Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[ItsBoris]

Problem with this view for me is that this game was our no 1 home match of the season, fans made that clear. The players put in an unusually large effort.

They don't play at this intensity normally unfortunately.

That's true and one thing I found interesting is in 2 of Ange's post match interviews he said he wishes certain other players had some of what Romero has. Sounds like he's calling out some of the players for bad effort. Not sure who he means but I'm not sure if that's a good sign that he's basically throwing some of the under the bus without naming names.

 

[Impspur1]

I absolutely am not spouting any twitter knee jerk nonsense. You tell me how I am wrong in my estimation he has been figured out and we are sitting ducks to any team. Our performances since end of October have been poor. I initially taught this was to do with suspentions and injuries but as players have returned performances have still been poor. This is pre Poch Tottenham, easy to play against and easy to beat

When we held city to a 3-3, Arsenal to a 2-2 beat Liverpool, Newcastle 4-1. Not saying everything is perfect far from it but just that the reasons you state could possibly be addressed by adding the right players in the same way Jose and conte needed theirs

 

[ultimateloner]

Nope, City had 62% possession in that game. The counter example to what you're saying is that City don't really change their game, although they do make adjustments depending on the opponent. I've never seen City sitting back and playing a low block though. They don't make that kind of compromise and that's partly why they've dominated the league these last few years.

Real Madrid is basically a team custom made to kill teams like City that play a high line. Even then they were lucky to get through the CL tie. And they aren't a team that racks up points week after week in the league with the same efficient that Man City does.

Real Madrid players have an admirable level of concentration throughout the sqaud. They can make good decisions when under pressure. The same can't be said of our team.

This is the running theme of our club. It's what makes us Spursy. We lack mental strength. By this I don't mean the Mourinho/Conte type bravados; those are superficial and verging on bullying. I mean the grit to maintain focus and concentration, the belief that you can pounce when an opportunity arises, and the determination to stay in the game when it's going against you.

As a team we lack those qualities. The closest we had was the Poch-era team but that's cuz we had characters like Moura, Lamela etc. I'm unsure how a coach can improve this. Many have tried and few have succeeded; I think only Poch had sort of cracked it in our recent history.

 

[ultimateloner]

That's true and one thing I found interesting is in 2 of Ange's post match interviews he said he wishes certain other players had some of what Romero has. Sounds like he's calling out some of the players for bad effort. Not sure who he means but I'm not sure if that's a good sign that he's basically throwing some of the under the bus without naming names.

I don't think he's referring to effort. The running theme is 'focus on details'. This would mean concentration/awareness etc.

 

[nedley]

I reckon 99.9% of fans would have had Sarr in this starting 11.

The selection was shit. Full stop.

Well there's the 0.1% that wouldn't have selected Sarr.

 

[purplemonkey]

Ange generally speaks a lot of sense, but I found his reasoning for not addressing defensive set pieces quite concerning.

We have had more time on the training ground than we could possibly hope for with no Europe and virtually no cups. The scheduling issues we’ve faced have left us with longer gaps between fixtures than normal. There is absolutely no excuse for not working on a fix. That’s even something that the coaching staff could have been working on during one of the many frequent international breaks that Ange has complained about.

This is precisely the time when we should be focusing on the “details”. All of the big picture stuff that I think Ange is fixated on (e.g. control, fluency, potency, mentality) will naturally come with momentum and rhythm as players build a better understanding and connection with each other through more frequent match practice. We’ll have no shortage of games next season, but time on the training ground for deep and detailed work on tactics, shape, set pieces etc will all be at a premium.

What’s even more concerning though is that the team has regressed in almost every facet of our game as the season has gone on, so you have to question whether what’s going on in training is really good enough.

 

[Impspur1]

I argued exactly the same for Conte and Jose so I'll repeat what I said for both of them.

Hiring a manager with a specific style and principles of play, means he needs specific players with specific skill sets to make that work. This is 3 managers now Levy has hired in this mould and 2 of them didn't get all those players they needed. They got a token gesture and then some others to make up the numbers.

Either hire flexible coaches, or back one sufficiently and see it through.

And before anyone starts going on about how much was spent for Conte or Jose when I say backing them sufficiently I mean with players they want and need, not players they haven't asked for(regardless of how good they are) but cost a lot of money.

