Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[Impspur1]

Ave goals per game conceded with VdV on the pitch - 0.95

Ave goals per game conceded with Romero on the pitch - 0.85

Ave goals per game conceded with both VdV & Romero on the pitch - 0.72

Ave goals per game conceded with neither VdV & Romero on the pitch - 2.11

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it, but I think we might need another quality CB

Quite telling those stats

 

[HildoSpur]

I too admire him, but Conte and Jose both got absolutely hammered for sticking to their own style too when things were bad, there were calls for them to change things up, and even at times when they were good people still weren't happy. So I think it's fair when people call out that they think he should try something different.

At one stage Jose has Son and Kane both out injured too.

Sure the style of football is easier on the eye and a lot of results have been good, but Ange and the squad still clearly needs investment, as did our previous managers too.

Calling out that maybe he could change it up is not something new, especially in our recent history.

Neither of them had the sort of injury crisis Ange has had in the past three months.

 

[RuskyM]

Neither of them had the sort of injury crisis Ange has had in the past three months.

Fucking moaned like they did though.

It's miraculous how many have the solution for our two best centre-backs and our only real defensive midfielder being out.

 

[Impspur1]

Fucking moaned like they did though.

It's miraculous how many have the solution for our two best centre-backs and our only real defensive midfielder being out.

It’s not solutions but options that have yet to be tried

 

[rossdapep]

And just like Klopp & Pep who did the same thing, it’ll come good for us in the end once we get Ange more of the players he needs.

Yep.

Klopp had some embarrassing results, throwing away 2 goal leads and such.

Pep got hammered 4-0 by Everton and had some other crap results.

Pep also persisted with Kolorov and other players in roles not suited to them.

He also got murdered by everyone for axing Hart and that was supposedly the reason they were losing goals.

They were both proven right by sticking to their guns.

We had Jose who chopped and changed the team all the time and slowly changed his tune about the squad.

We now need the same message and some consistency in what we are doing

 

[Rout-Ledge]

Neither of them had the sort of injury crisis Ange has had in the past three months.

Their systems were also painful to watch at the best of times (especially Jose). That played a part too. Secondly, there is hope that if we stick with Ange’s system we will improve over time. With Jose and Conte by the time we were screaming for adjustments it was pretty obvious that it wasn’t going to work out and that they weren’t planning on sticking around to fix it (especially Conte). This is a different scenario for sure.

 

[RuskyM]

It’s not solutions but options that have yet to be tried

Ashley Phillips has played seven hours of competitive league football; Alfie Dorrington has zero. They'd be playing against some of the slickest attacks in the league in a patchwork side; I personally don't think it'd be fair to throw a young player into that.

The other alternative was Eric Dier, and the abuse he's been getting from fans for years put pay to that. There really aren't other options.

 

[Trix]

He is clearly trying to instill this way of playing into the squad. He believes in it completely. Whether we have the players to do it effectively right now is besides the point really. He has said from the very start this is how we will play and he is sticking to it, it has served us very well most of the season despite the injuries and I admire the man for it.

Oh I understand that perfectly, he's the boss and that's his prerogative. It doesn't however mean he is automatically absolved of any criticism because he's telling everyone publicly there is no plan b.

 

[spurs mental]

Neither of them had the sort of injury crisis Ange has had in the past three months.

I didn't say they did?

Just saying people asking for Ange to change things up a bit isn't a new thing on here because it's always been the way when managers have a bad result. And when people throw it back that all managers stick by their philosophy its thrown out the window, or it was in the Jose and Conte times because people didn't like the football. That's all.

It's fine to be welded to a system and philosophy. But it would be no harm to maybe make some subtle changes to our style with our current injury predicament. It might help us concede less goals.

 

[Trix]

I too admire him, but Conte and Jose both got absolutely hammered for sticking to their own style too when things were bad, there were calls for them to change things up, and even at times when they were good people still weren't happy. So I think it's fair when people call out that they think he should try something different.

At one stage Jose has Son and Kane both out injured too.

Sure the style of football is easier on the eye and a lot of results have been good, but Ange and the squad still clearly needs investment, as did our previous managers too.

Calling out that maybe he could change it up is not something new, especially in our recent history.

As did Poch. The fact he had no plan b was probably the biggest criticism he got tbh.

 

[RuskyM]

Their systems were also painful to watch at the best of times (especially Jose). That played a part too. Secondly, there is hope that if we stick with Ange’s system we will improve over time. With Jose and Conte by the time we were screaming for adjustments it was pretty obvious that it wasn’t going to work out and that they weren’t planning on sticking around to fix it (especially Conte). This is a different scenario for sure.

