve missed loads of chances.

 

[muppetman]

For me, I really think we need to find a forward that is deadly at finishing, that doesn’t require countless chances before scoring.

the more chances we waste, the more the pressure builds on the team and the player/s missing them.

if we get an early goal, we force the opposition out, they have to, that then gives us opportunities to score more.

Yes it’s a simplistic way of looking at it, but most of the games we have lost, we’ve missed loads of chances.

Unfortunately, every other team in world football are also after strikers who never miss! I'm not sure we've actually made lots of high quality chances in the last 4 or 5 games, I don't remember us missing lots of sitters like poor old Soldado.

For me, at the moment, it's just not quite clicking - in any part of the pitch. The Wolves game was the worst, with us back to side to side possession and a real lack of ideas about what to do when we did get the ball.

Hopefully, we can get Porro and Udogie back, Madders and Bentancur start to shine and we can start passing in front of out players so they run on to the ball and have some momentum, unlike recently where it is either to feet or just behind them.

 

[Joshua shepherd]

For me, I really think we need to find a forward that is deadly at finishing, that doesn’t require countless chances before scoring.

the more chances we waste, the more the pressure builds on the team and the player/s missing them.

if we get an early goal, we force the opposition out, they have to, that then gives us opportunities to score more.

Yes it’s a simplistic way of looking at it, but most of the games we have lost, we’ve missed loads of chances.

We have this in son, he’s as clinical as they come. It’s the wide areas that need addressing.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

See Chelsea's goal and Jackson's big chance against Man.City a few days ago, are we saying that Man.City's system isn't good enough to win things because they press high and invert their full backs and leave a lot of space in behind?...

We are fine, keep believing in Ange, give him 5-6 more players (especially 2 top class attacking ones : 1x winger, 1x striker) and we will become more consistent like we were during our 1st 11 games before all the injuries, suspensions, international duty etc.

 

[spanners]

See Chelsea's goal and Jackson's big chance against Man.City a few days ago, are we saying that Man.City's system isn't good enough to win things because they press high and invert their full backs and leave a lot of space in behind?...

We are fine, keep believing in Ange, give him 5-6 more players (especially 2 top class attacking ones : 1x winger, 1x striker) and we will become more consistent like we were during our 1st 11 games before all the injuries, suspensions, international duty etc.

You mean since we won 6 in our last 15 games.

 

[SpursSince1980]

I don’t see Ange changing how we play. Including making ‘tweaks’. Yes, there is risk in this system, and it invites mistakes. The biggest flaw I see right now is that a lot of mistakes are brain farts. And we sometimes struggle in defensive transition. Ange expects the players to improve in these areas. Including being much more aggressive earlier in games. The harsh truth is that we are about two or three key players short of making this system truly tick.

Those who think we won’t win anything unless he makes a few adjustments, are going to be disappointed, as I don’t see him doing anything that different from his current approach. In short… I genuinely hope those in that camp are wrong, as that will likely mean he will end up getting fired some point next season. Which would be a massive shame.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

You mean since we won 6 in our last 15 games.

I repeat: "We are fine, keep believing in Ange, give him 5-6 more players (especially 2 top class attacking ones : 1x winger, 1x striker) and we will become more consistent like we were during our 1st 11 games before all the injuries, suspensions, international duty etc."

 

[Styopa]

You mean since we won 6 in our last 15 games.

I think it’s 7 in 15. Plus 3 draws, including away to both Manchester clubs. It’s still not good enough but there’s a context to it as well.

 

[Ginola+Tonic]

You mean since we won 6 in our last 15 games.

Nothing like context is there!!!

We played full backs at centre back and missed very important players.

Things will inevitably settle, last season’s implosion is playing on fans minds, that fall away last season was a massive outlier.
We’ll be fine, I’d imagine the remit was to qualify for Europe this season, surely you can see from the position we’re in we’re pretty much bankers to do that whether it be europa league or whatever.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Wonder if the idea is to get someone who can be a CB/DM too - the way City use Ake, Lewis, etc. (I still think Emerson can do this but I do think if we get a good offer we'll sell. I just like him is all.)

Hiroki Ito* makes a ton of sense, in my mind. Probably could provide higher quality cover across three positions than what we currently have (LB, LCB and DM).

Edit: thanks @spurs9