Ange Postecoglou

[AlabamaSpur]

The only reason many folks are upset and pundits are giving him shit is because he’s largely overachieved this season. I hope Ange stays for a long time

 

[spPadre24]

/// Yes people will say "the full backs are too high"/"out of position" but the point is, we want to play in a way that keeps opponents pinned and suffocated - which funnily enough you can only do if you push the full backs on. ///


rubbish analysis.

if you push that high - your backs are not backs but attackers. You are relegating the defensive duties else where or non existent when opponents counter attack.

If all your backs are deployed this way surely you are creating plenty of chances, beating defenders to the byline , crossing the ball, shooting at the goals and scoring goals. How many shots on targetr did we have against Wolves? Do Wolves looked SUFFOCATED and PINNED?

“Nothing worse than losing so very tough,” Kulusevski said.

“We had a lot of chances, we can’t score them and then not enough discipline when we lost the ball.

“They had two or three counter-attacks where we’re not good enough and they made us pay. After that it is difficult to come back again in the game.

“We were too many guys up front. Too open and not running back as hard as we should. They could score a couple and that’s not good enough.”

Good defending more often than not is about attitude rather than tactics, you can do a whole lot of different things on the ground but if your heads not where it needs to be you will get torched no matter whether your defending high or low

 

[Kekerinho]

The moment I post on here after Ange is sacked, you delete your account.

And then you can log out and never come back 5 minutes later. Keep consistency for a few months and you’ve got a bet.

 

[Murphy]

“Nothing worse than losing so very tough,” Kulusevski said.

“We had a lot of chances, we can’t score them and then not enough discipline when we lost the ball.

“They had two or three counter-attacks where we’re not good enough and they made us pay. After that it is difficult to come back again in the game.

“We were too many guys up front. Too open and not running back as hard as we should. They could score a couple and that’s not good enough.”

Good defending more often than not is about attitude rather than tactics, you can do a whole lot of different things on the ground but if your heads not where it needs to be you will get torched no matter whether your defending high or low

How much running back did Deki do?

 

[pleb]

Angeball lives and dies on the play of the wingers. They're too slow, and they're are too passive.

I was surprised when Kulusevski was signed because he is not the type of winger the system relies on.

Wasn't Kulusevski signed before we signed Ange?

 

[John Thomas]

The only reason many folks are upset and pundits are giving him shit is because he’s largely overachieved this season. I hope Ange stays for a long time

How has he over achieved?

We were embarrassingly knocked out of both domestic cups in the early rounds without any European football to contend with and have been reduced to slogging out the rest of the season to see which European competition we can qualify for.
We're sitting below Villa, a club with hugely inferior resources
The team itself massively over achieved first 10 league games but now, as in previous seasons with previous managers, it's once again being found out.

 

[Brian Fantana]

Simon Davies talked about the club finding it easier to recruit at all levels if the team play a certain way and don’t deviate from that. So if you’re looking for a left winger at x or y level then you know what type to look for. Made me think about all this talk of a plan b and Ange talking about having a system but then having a different player to bring in to the side who has different characteristics from the one that he’s replacing. That’s the plan b right there. Bringing on players with different skill sets to change the game rather than changing the system. We just need to get better at recruiting the players to change the games. Didn’t he also say that after the match too, come to think of it?

 

[spPadre24]

How much running back did Deki do?

Not enough he reckons? I wasn't trying to call him out, team is in a flat spot finding it tough and making things tough and Ange needs to help them get their mojo back, I'm really hoping they can hit the reset button repeatedly these next 2 weeks and come out of it firing again

 

[erlee]

Angeball lives and dies on the play of the wingers. They're too slow, and they're are too passive.

I was surprised when Kulusevski was signed because he is not the type of winger the system relies on.

None of the other wingers are top notch - werner, Johnson, Gil, Solomon..
Top notch - Doku, Gnabry, Mahrez, Neymar
anyone that can dribble pass the defender/s at will

maybe Udogie should consider a career on the wings if he has the speed

 

[Matt1882]

I've already posted a tenth of the posts you have despite being on here 8 years less than you. Been posting on spurs forums for 15+ years.

I'm not some fairweather fanboy

You've been here 8 years less than him and posted a 10th of his posts. And? That makes sense.
He joined in 2015, which is 9 years ago. Which is not 15+ years.

 

[Starks]

Unbelievably well researched response, bravo sir. Completely agree.

It's really pissing me off hearing pundits, commentators, fans etc all leaning into the 'naive' and 'inflexible' and 'game management' and 'suicidal high line' buzzwords ... it's like people just want to find the easiest excuse for every poor result.

'Well they play this way and they didnt' win so it must be this thing'....

Except that's not even close to the truth. I agree with Ange in his assessment that for the most part we've defended really well during his tenure. Romero and VDV have for the most part been excellent, Vicario has been excellent, the full backs haven't even been caught out defensively very often. Yes people will say "the full backs are too high"/"out of position" but the point is, we want to play in a way that keeps opponents pinned and suffocated - which funnily enough you can only do if you push the full backs on.

The reality is we don't concede many goals due to balls over the top or because we got caught on the counter - a lot of goals we concede have been set piece related in games where we've had our first team back line playing. VDV has been pretty much the ultimate cheat code to playing the way Ange wants us to play.

