Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[eViL]

Occasion got us and this is a recurring theme with this club that needs stopping

Better for it to happen 11 games in than with 3 to go..

 

[Japhet]

Are we going to play that high up though? We only had that issue because we no longer had the possession so without the ball we pressed up high. With the ball we will play from the back and invite teams onto us. So in possession we don't play high but out of it we press high. We basically need to dominate possession again which we often do with 11 men.

There's been a lot of criticism of the high back line, all of it around our ability to defend from there. But I can see the reasoning behind it in making the pitch as small as possible so our outfield players had less ground to cover whilst still maintaining some attacking threat. Yes, we eventually got caught and then got pulled apart as we tried to chase the game, but it was typically brave from Ange and the players all bought into it.

 

[rossdapep]

What an unbelievable interview. You don’t hear this sort of class and common sense from (m)any other managers. I didn’t want this guy, I was absolutely wrong. He’s exactly who I want coaching our club.

You don't but can you belive there are people calling him a hypocrite cause he got a yellow.

He got a yellow cause he came out of the technical area! And even if it was cause he said something to the ref, he accepted it, shut up and then didn't have a tantrum afterwards.

It's like he is saying "Yep, you're right, sorry won't happen again" which is admirable and shows he can reign it in. Being a coach is incredibly stressful so you aren't going to totally keep a lid on it but you can have the awareness to reign it in.

Not bellends like Arteta who just let their emotions run away and say what they feel to get fans onside

 

[Metalhead]

He has a massive job on his hands. We had a real chance last night to put in a statement performance and get a great win and while it started so well we completely blew up and we are the reason we lost not because Chelsea beat us, we beat ourselves.
We have seen this so many times were we are potentially on course to really progress but we end up sabotaging ourselves.
Still absolutely fluming at our lack of leadership on the pitch, we need to correct that in 2 windows, our 3 captains were incapable last night of stopping it and in Romero's case he was the reason we lost.

He'll know he has but the mentality shown in response to going 2 down was night and day to what would have happened last season so there were positives.

 

[rossdapep]

There's been a lot of criticism of the high back line, all of it around our ability to defend from there. But I can see the reasoning behind it in making the pitch as small as possible so our outfield players had less ground to cover whilst still maintaining some attacking threat. Yes, we eventually got caught and then got pulled apart as we tried to chase the game, but it was typically brave from Ange and the players all bought into it.

You could see Chelsea being not to sure what to do once two of their players got caught off, they had to stop on the ball or play a safe one out wide.

Unfortunately the law of averages means that eventually they will be able to get through as not only did they have 2 men over us but it is natural that at some point the offisde trap is breached.

If we did that 11v11 with Udogie and VDV on the pitch, there is a good chance we recover well even when breached.

 

[RuskyM]

The better question would be how many teams have drawn with 9 men?

Liverpool were an own goal on the dying seconds away from salvaging a point against a much better team than we just played.

But they didn’t. We were an offside away from equalising, and Son had a chance to make it 2-2. But outside hypotheticals, both teams got the same result. Which is always likely when you’re down to 9.

 

[bomberH]

Lots of positives and negatives from last night. Romero should know better and Udoghie should never make a challenge like that on a yellow.

We were great with 9 and Vicario was sensational. Possibly the best goalkeeping display I’ve seen at the lane.

I’m still not sure the tactics were right if I’m honest. I’m all for a high line but maybe just not quite as high. We were by the halfway line so a lot of their runs were from inside their own half which made it easier for them. I admire us going for a win with 9, but at 1-1 with 15 mins left, a draw would’ve been heroic and destroyed Chelsea at the same time. Despite the praise Ange is getting for last night, there were lots of people around me wondering what the fuck we were doing and why we weren’t learning from our mistakes as a simple through ball was constantly catching us out every 1 or 2 minutes. Yes we could’ve scored via Son, Bentancur and Dier but in all honesty, they could’ve had another 5 or 6 if it wasn’t for Vicario and general rubbish attacking play.

With that said, I’m proud that we tried this and it almost worked. I absolutely loved the crowd last night, even my gooner mate messaged me to say how great/weird it was that we applauded the team off after losing heavily against our hated rivals. Ange’s prezzer was a breath of fresh air. I don’t think it’ll make refs subconsciously give us decisions like some have said, I think the opposite actually because it’s easier for them to not have to worry about being moaned about after the game like Fergie was king of, but I’m still proud that our manager is taking the correct stance. He’ll get massively praised for this and experts/pundits etc will be all over him in a good way and it will only enhance everything about the club.