Exactly this. If you go back to the beginning of the season Everyman and his dog was saying how exciting And just needs the right players and he needs time. Surprise surprise this short term mentality that exists with a lot of supporters rears its head and people are judging before he has what he needs to do what he was hired for!

 

[For the love of Spurs]

Exactly this. If you go back to the beginning of the season Everyman and his dog was saying how exciting And just needs the right players and he needs time. Surprise surprise this short term mentality that exists with a lot of supporters rears its head and people are judging before he has what he needs to do what he was hired for!

The short term mentality starts at the top. We have never truly backed a manager, we even sack managers like Jol when most fans wanted him to stay then did net zero with Poch. The club might have changed, maybe Munn in the CFO role with Lange means things are different now. However it’s 20 plus years of behaviour embedded at the club. This summer I do hope we put a proper wedge of cash down to fix all of our issues, not some or most but all and make it clear that Ange or at least this style of football is where we are going and we are going to see the job through. There cannot be hesitation from the club, no more half arsed way of doing it. With continued and proper commitment I hope that will also change the attitude of the fanbase but the fanbase won’t change unless the club show guts and direction.

 

[T-Bone]

When we held city to a 3-3, Arsenal to a 2-2 beat Liverpool, Newcastle 4-1. Not saying everything is perfect far from it but just that the reasons you state could possibly be addressed by adding the right players in the same way Jose and conte needed theirs

All early in the season. Found out. Tactically naive and though I hope I am wrong I think come October we will be on manager hunt

 

[Trix]

Exactly this. If you go back to the beginning of the season Everyman and his dog was saying how exciting And just needs the right players and he needs time. Surprise surprise this short term mentality that exists with a lot of supporters rears its head and people are judging before he has what he needs to do what he was hired for!

I've had my doubts since October/November time which I've been pretty public about, and plenty are now agreeing with my early concerns.

I've also said throughout I can see what he's trying to achieve and if he gets what he needs I think it could be a success if he tweaks and adapts what we've done this season, which hopefully he will.

 

[rossdapep]

I agree.

Thought we were causing them a lot of problems by winning the ball in their build up.

We have to give Ange time and see where it leads to.

I think people are also reading his comments a little incorrectly.

I think what he is saying is of he thought set pieces made the biggest difference to making us a better team he'd work on that.

But he has limited time and he believes that drilling a way of playing into the team will be more beneficial long term.

Set pieces and the smaller details can be worked on deeper later.

Right now, we need to be a better team with and without the ball and are working on stuff like shape and patterns.

I also think Ange believes we need to cut out corners quicker to, which was our own undoing.

To add.

For the first two years of Artetas time, Arsenal were pretty poor in the final third and he would get criticised for not working with players like Aubameyang who had suddenly stopped scoring.

that's cause he was working on Arsenal's structure and NOT to Aubameyangs strengths.

The long term benefit.

PEA didn't adapt to it so they got rid.

We have to let Ange do the same.

We have too many players poor aerially, perhaps Ange feels personnel isn't right.

Arsenal and Everton are bigger teams than us, or at least more proactive aerially.

Perhaps that's what Ange is getting at as well? He needs players who take those responsibilities themselves.

 

[rossdapep]

I've had my doubts since October/November time which I've been pretty public about, and plenty are now agreeing with my early concerns.

I've also said throughout I can see what he's trying to achieve and if he gets what he needs I think it could be a success if he tweaks and adapts what we've done this season, which hopefully he will.

I think he will tweak and adapt.

I think he is just getting his imprint their first and with the players he knows will 100% part of it going forward.

Once he's established that, should be easier to tweak

 

[Trent Crimm]

Really sorry but couldn’t disagree more, Arteta has had 5 years and an absolute fortune to shape his team and we were still competitive. We’ve beaten some top sides this season and lost to some too. We cannot keep having this attitude of hiring and firing a manager. It’s clear he has a unique way of playing that most agreed start of season needed a certain skill set of players and these would take more than a season to get in. Im going to give him next season and see if we are continuing to progress as we have.

I hate seeing this. Arsenal are a much better run club these days.

 

[rossdapep]

That's true and one thing I found interesting is in 2 of Ange's post match interviews he said he wishes certain other players had some of what Romero has. Sounds like he's calling out some of the players for bad effort. Not sure who he means but I'm not sure if that's a good sign that he's basically throwing some of the under the bus without naming names.

I don't think he's necessarily calling anyone out.

I think he's saying Romero's standard is what you need to have to succeed.

