Ange Postecoglou: 'He made you feel invincible' - what Tottenham can expect from new boss

1 year ago 27

Ange Postecoglou whitethorn not beryllium the high-profile assignment immoderate Tottenham Hotspur fans were calling for but the 57-year-old's CV shows helium could beryllium the antidote to a nine successful superior request of direction.

The archetypal Australian to negociate successful the Premier League volition beryllium tasked with reenergising a patchwork squad - that whitethorn oregon whitethorn not see the top Spurs subordinate of a procreation in Harry Kane - cultivating a much affirmative and productive civilization and creating a marque of attacking shot craved by the fanbase since the extremity of the Mauricio Pochettino reign.

Postecoglou has a way grounds of delivering connected the supra with erstwhile rebuilding jobs starring to league titles successful Australia, Japan and astir precocious a Scottish treble with Celtic.

He besides has a self-proposed committedness to playing dynamic, attacking and energetic shot helium demands indispensable beryllium "pleasing to the eye" but "with a purpose".

Matt Smith won back-to-back titles nether Postecoglou astatine Brisbane Roar and says the brag was not contented with simply winning, helium wanted to "change the full scope of however Australian shot was perceived".

"Ange's monolithic spot is his quality to beryllium capable to bring players on that travel and bargain into what helium does," the erstwhile Brisbane skipper tells BBC Sport.

"There's zero tolerance for players that don't privation to follow. We were ne'er made to consciousness comfortable, we were ever pushing to beryllium better, ever developing, ever moving harder than immoderate radical I've experienced before.

"It didn't substance if you were the biggest subordinate successful the dressing country oregon the youngest - if you weren't pulling your value oregon pursuing his principles, helium was precise ruthless."

After winning the Asian Cup with Australia, Postecoglou created a akin bequest successful Japan. He took implicit a Yokohama F Marinos broadside suffering from an "identity crisis" and turned them into J League champions.

"Ange truly gave the nine purpose," explains Dan Orlowitz from the Japan Times.

"It was a refreshing benignant of shot that the league hadn't truly seen. Even erstwhile YFM struggled results-wise successful 2018 it was precise wide that the players and supra each Ange believed successful what helium was doing.

"The fans believed successful him arsenic a result, and implicit the adjacent twelvemonth helium fto spell of players who weren't a bully acceptable for the strategy and brought successful players who were a large fit. All of that added up to the triumph of 2019.

"It was precisely what you've seen astatine Celtic - not conscionable 11 players, but 11 attackers, a disciplined and fluid build-up from container to container that moved similar h2o and was nigh unstoppable.

"YFM fans loved it and opposing fans respected it - adjacent erstwhile they were connected the incorrect extremity - due to the fact that it was conscionable specified a joyousness to watch."

Wherever Postecoglou's unsocial and varied footballing travel has taken him, helium has silenced immoderate sceptics.

He was comparatively chartless to Celtic fans erstwhile helium arrived successful Glasgow 2 years ago.

But connected the time his departure was announced, aft winning 5 of the six home trophies disposable to him, main enforcement Michael Nicholson labelled the Australian a "great shot manager and a bully man".

"He understands what makes players tick, helium commands respect, helium has a presence, he's a motivator and he's got a bully grounds successful the transportation market," said BBC Sport Scotland's main sportswriter Tom English.

"His mantra is 'we ne'er stop'. He's a pugnacious cookie. He's not immoderate benignant of Australian Ted Lasso, but helium has an inspirational prime - helium gets people. He loves a task and gathering thing from the crushed up."

His caller boss, president Daniel Levy, has already identified Postecoglou's "strong way grounds of processing players" and "understanding of the value of the nexus from the academy".

That is thing Spurs lacked during the tenure of their 2 erstwhile bosses, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte - who were brought successful arsenic "win-now" appointments and successful instrumentality demanded players of akin ilk.

Smith, 1 of 11 players recruited erstwhile Postecoglou ruthlessly went astir shaping his squad earlier a archetypal afloat play astatine Brisbane, says the Australian ne'er wastes an accidental to amended players.

"There is nary hiding," adds Smith. "He had an uncanny quality of knowing however to motivate you and saying the close things.

"His connection was ever precise clear. It was his way, helium backed his mode and helium backed and supported you. He made you consciousness invincible."

At Tottenham, 1 situation facing Postecoglou erstwhile helium analyses his caller squad volition beryllium deciding which players, including those seemingly formed retired and returning from loans, are susceptible of playing the front-foot shot helium demands.

Smith remembers being called retired successful his archetypal grooming league for attempting a 60-yard diagonal pass.

"He conscionable pulled maine up consecutive distant and said 'Matt, we don't bash that here. You look for operation passes, you look for abbreviated passes, you fig retired and enactment retired the problems'," explains the erstwhile defender.

"We trained harder than we played for the bulk of the time. We were ever playing retired from the back, ever uncovering angles and pockets and spaces, manipulating lines and moving connected 3 oregon 4 antithetic segments of play.

"He loves his teams to person the ball, truthful helium is not a manager who is going to beryllium backmost and look to counter. He volition beryllium precise assertive connected the beforehand foot. That was a simultaneous demand, that whenever we mislaid it we would triumph it backmost precocious and quickly.

"It was high-risk backmost then, but that was his ethos - ne'er to get comfortable, ne'er to presume that anybody is safe, and that truly propelled the group."

After a turbulent fewer years, Spurs person besides appointed idiosyncratic who, successful his ain words, understands the "privilege" of managing a apical club.

"I recognize what an honorable day's enactment is about," Postecoglou, who near the subject junta authorities successful Greece astatine the property of 5 and relocated to Melbourne with parents, said aft taking the Celtic job.

"I don't consciousness similar I americium moving each day, I consciousness similar I americium surviving a imagination that was founded by different people's sacrifice, peculiarly my parents."

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