I had to read "get them the players" like there were some mythical trequarista that would make Jose/Conteball work when all evidence pointed to the contrary. You can clearly see, even in a game like tonight, improvement he's made, and the path we're on.

Lot of opposition fans will try and tell us how to feel. Fuck 'em. We're fine.

 

[whenstevewentup]

Pep couldn’t play his system until he signed walker , lack of pace meant they couldn’t press high without getting hit on the break , why we didn’t just ask Udogie to sit back and help as all Brighton were doing was playing balls over the top , I just can’t get over the naivety .

 

[HildoSpur]

Oh I understand that perfectly, he's the boss and that's his prerogative. It doesn't however mean he is automatically absolved of any criticism because he's telling everyone publicly there is no plan b.

Does Klopp have a plan b? Does Pep? I don't think they do, both have a very clear way they want their teams to play and they stick to it. The difference is they have had several years to build a squad that can do it. Ange needs time but I applaud him for not changing from his principles. If we are to succeed in the long term this is how we will do it.

 

[spurs mental]

Their systems were also painful to watch at the best of times (especially Jose). That played a part too. Secondly, there is hope that if we stick with Ange’s system we will improve over time. With Jose and Conte by the time we were screaming for adjustments it was pretty obvious that it wasn’t going to work out and that they weren’t planning on sticking around to fix it (especially Conte). This is a different scenario for sure.

The question again is raised then, if we weren't going to get them the necessary players to support their system, why were they hired in the first place?

Contes first season we played some cracking football too, it's a myth it was all shit football. We absolutely battered teams especially from February to May.

 

[RuskyM]

Pep couldn’t play his system until he signed walker , lack of pace meant they couldn’t press high without getting hit on the break , why we didn’t just ask Udogie to sit back and help as all Brighton were doing was playing balls over the top , I just can’t get over the naivety .

Happy to be proven wrong here but I thought Brighton's chances came from our defenders simply not closing down properly/making rash choices rather than the high line.

 

[spurs mental]

Happy to be proven wrong here but I thought Brighton's chances came from our defenders simply not closing down properly/making rash choices rather than the high line.

There was only 2 that I remember them getting through, once Royal/Davies managed to get back, the other was when it rebounded off Porro and went into Pedro's path where Vic tipped it round the post.

 

[spurs9]

Quite telling those stats

Yep and they are telling me we should go for 2 x CBs.

If Ange feels Phillips and Dorrington aren't ready to play under the current circumstances, they will both need to go on loan to get to that level.

Also, I don't think Todibo being the only CB we bring in is a good idea since he has a worse (lower) mins played per red card than Romero.

Dragusin can calso play Full Back and, with Todibo's skillset, I reckon he could play inverted FB too (he has also played DM). With their versatility, our poor disciplinary record and injury issues, I reckon all 4 CBs would get plenty of game time.

 

[Trix]

Does Klopp have a plan b? Does Pep? I don't think they do, both have a very clear way they want their teams to play and they stick to it. The difference is they have had several years to build a squad that can do it. Ange needs time but I applaud him for not changing from his principles. If we are to succeed in the long term this is how we will do it.

And that's fine. If Ange is happy to drop points in order to drill his system into the players for the greater good long term I'm all for that. If that's the case though, play players who in the long term need to learn it because they have a future in that role they are being drilled to play.

Like I say I'm easy as to whether he tweaks the tactics slightly or he changes the personnel. I don't really care which, but keeping both of them the same is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

I had to read "get them the players" like there were some mythical trequarista that would make Jose/Conteball work when all evidence pointed to the contrary. You can clearly see, even in a game like tonight, improvement he's made, and the path we're on.

Lot of opposition fans will try and tell us how to feel. Fuck 'em. We're fine.

Absolutely agree. There’s no guarantee it will work, because what he’s implementing is very unusual and extreme. I’m fully invested in it though, and we have already seen that the system is great in full flow, with the right players. We haven’t had a single match where our first choice 11 (or near first choice 11) have put in a bad performance.

Comparing to Jose and Conte is pointless because those situations were so different. Jose is a totally busted flush and was never the answer. Conte never really wanted to be here and I think that rubbed off on the players. For all his talk of being a serial winner, he never believed he could win here without a bottomless budget. He has since admitted that he needs to be at a club that is already competing in order to do well.

 

[Trix]

Happy to be proven wrong here but I thought Brighton's chances came from our defenders simply not closing down properly/making rash choices rather than the high line.

Yeah I don't think it was the high line as much as it was the inability to play through the press which our entire game plan relies upon.