Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[rossdapep]

It has been ever since we lost Dembele.

We give it away so cheaply at times it's unreal. Main culprit = Hojbjerg.

The amount of goals we give away from fucking around in the middle third is unprecedent. A loose sideways or backwards pass, either followed by a desperate foul in a dangerous area for a set piece, or clear run in on goal.

Watch em back, rarely do we have a good goal scored against us, it's normally us.

Yeah I do agree with that.

A lot of loose touches or loose passes.

But the beautiful thing is the more we practice and the more players we have with ability to play this way effectively, the more we will get better at it and give the ball away less.

Ange's style is very demanding. Thats why I think it was working much better earlier.

Since then we have had players out and not the most effective players at doing it.

Also, after 60 mins or so, we need subs to come on and keep it up.

We havent really had that.

This period has felt like we are just dragging through it and I genuinely believe we will be better from it.

Ange and the players will have learnt a fuck ton.

 

[spurs-r-us]

We don't need 2. We have far too many attacking players as it is. Richarlison and Son are quality established players. We just need 1 more unless Werner comes good enough. Then the rest would be young players developing. We need to show some patience rather than keep signing more players. Kulusevski, Gil and Johnson are all young while Soloman sort of fits between the experienced and young players.

For me I would sign 1 established attacker with end product to start with Son and Richarlison unless Werner shows he can. Then you have young developing players like Kulusevski (who can also cover Maddison), Johnson, Veliz and one of Soloman or Gil competing while growing.

We have plenty of attacking players, sure, but we should absolutely be trying to upgrade if possible.

Sonny is excellent but turns 32 at the end of the season. He had a bad year last year, but has put that right in a huge way now. Richarlison has caught fire at last, and looks confident and fit after his surgery.

Werner: hard worker, quick, good dribbler, can't finish.
Johnson: young, quick, timorous.
Kulusevski: super hard worker, great dribbler, good finisher, slow, predictable.
Solomon: hard to say. Pretty good at Shakhtar, okay at Fulham. Injury prone. Good pace.
Gil: doesn't seem suited to the PL. Bodied so easily.
Veliz: TBD at Sevilla

Are you really comfortable with this when we're fighting on four fronts next season, even if its Europa as it currently is on track to be? I'm not.

 

[spurs-r-us]

True but for that price as a squad option I think it’s a no brainer personally

We have plenty of squad players and FFP is actually a thing now, we need to be careful or else we'll miss out on the players we want once the Kane transfer is irrelevant to our balance. Not saying we shouldn't, but need to see more.

 

[spurs9]

Don’t forget Bissouma as well, he’s more of a defensive player in this system than either fullback and the other options at DM just don’t provide the same level of cover for the defense.

Actually, this is a great point. He is not only our player who has won the most tackles but is 2nd for interceptions too. In addition to that he allows us to keep posession when pressed.

In fact, we have conceded 17 in the 1216 minutes he was on the pitch (4 goals of which were when we only had 9 players) but 18 in the 854 he hasn't been on it.

 

[spurs9]

We have plenty of squad players and FFP is actually a thing now, we need to be careful or else we'll miss out on the players we want once the Kane transfer is irrelevant to our balance. Not saying we shouldn't, but need to see more.

Not only that, but if we make Europe, we have too many non-HG players already and not enough club trained.

 

[spurs mental]

We have plenty of attacking players, sure, but we should absolutely be trying to upgrade if possible.

Sonny is excellent but turns 32 at the end of the season. He had a bad year last year, but has put that right in a huge way now. Richarlison has caught fire at last, and looks confident and fit after his surgery.

Werner: hard worker, quick, good dribbler, can't finish.
Johnson: young, quick, timorous.
Kulusevski: super hard worker, great dribbler, good finisher, slow, predictable.
Solomon: hard to say. Pretty good at Shakhtar, okay at Fulham. Injury prone. Good pace.
Gil: doesn't seem suited to the PL. Bodied so easily.
Veliz: TBD at Sevilla

Are you really comfortable with this when we're fighting on four fronts next season, even if its Europa as it currently is on track to be? I'm not.

I don't believe we'll be relying on Gil at all, or Veliz a whole lot next season.

We were after Nusa in January, and have signed Bergvall. Now I'm not saying he'll be ready or Nusa would have been, but the plan is there, and it's fairly clear we're trying to recruit a successor for Sonny in some way.

If Timo can get a little bit more confident in front of goal I think we're on to a winner. He's making the runs, we just need to find him. Madders tried a few times today as well. Johnson, Deki, are both young, its easy to forget. With time they should both improve. Another season under their belts now and they should be capable of stepping up.

We know Deki can because we've seen it. He was one of, if not, the best RW in the league in the 5 months from when he joined, in terms of output.

It's mad, one result, and its not even that bad of a one today in the grand scheme of things, has got people knee jerking about the squad, the manager, certain players.

 

[spurs-r-us]

Dont think people are looking at the defensive issues correctly.

Its the midfield.