Giving up chances in games will happen, and Ange knows that and accepts that. But seemingly nobody else is will accept that fact. It's like if you sit back and defend Mou/Conte style you have to accept you won't score as much. It's just how the tactic works. But when executed properly - it will yield results as we have seen in previous games. Put pressure high up the pitch and make the backline and midfield suffocate and most of the time these few chances a game to the opposition will not be enough to overcome our sustained pressure and chances.

Now we have a new challenge to overcome - the low block and especially the 5 at the back low block. This is nothing new - breaking down these teams has always been hard for any team, let alone a newly formed team full of new teammates.

Long story short I wish people could look beyond the end of their nose when analysing this style of play and give it a fucking chance to settle. We have already exceeded expectations but somehow that's not good enough and people still need to moan and poke holes in a fresh plan and project that is working for the most part.

Cracking post

 

[manmountainbutters]

Way too early for that, but he does need a plan B.

I could have told him that Royal and Davies couldn't do the same job as Porro and Udogie.

I don't understand this insistance that there is only one way to play football. Surely, the best managers mix it up?

Work on drawing the other team out and not getting exposed at the back.

We lack guile and footballing nouse. I see very few intelligent footballers in our setup.

Agreed. We have speed, but don't use it. We try, try and try to pass the ball into the net, when it's evidently being effectively countered. We're also too nice. Not convinced Ange's "we'll just have to cop it" is actually helping our cause, even if it is obviously decent and grown-up of him.

But I'm very much in the camp of give this guy another season and see where we are. All things considered, he's made a very good start.

 

[nicoclaesen]

None of the other wingers are top notch - werner, Johnson, Gil, Solomon..
Top notch - Doku, Gnabry, Mahrez, Neymar
anyone that can dribble pass the defender/s at will

maybe Udogie should consider a career on the wings if he has the speed

udogie and Porro could both play in our wide positions comfortably to be fair to them. They’d be more of a goal threat than what we have just now.
They are both just very good players that can play anywhere from full back,midfield and wider forwards.

 

[Shotgunofmichalebrow]

udogie and Porro could both play in our wide positions comfortably to be fair to them. They’d be more of a goal threat than what we have just now.
They are both just very good players that can play anywhere from full back,midfield and wider forwards.

They are what quality look like. Not Hojbjerg Royal GLC Johnson Werner .........Richarlison

 

[nicoclaesen]

They are what quality look like. Not Hojbjerg Royal GLC Johnson Werner .........Richarlison

Maybe signing two other top notch full backs is the way forward which would give us crazy options at full back and wide left and right.

 

[Matt1882]

How has he over achieved?

We were embarrassingly knocked out of both domestic cups in the early rounds without any European football to contend with and have been reduced to slogging out the rest of the season to see which European competition we can qualify for.
We're sitting below Villa, a club with hugely inferior resources
The team itself massively over achieved first 10 league games but now, as in previous seasons with previous managers, it's once again being found out.

Single style football = good until others suss it out.
Even the first 10 games hid some cracks. Late, late, late winners against 9 man Liverpool and shocking Sheff United. Lumbered to a win Vs Bournemouth away.

 

[Yiddy]

Savva's hit and miss, but the first 15mins of this is absolutely spot on.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAqqeieZfiI

The problem is this may well be true but there's a huge difference in performance of the club off the pitch to performance on it. Off of it suggests hugely successful club challenging for the big honours and at the top of the game. If you was to take someone that knows nothing of us on the pitch and show them all the off field stats they would come to the conclusion that we are one of the top clubs in the world that regularly succeeds on the pitch. It doesn't marry up once again we get to February with effectively nothing to play for except 4th-6th best league loser. Fans are tired of the same groundhog day feeling every season. We've not got close to a cup final for 3 seasons.

 

[citizenabel]

What if someone never wanted him in?

They're entitled to their opinion and colour of armchair they sit in.

 

[manmountainbutters]

How has he over achieved?

We were embarrassingly knocked out of both domestic cups in the early rounds without any European football to contend with and have been reduced to slogging out the rest of the season to see which European competition we can qualify for.
We're sitting below Villa, a club with hugely inferior resources
The team itself massively over achieved first 10 league games but now, as in previous seasons with previous managers, it's once again being found out.

Based on current league place, and cup performance, I'd agree he hasn't overachieved. Based on everything else, including a sense of identity, style of play and recruitment, I'd say he has done very well.

We are one of the richest clubs in the world now. We are at a different level, relative to other clubs, to when we finished mid table most years in the 2000s. We should expect more. We should expect CL, in the title mix, a domestic trophy now and again. But Ange needs time before we can really get a good sense of whether we are moving far enough in the right direction.

 

[Shadydan]

Based on current league place, and cup performance, I'd agree he hasn't overachieved. Based on everything else, including a sense of identity, style of play and recruitment, I'd say he has done very well.

We are one of the richest clubs in the world now. We are at a different level, relative to other clubs, to when we finished mid table most years in the 2000s. We should expect more. We should expect CL, in the title mix, a domestic trophy now and again. But Ange needs time before we can really get a good sense of whether we are moving far enough in the right direction.

Underachieved in the Carabao
Par for the FA Cup (due to opponent)
Overachieving in the league