From what I've been reading, we can expect more flexibility next season. So far he hasn't been changing "the system" for different opponents because the players still haven't learned the system yet.
I don't see any evidence from his career where he has shown any adaptability. In weak leagues in Australia, Japan and Scotland, he didn't need to adapt because those leagues lack the level of sophistication you see in coaching in the PL. When he took Celtic to the CL, he got done as the level of coaching went up. My other concern is our atrocious defending of set pieces. The journos have asked him many times about it and he has been dismissive and doesn't consider it to be an issue. I'm sorry, but it is. If the coaches I mentioned with better quality players than we have ever had had to adapt, so does he. I still believe in him, but I know the recent history of this club, and I fear that if these kinds of results continue, the fans and the hierarchy will lose patience.
I was going to post something similar to what funkfoot said; that the system can be adjusted, but not until its sufficiently ingrained into the squad. Not that the possibility that this is wrong isn't a concern, of course. As to Celtic getting done in the CL due to the higher level of coaching ... well, yes, CL coaching is better than in the Scottish Prem, but so are the quality of players, and pretty much everything else. I would presume it an indictment against Poch, because no one's gonna take a Scottish club far in that comp. It could be the case, of course, but it'd be tough to determine. Bottom line is that he's gonna be judged on year 2. We'll all see soon enough.
I hope he gets more than 2 years! He did say he needs 3 more transfer windows to build the kind of team he wants and after seeing us get battered at Fulham and Newcastle, I can see why.
Big transfer window coming up. So many needs, and so much dead wood to trim. We just learned that, contrary to expectations, Sarr will not count as a homegrown player next year. That makes the job even tougher - 3 of our 8 homegrown players are goalkeepers, and another one is Skipp, who will probably want to leave.
Simon Jordan CALLS Ange Postecoglou Comments 'SILLY' As He Reacts To Tottenham's Loss At Newcastle (youtube.com) Simon Jordan and Martin O'Neill touching on exactly what we were talking about ... learning the system and then pivoting from it ... next season being the focus ... the manager instilling his personality and methods into the culture of the club. I'd say they've been reading the forum ... but then, that'd be idiotic.
I watched a clip from the All or Nothing series that to me was very instructive. Jose and his assistant showed a clip of a goal we conceded in which our GK made a really good save, the rebound came off the post and then a third shot finally resulted in a goal. The coaches made the point that nobody was sprinting back to help the defenders and GK to prevent the second or third attempt. Fast forward to this season and you see us concede a lot of similar goals for the same reason. This to me is more concerning than transfer budgets or what position we need help in. The top teams win things, not just because they have good players, but good players who make that effort to sprint back. How many times have you seen someone like Jack Grealish or Bakayo Saka sprint back to snuff out opposing attacks? And how many times do you see any of our players do that? Why was our lot unable to match the energy and desire of Newcastle on Saturday? It comes down to what Conte said last season, which is when the chips are down, our lot take the easy way out. That is something you cannot change in one season or one transfer window,
Ange reminds me of Clough. Taking over from Mou and Conte, almost like taking over from Revie (although Revie was successful just prior to Clough at Leeds). Leeds made a mistake losing Clough in the end. Seems he's blown the gasket a bit as of late, but I hope he doesn't get too stubborn and learns on the job, taking his lessons in stride. Only if he doesn't do that do I think he will fail at Spurs. From the sounds of it, you already know which players you want to ship out and that you plan to spend this summer, so he should get the backing he needs.
First coach since Poch to last a whole season from start to finish, 5 years I think. Let's hope it continues.
We have been saying this every season since 2018 and guess what? Final game of the 2021-22 season, Conte names 4 youth players to the bench, says after the game that that is unacceptable. Final game of the 2023-24 season, Ange names 5 youth players to the bench. We are a club where Levy and the board have different objectives than the football manager. Until that changes, and I have seen no evidence to the contrary over the past 2 decades, we will not have success on the pitch.
Of course there's a bunch of youth players on the bench. Look who's injured: Bissouma, Lo Celso, Richarlison, Udogie, Davies. There's 5 spots right there.
I don't count Davies (not good enough to be in our squad) and Lo Celso (never fit), but that's precisely the problem. we lack the depth to survive these injuries. This has been a problem for donkeys years at the club and nothing has been done to solve it.
Whether you count them or not, they are counted in the premier league squad which is capped at 25 players. Funkfoot listed 5, and there are 4 more in the PL squad currently out: Solomon, Werner, Forster and Sessegnon. 9 in all, leaving 16 fit squad players. to be supplemented by u-21s in matchday squads. Now, the goalie backups Austin and Whiteman are full squad members, and you've counted them as youth: if you're correct about that, then Daniel could have added 2 senior players in their place to the PL squad - though they would both have to be home grown. But this factor aside, any team - Man City or anyone - would have to be naming youth players in the face of this many injuries. It's not a depth issue, if anything it's an injury management issue. But we haven't been the worst for that this year.
When has either of those goalkeepers appeared in the first team? Never. And they probably never will. None of the teams ahead of us are naming what are effectively 2 reserve team goalkeepers on their bench. Our squad has been woefully inadequate for a number of years now and has never been improved. Unless that changes, we will never win anything.
I think you need 3 goalies in your squad - at a pinch, 2 senior + a U21 if they were strong. I looked up the 2 I named and they're both 25. But we have 4 total in the senior squad so I agree that's at least 1 spot that could have been better used.
Not a bad first year. Six more points, two more wins, two fewer losses, one more home win, one more away win, two fewer away losses, four more away points. Four more goals scored (without Harry Kane), two fewer conceded, +6 goal difference. Only AVB has won more games in a first season as a Tottenham coach. Next season will be much more difficult. We still need to overhaul the squad, bring in quality players, and deal with the increased number of fixtures.
James Maddison celebrates his goal during the friendly between Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United at Melbourne Cricket Ground James Maddison believes Tottenham can "achieve big things" under Ange Postecoglou following his first year of working under the Australian. Spurs finished fifth under Postecoglou this season, with a higher points tally, more goals scored, fewer conceded and a better style of football on the whole than the previous campaign before his arrival. The 58-year-old has said that he is looking for Tottenham to push on and challenge for the Premier League title next season. Maddison has contributed nine assists and four goals in 28 Premier League games since arriving in north London last summer. On Wednesday evening, the 27-year-old England international scored Spurs' goal in their 1-1 draw against Newcastle in a post-season friendly in Melbourne, which ended with a penalty shoot-out that Eddie Howe's men won, and Maddison got to see almost 80,000 roar their support for Postecoglou in his hometown at the MCG. The midfielder, one of Tottenham's vice-captains, believes big things are on the horizon with the Australian and has relished their first season together. "Yeah he's quite popular isn't he? Ange is a good man. He's a great character. I love working for him and to see him in his country with the support he gets here was nice to see," he said. "The first season of any new project is always challenging. It has its ups and downs. I'm really enjoying working for him, genuinely, and I think we can achieve big things hopefully. So the first year of many I hope. "We're very appreciative of the support we've got over here, especially with our gaffer being Australian. The warm welcome was fantastic and we're very appreciative. If this is the case then next season's pivotal. It's vital we improve the defence even though it did better than last season. A decent striker or two and we're in The CL.
A major issue we have (and this predates Ange) is our players unable to stay fit. We were only playing once a week and our players were dropping like flies and not looking good when they came back from their injuries. By the end of the season, Ange was naming 5 reserve players to the bench. We are going to be playing twice a week next season, and we are going to need a major overhaul to compete for honours next season.