I agree with your post almost entirely, but let's not forget the individual errors from the back five at the moment. Romero was imperious all game, but then that silly header in that silly high line for a deep free kick genuinely cost us a goal. Udogie gave the ball away twice against Brentford, which is always a risk in this system, but was nonetheless two individual errors. Vicario has looked flawless, then City stick Dias on him and he looks like he has no idea what to do from there on every subsequent corner. He's now flapping at every set piece looking for the punch, which he wasn't doing before when he was catching them, because he's so rattled. Free kick or not for the first goal, his confidence has taken a huge hit.

 

[spurs-r-us]

If Timo can get a little bit more confident in front of goal I think we're on to a winner. He's making the runs, we just need to find him. Madders tried a few times today as well. Johnson, Deki, are both young, its easy to forget. With time they should both improve. Another season under their belts now and they should be capable of stepping up.

People have been saying this about Timo for four years at three different clubs. He is who he is. There's a reason Leipzig let us have him on a loan without an obligation. Great traits, but his finishing is an issue.

We know Deki can because we've seen it. He was one of, if not, the best RW in the league in the 5 months from when he joined, in terms of output.

Absolutely we have. I'm a huge fan of his. But don't pretend that teams didn't cotton onto his trick - get wide, cut in, finish - very early. He's still working through that. IMO he did his best work this season as a work horse out wide to let Porro and Madders play around him.

It's mad, one result, and its not even that bad of a one today in the grand scheme of things, has got people knee jerking about the squad, the manager, certain players.

If you're referring to my post, this is absolute nonsense and clearly a defence mechanism. Every top club is always looking to improve. Look at Arsenal spending 65m on another forward when they already had Jesus, Martinelli, Saka, Trossard, ESR. Just fortunate for the rest of the league they chose who they chose to spend it on.

Jesus, Martinelli, Saka, Trossard, Havertz
Alvarez, Haaland, Bernardo, Doku, Grealish
Diaz, Nunez, Salah, Jota, Gakpo

This is the benchmark. Do we have enough quality to get exactly where we need to be just yet? No. Obviously not. That's why gradual improvement is the answer, and no that isn't a slight on Ange or the team.

 

[spurs mental]

If you're referring to my post, this is absolute nonsense and clearly a defence mechanism. Every top club is always looking to improve

I wasn't referring to yours. And no, it's not a defence mechanism.

We're not even a year under Ange, we've vastly improver our squad already in the past two windows.

If anyone thinks we won't attempt to do so again in the summer then I don't know what to say.

 

[spurs-r-us]

I wasn't referring to yours. And no, it's not a defence mechanism.

We're not even a year under Ange, we've vastly improver our squad already in the past two windows.

If anyone thinks we won't attempt to do so again in the summer then I don't know what to say.

Fair enough. Anyone questioning the direction the club is going in is an idiot, but there aren't many of them. We undoubtedly are much better than we have been since Christmas 2018. We also have a lot to work on. My only slight criticism of Ange is that I don't think his subs tend to align with the state of many games he makes them in. Dragusin on for five minutes is so clunky at this stage. Gil isn't capable of holding up the ball in close games, even Veliz was better than that when he was fresh off the plane.

 

[spurs mental]

Fair enough. Anyone questioning the direction the club is going in is an idiot, but there aren't many of them. We undoubtedly are much better than we have been since Christmas 2018. We also have a lot to work on. My only slight criticism of Ange is that I don't think his subs tend to align with the state of many games he makes them in. Dragusin on for five minutes is so clunky at this stage. Gil isn't capable of holding up the ball in close games, even Veliz was better than that when he was fresh off the plane.

The subs today were weird but the issue is the depth and what we've had available too so I think we can cut him some slack on that.

I think the expectation ramped up after our great start and hasn't really been tempered even after all the injuries and issues we've had.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Jesus, Martinelli, Saka, Trossard, Havertz
Alvarez, Haaland, Bernardo, Doku, Grealish
Diaz, Nunez, Salah, Jota, Gakpo

This is the benchmark. Do we have enough quality to get exactly where we need to be just yet? No. Obviously not. That's why gradual improvement is the answer, and no that isn't a slight on Ange or the team.

We are effectively 3rd in the league in goals scored - despite missing Maddison for half the season, Werner being here for 3 of 23 - and a midfield that has been unsettled since the Chelsea match.

We are not lacking for goals, or goal scorers.


Our issue has not been scoring goals - it's been preventing goals. At that, as has been pointed out, is more of a midfield problem than it is anything else.

 

[spurs-r-us]

We are effectively 3rd in the league in goals scored - despite missing Maddison for half the season, Werner being here for 3 of 23 - and a midfield that has been unsettled since the Chelsea match.

We are not lacking for goals, or goal scorers.


Our issue has not been scoring goals - it's been preventing goals. At that, as has been pointed out, is more of a midfield problem than it is anything else.

Our defenders are contributing a number of goals there. 8 is a great tally for them. Of our 49 - a quality return - here's the breakdown.