More highlighting what is required rather than digging anyone out.

 

[ItsBoris]

I don't think he's necessarily calling anyone out.

I think he's saying Romero's standard is what you need to have to succeed.

More highlighting what is required rather than digging anyone out.

He said twice something along the lines of "I wish I could put that in some of the other players". After a long think about his wording. Suggest you watch it, I certainly interpreted it as saying that some of players don't have the right attitude or mentality.

He also said some will buy into it and some won't, again suggesting that some are and some aren't.

Edit, his exact words: "I've just got to get some of what's in him into some of the others". And then in a separate interview "Cuti was outstanding. We just needed more of it from others". Idk saying that twice to me suggests he's unhappy with the application of some other players.

 

[Cambridge Spur]

I love Ange as a person and I truly want him to succeed. I think it’s the game as a whole that I struggle with nowadays. I haven’t missed a home game in god knows how long, the stadiums nice, the shops nice and the pre game entertainment is all very well done but as for the football, I find it really difficult to watch. To me, it’s fucking boring! The passing, the cheating, time wasting, var, crap refs, more passing, no shooting! Like I say, boring. I feel like a 45 year old dinosaur, where’s the superstars? What happened to taking on a player or smashing one in from 25 yards? I looked at Arsenal’s lineup before kick off and I thought, really?! Is that it? Trossard, Havertz, Tomiyasu, White….just well drilled players who spend the whole game cheating to get a result. They’re nothing special and we just played straight into their hands. Crap tactics, poor defending and no fight. I’m happy to give Ange time because we can’t keep chopping and changing, but honestly I’m not sure I even care. I’m truly falling out of love with the game.

 

[Impspur1]

I think he will tweak and adapt.

I think he is just getting his imprint their first and with the players he knows will 100% part of it going forward.

Once he's established that, should be easier to tweak

I’m pretty sure I read a couple of the knowledgeable guys on here saying when he was appointed that’s what he tends to do. Season 1 is laying the foundations of an ethos and moving on it’s about implementing that… or words to that effect

 

[Ghost Hardware]

This summer he needs to be properly backed. Until he has a full squad of players he fully trusts none of us will have any real idea of what he’s capable of. It was a disappointing result and there were certainly parts of our performance that were significantly below the required level. But there were other parts that were very good and based on the overall balance of play I think you could make a strong argument for us actually deserving to win it. A mixed bag and a bad result.

His comments about set pieces are obviously concerning but at this stage of the season I can understand why he’s saying what he’s saying. He is probably just defending his back room team in the public eye, im sure behind the scenes he will be disappointed by our performance in that are. Likewise he will probably think it’s something that will need to be properly addressed in the summer not at the tail end of the season. That probably goes for a few tactical issues throughout the team.

Ultimately the only thing that’s really bothering me at the moment is his team selection and subs. He needs to drop Maddison for example, I get that he was trying to play him into form but at this point I think that has completely backfired. Maddison needs to understand that he is not undroppable. Furthermore, I actually think Son as a striker can work but only against certain teams, today was not going to be one of those teams.

In general I have never liked favouritism when picking players. In short periods I get it. Trying to get a player to play into form can work sometimes and if you have a world class player I can understand giving him more time. But it doesn’t work every time. Ultimately if a player is performing below his level for more then a few games then he needs to be benched. Nobody should be undroppable. It only breads complacency.

Essentially Ange needs a full squad of players he trusts that all know his system. In the short term all I hope to see is more ruthless (within reason) player management. Next season tho will be a different matter provided he gets given the players he wants. When/if that happens we can all pile on or praise him like a god depending on his/our performances and where you’re feeling’s lie. For the meantime we just have to hump it out until the end of the season and take the rough with the smooth. Not always in equal measure.

 

[McFlash]

We have to give a manager some time to build a team and mentality, not keep jumping to the "he'll be gone by October" type shit.
This season was always going to be a bumpy learning curve, for both the squad and the manager but I'm confident that next season will see us as a much improved team.

If you're getting cold feet about Ange already, you're never going to see any success for this club because at one point, we've got to see a process through and not keep lurching from one manager to the next.

Hopefully, the board are more committed to the managers ideas than much of the fan base appear to be because if not, we really are doomed to an incessant cycle of constant rebuilding.

 

[Jamturk]

How much of our problems with set pieces is down to personnel?

I look through our team and I see no-one dominant in the air, not even the CB's.