Absolutely gutted about vdv but Ange will give Phillips shedloads of confidence no doubt. Dier and Emerson will make mistakes, we all know this, but Dier was great last night and Emerson has been sound every time he’s been called upon this season so it might not be as bad as we all think. Every fans’ worst fears seemed to happen inside a 10 minute spell last night and the next few weeks will show how far we’ve come.

 

[rossdapep]

The better question would be how many teams have drawn with 9 men?

Liverpool were an own goal on the dying seconds away from salvaging a point against a much better team than we just played.

But they didn't though, did they? All that effort for nothing.

It's like the Sam Allardyce argument of "you don't go toe to toe with City cause you'll get thumped' yet the outcome is the same, you still lose and you lose in a way that doesn't match your beliefs

 

[Japhet]

You don't but can you belive there are people calling him a hypocrite cause he got a yellow.

He got a yellow cause he came out of the technical area! And even if it was cause he said something to the ref, he accepted it, shut up and then didn't have a tantrum afterwards.

It's like he is saying "Yep, you're right, sorry won't happen again" which is admirable and shows he can reign it in. Being a coach is incredibly stressful so you aren't going to totally keep a lid on it but you can have the awareness to reign it in.

Not bellends like Arteta who just let their emotions run away and say what they feel to get fans onside

Arteta is rarely in his technical area. Klopp also likes to go for a wander. Pretty inconsistent to book Ange for it imo.

 

[Stamford]

Occasion got us and this is a recurring theme with this club that needs stopping

Agree with you. Seen us do it under different managers and would be good for us to just play the game without getting drawn into the madness.

 

[Doctor Dinkey]

There's been a lot of talk about how we were miles better than Chelsea before the sending off and we definitely would have won if it remained 11 against 11. I'm not sure I agree. After the disallowed Son goal we began to get very sloppy and they started to get a grip on midfield. We were making mistakes under pressure and those mistakes led to the penalty. I thought they were already beginning to get on top when Romero went.
I don't think the narrative of 'we only lost because of the sending offs' is especially helpful. We need to realise our shortcomings and improve them if we're going to challenge for top 4.

 

[Jgplk1]

 

[Cavehillspur]

Occasion got us and this is a recurring theme with this club that needs stopping

Yep was so strange, we were going to absolutely batter them.

 

[talkshowhost86]

Huge few weeks for Ange now.

He's been rightly riding the crest of a wave that he generated but last night was a big road block in more ways than one.

For the first time since coming in he hasn't got the majority of his best players. He's having to rely on players who aren't of the highest quality and who may not fit his system.

He's going to have to adapt, if only slightly, something that his predecessors were incapable of doing.

Most Spurs fans knew we were punching above our weight being top, but it's now time for Ange to show what he can do when up against it.

If he can steer us through to Xmas and we're still in the top 4 I think he'll have done well.

Any better and he'll have done fantastically.

 

[Jamturk]

I believe in Ange and he keeps going up in my estimations, I liked last night there was no direct criticism of the players even though I could see he was absolutely raging inside at some of our players antics last night.

I'm in no doubt they will know today what he really feels about last nights debacle.

 

[bubble07]

Surely we wouldn't have played like that v 9 men against a team like city?

Surely not

 

[midoNdefoe]

The main downside to last nights game is the lack of top notch cbs we now have available. A lot of people were calling for a further signing but we didn’t and have been left short now as predicted

 

[Dazzazzad]

I get people saying it was brave to play a high line with nine men, but it still played out exactly like you would expect it to.

You play that line when you're down to 9 men you will ship a lot of goals.

And we did.

When Liverpool were down to ten against Newcastle, they didn't play a high line. They still got a win.

When they were down to 9 against us, they didn't play a high line and were unlucky not to get something from the game.

There is a thin line between bravery and naivety.

I am really torn. Did I just watch something incredibly brave, inspiring and hopeful for the future. Or did I witness something very inflexible, stubborn, naive and discouraging about our future prospects.

I really go back and forth. Time will tell I guess.

I will say I definitely wasn't bored!

 

[mil1lion]

Wonder if taking kulu off instead of Johnson might have been better

Kulusevski carries the ball better though so can hold up play well. He did it well at Luton. Johnson is more ideal as an alternative to Son in this situation. Maybe if Maddison was still on we could have done that and used Maddison to carry the ball instead.

 

[Sp3akerboxxx]

But they didn't though, did they? All that effort for nothing.

It's like the Sam Allardyce argument of "you don't go toe to toe with City cause you'll get thumped' yet the outcome is the same, you still lose and you lose in a way that doesn't match your beliefs

Weird thing for a Spurs fan to say when we've beaten City so many times.