Son - 12
Richarlison - 10
Kulusevski - 5
Madders - 3
Johnson 2
Lo Celso - 2
Sarr - 2
Bentancur - 1

Given we're in four comps next season, I think we need more firepower than that in the front three as we won't be able to play our best three every game.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

We have plenty of squad players and FFP is actually a thing now, we need to be careful or else we'll miss out on the players we want once the Kane transfer is irrelevant to our balance. Not saying we shouldn't, but need to see more.

Very fair points can’t argue with any of that, I just feel that for that value we won’t find any better and given when fit Son will start LW and we also have Johnson and Solomon who can play there, someone of Werner’s level would fit perfectly into our squad options, anyone better would mean we’d need to move Son back up top and Richy to the bench which wouldn’t be ideal tbh way Richy is playing. For me if we are going to seriously upgrade in the attacking areas then it’s a new RW we need, suppose we could splash the cash at RW then Johnson becomes Sons back-up but would also depend on if we think Veliz is ready to be back-up to Richy.

It’s a bit of a puzzle for Ange next summer we need enough quality to compete on 4 fronts but has to be balanced to not piss to many of them off for lack of game time.

 

[THOWIG]

There is a big summer ahead. We can’t be kind. Looking at the game today, I know we have players out, but we need a top class central midfielder and a winger/forward.

 

[mil1lion]

We have plenty of attacking players, sure, but we should absolutely be trying to upgrade if possible.

Sonny is excellent but turns 32 at the end of the season. He had a bad year last year, but has put that right in a huge way now. Richarlison has caught fire at last, and looks confident and fit after his surgery.

Werner: hard worker, quick, good dribbler, can't finish.
Johnson: young, quick, timorous.
Kulusevski: super hard worker, great dribbler, good finisher, slow, predictable.
Solomon: hard to say. Pretty good at Shakhtar, okay at Fulham. Injury prone. Good pace.
Gil: doesn't seem suited to the PL. Bodied so easily.
Veliz: TBD at Sevilla

Are you really comfortable with this when we're fighting on four fronts next season, even if its Europa as it currently is on track to be? I'm not.

Yes I'm happy with signing 1 more top quality forward, any more is not necessary or realistic even. We also need to allow time for the likes of Veliz, Kulusevski and Johnson to develop before bringing more in. See how they do first, the summer just needs 1 more attacker signed and we're good for now. We can't keep stockpiling attackers.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

I wonder what Ange sees his best XI as.

I know he’d likely tweak it a bit depending on the type of opposition but I’m thinking if we had a cup final tomorrow (or ever again ) it would be:

Vicario

Porro
Romero
VDV
Udogie

Bissouma
Sarr
Maddison

Kulu or Johnson or Werner
Richy
Son

Bentancur if he can find his best form then depending on the oppo could start as the 6 instead of Biss.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Our defenders are contributing a number of goals there. 8 is a great tally for them. Of our 49 - a quality return - here's the breakdown.

Son - 12
Richarlison - 10
Kulusevski - 5
Madders - 3
Johnson 2
Lo Celso - 2
Sarr - 2
Bentancur - 1

Given we're in four comps next season, I think we need more firepower than that in the front three as we won't be able to play our best three every game.

Yep way too overreliant on Son & Richy there.

Need to sign one more goalscoring attacking option imo whilst some of the rest develop.

Also would be nice if Gio could stay fit as if so I think he’d have chipped in with more like 4-5 or even 7-8 if he’d started every game this season.

 

[rossdapep]

I agree with your post almost entirely, but let's not forget the individual errors from the back five at the moment. Romero was imperious all game, but then that silly header in that silly high line for a deep free kick genuinely cost us a goal. Udogie gave the ball away twice against Brentford, which is always a risk in this system, but was nonetheless two individual errors. Vicario has looked flawless, then City stick Dias on him and he looks like he has no idea what to do from there on every subsequent corner. He's now flapping at every set piece looking for the punch, which he wasn't doing before when he was catching them, because he's so rattled. Free kick or not for the first goal, his confidence has taken a huge hit.

True but they werent making as many mistakes earlier in the season.

Thats cause they were growing in confidence with those around them.

I recall one game ( cant remember which exactly) but we had been fantastic all game, then Hojbjerg and Skipp came on.

Van de Ven suddenly started making mistakes and didnt look as assured.

Thats because he realised the player now in front of him cant do what the other guy could.

Thats way we are making more mistakes.

Doubt and uncertainty.

Pretty much every player has been knocked off their stride.

That will only return once most players are back and start to show form again.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

True but they werent making as many mistakes earlier in the season.

Thats cause they were growing in confidence with those around them.

I recall one game ( cant remember which exactly) but we had been fantastic all game, then Hojbjerg and Skipp came on.

Van de Ven suddenly started making mistakes and didnt look as assured.

Thats because he realised the player now in front of him cant do what the other guy could.

Thats way we are making more mistakes.

Doubt and uncertainty.

Pretty much every player has been knocked off their stride.

That will only return once most players are back and start to show form again.

True, better players make other players around them even better.

Cant wait for Ange to have Sonny & Biss back as well as Sarr able to start games again, so we can finish the season really strong.