Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[Sp3akerboxxx]

That's not how Klopp, Guardiola or for that matter Atreta built their teams. They were uncompromising about their system

They all evolved their systems.

Man city today do not play the same way they did in 2016.

 

[Joe Bjorn Hotspur]

Ha ha you can see that everyone is tiptoeing around the "he's got to go" line, waiting for someone else to say it.

Hope people aren’t going onboard that train! The performance today was woeful.

In Ange’s first season a few thrashings were and still are likely. Hopefully things can be ironed out over the summer not just with signings but also blending in a few of the academy players.

Might be unpopular saying this but one of the Europa competitions may be a blessing in disguise to get that blend and competition for places going. We are not up to CL standard at all. Astonishing how Ange got this side in the race for top 4 to be fair.

I and I reckon most would’ve been thinking that’s an alright start top 6/7 before a ball was kicked by Spurs this season.

 

[Misfit]

We're embarking on an experiment to see whether you can play and achieve results like Citeh on a smaller budget. Obviously that will require greater patience but that seems to be the whole project here. Build it a little more slowly and suffer the ups and down that come without the instant financial salves they have had in the meantime.

We'll only know for sure if there's any hope after another couple of seasons and by next season we might have a better idea of the chances.

It might well end up being a total failure of course.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

There's no doubt at all that the first 10 games created an expectation that realistically we were never likely to deliver on over a full season.

But we have two glaring structural issues that show absolutely no signs of being fixed. Defending against counter attacks and defending set pieces. It's those two same issues week after week after week.

At home we usually create enough chances to win anyway, but that deserts us far too often away from home and that's why games like today and Fulham away happen.

Very good points.

 

[arunspurs]

Man for man marking can be easily beaten, if players in midfield are brave and tenacious.
Today, Newcastle went man for man not allowing us to build up. Vicario had no Richarlison to hit upfront as well .

Bissouma went into his shell, gave away possession, not fight, being a coward. To fight I mean to be busy & alert to get to those 2nd balls. Bissouma got bullied, Maddison got bullied but were just whining at ref instead of taking the game into their hands.

And Ange let it happen. Why the fuck Bissouma been started ? He did the exact same thing last week and was subbed at HT. ? Why does Ange have to play him ? For what reason Skipp is not even in matchday squad ? Is Skipp that far worse than this Bissouma ? Ange has to take the blame for getting the selection wrong

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

The difference between Ange and the likes of Klopp, Guardiola, Artwata etc is that they're *capable* of being dynamic with their system and switching to a more pragmatic style if it's needed. We just do the same shit over and over again, "plan B is to do plan A better" is all good and well when games are being won but when they're not, the team just gets made to look totally impotent. And we're conceding absolutely comical goals because our coach and his team very obviously can't (or don't think they need to) coach a defence. "Have a fast centre back and hope for the best" isn't a sustainable tactic.

The alarm bells are getting louder.

That’s is a fair point. Plan A has been be incredibly effective for it to be the only option.

I hope with new signings it can be brilliant but true at times Pep & Legohead do adapt and go a touch more solid when needed, Klopp seems to keep his teams playing the same over and over tbh.

 

[WhiteStripe]

Can't keep changing coaches and expect to ever progress.

Agree. I don’t want change. But you know it will be the case.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Top team should never lose like this, manager should have to explain himself to his boss after this game.

Liverpool lost 3-0 at home midweek…

Arsenal got beat badly a few times under Arteta even in his 2nd season…

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Ange tactics are really demanding on players. It's been said multiple times. It worked like a charm at the start of the season because everyone was at 100%. As the season advanced players got more fatigued, and we play worse every week.
This won't change until Ange changes his tactics to something more balanced. Zone marking on set pieces, high line. This is suicide if players are tired

I’ve been saying to a Utd friend of mine for a while that I’m really concerned about next season when we start playing two games a week regularly for exactly this reason.

Obviously one hopes that over the summer we will go strong in the market so that we have more of his players. Today for example I felt a player like Gio would have helped a lot in retaining possession but Ange clearly doesn’t see him as one of his players so was never going to start him. Next season he will have to rotate a lot and will have to get the balance right. He clearly isn’t sure what the right balance for the midfield is for example as he keeps on changing it.

He got completely tactically owned today but if this game had happened in the first half of the season I don’t see this happening. If he doesn’t adapt his tactics then we are going to need a big squad of players Ange trusts in order to push on from here.

 

[arunspurs]

Liverpool lost 3-0 at home midweek…

Arsenal got beat badly a few times under Arteta even in his 2nd season…

Liverpool benched half their first team and thought they would get away with it
Arsenal - true. But Arteta changed his style and adapted. Jury is still out on how Ange will handle things if opponents worked his tactics out

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

First time I am losing confidence on Ange. Not because of his plan A only tactics. But somehow his reluctance to bench Bissouma. Bissouma been costing us for a while now. And Ange showing no inclination to have bench him

If he starts Bissouma against Arsneal, I am already done with him. It would give me zero confidence in Ange to get it right.

Most managers have their favourites and whilst I agree PEH deserved to start, I think it’s a bit OTT for that to be a reason to ‘already be done with him’.

For all we know Ange might have said to Lange that he wants a top class new CDM in summer as a priority and is just sticking with biss for now because he knows PEH is likely off in the summer.

 

[Trent Crimm]

Liverpool lost 3-0 at home midweek…

Arsenal got beat badly a few times under Arteta even in his 2nd season…

But do we care about other teams as a comparison ? I don’t. I care about us.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Liverpool benched half their first team and thought they would get away with it
Arsenal - true. But Arteta changed his style and adapted. Jury is still out on how Ange will handle things if opponents worked his tactics out

Fair mate and yep let’s see how it all goes

 

[Gassin's finest]

I give him until December, that'll be the usual 18 month cycle completed. Then we'll just do this dance again.

 

[Gb160]

We're embarking on an experiment to see whether you can play and achieve results like Citeh on a smaller budget.

Mate they're probably the best club side on the planet. We'll never get anywhere near that level with our owners.

 

[14/04/91]

We have all week to prepare and we look massively worse than we did after only 8 games.
Shape defensively is a joke, players are jogging around and in possession we look lethargic particularly against deeper teams.

Worryingly, there is a real lack of desire being shown too. There are quite a few culprits.

We need a positive end to the season otherwise he starts next season under the spotlight

 

[Misfit]

Mate they're probably the best club side on the planet. We'll never get anywhere near that level with our owners.

That's my suspicion. We might maybe get ourselves back in and around the top 4 but more than that without the naked financial doping for a decade+, I'm very sceptical.

 

[bubble07]

But do we care about other teams as a comparison ? I don’t. I care about us.

Comparing also adds some perspective though

 

[parj]

I think Ange needs two top class DMs, I'm talking £60m+ so that if one gets injured or struggles, we have a back up. I can't believe Skipp is as bad as GLC that he can't be given a chance to see if he plays better.

We also need an upgrade on Maddison. Someone who can actually play slow and quick football, and be the true link in attack.

 

[daniel chagas]

Man for man marking can be easily beaten, if players in midfield are brave and tenacious.
Today, Newcastle went man for man not allowing us to build up. Vicario had no Richarlison to hit upfront as well .

Bissouma went into his shell, gave away possession, not fight, being a coward. To fight I mean to be busy & alert to get to those 2nd balls. Bissouma got bullied, Maddison got bullied but were just whining at ref instead of taking the game into their hands.

And Ange let it happen. Why the fuck Bissouma been started ? He did the exact same thing last week and was subbed at HT. ? Why does Ange have to play him ? For what reason Skipp is not even in matchday squad ? Is Skipp that far worse than this Bissouma ? Ange has to take the blame for getting the selection wrong

I'm 100% behind this. We won't be a serious club if Ange continues to start at Bissouma, I don't care if that could lower his confidence, him playing every week is our main weakness. This is so frustrating because it is so obvious.