Ange Postecoglou | New Spurs boss on 4 year contract

He had 9 men ffs!! so what

Did you watch the game? you’re taking all the Chelsea chances against 9 men and are almost celebrating them whilst ignoring the fact it was 2-1 until the 94h minute and Chelsea were on the back foot having faces 3 rapid chances from Spurs.

Feck me let’s just sit back with 9 men for 50 odd minutes. If that games finishes 2-1 Poch is facing massive questions, 2 shitty 95 and 97 min goals change nothing for me
It was only 2-1 in the 94th minute because Chelsea are dreadful with their finishing though, you say that as if it was because of Spurs high line. If Chelsea were even 10% better this game could have ended 10-1
 
Or we could look at the defeat to Wigan, the defeat marginal defeat to City, and especially the draw against Everton in the run in of the season as the issue. We played too negative back then and allowed the other teams took initiative which killed us. The bigger picture was SAF time was near the end, he did what he knew was best then, but as the football move on with time, the mindset to play on front foot to get more favorable result and cut the loss with some freak game here and there. Can't be stuck in what SAF would do mode forever. It's over a decade now since he retired.

Played too negative while banging 90 goals is a wild one.
 
You keep mentioning 'already lost', well they should've just walked off the pitch when down to 9 men then.

At the end of the day it's a results based business, if you think playing the way Spurs played down to 9 men was the best and most probable way of Spurs somehow scraping a result then that's your opinion.

I do not think the same way.

Fair enough football is a game of opinions. Rather see this approach tonight in the face of adversity than sitting back with 9 men sat in the box hoofing balls clear but oh well
 
2 of them were set pieces though, it's not like they were cutting Chelsea wide open. They also conceded at least 6 one v one opportunities against a team that has struggled in front of goal. Like I said Nico Jackson has scored more goals in the second half than he has all season and will most likely not score 3 in his next 10 epl fixtures...

You're saying this now, if this was Liverpool or City it would be one of the worst losses in epl history and if it was Arsenal I don't think Spurs fans will be as forgiving and as happy with the resut.

Why are you assuming he'd use the same tactic against sides that are far more competent than Chelsea? Surely part of the calculus is whether or not the opposition is good at finishing chances - if they aren't then all the more reason to take risks.
 
Was madness to watch. Spurs didn’t even give it a go as I’ve seen some saying. they didn’t create a chance other than 2 free kicks and the one effort from song, it’s not as if they were playing high line and actually having the ball, they were just letting Chelsea play ball after ball behind them, luckily for them Chelsea were shit. Surely they would have been better defending deep and Atleast leaving son to have some space to run in behind on a counter attack
 
Fair enough football is a game of opinions. Rather see this approach tonight in the face of adversity than sitting back with 9 men sat in the box hoofing balls clear but oh well
Play 9 men against Nick Jackson and you're just asking for trouble
 
The outcome is a loss. It's the same. People are getting too hung up on the Liverpool effort, the likelihood is they would of lost by a few even parking the bus too. Liverpool's effort was insane, with a better set of players, built better to do it.

And I praise Fergie for attempting to stay in that game too.
Just going to ignore goal difference then? I'm not even presenting another way of playing as the "better way", I'm just highlighting the obvious issues with the way he played and also the objectively worse outcome by playing that way.
Or we could look at the defeat to Wigan, the defeat marginal defeat to City, and especially the draw against Everton in the run in of the season as the issue. We played too negative back then and allowed the other teams took initiative which killed us. The bigger picture was SAF time was near the end, he did what he knew was best then, but as the football move on with time, the mindset to play on front foot to get more favorable result and cut the loss with some freak game here and there. Can't be stuck in what SAF would do mode forever. It's over a decade now since he retired.
I'm not stuck in what would SAF do mode? I'm highlighting that goal difference is important. Why is this presented as some sort of binary choice, like a tap you can only turn on or off? You can definitely still play on the front foot with 11 men and then on the very rare occasion you go down to 9, not play stupidly high and open.
 
Believe me Every fan would rather lose 2-1 or even 3-1 with your defenders defending their 18 yard box and not throwing their goalkeeper under the bus than lose 4-1 to Shitty team while getting played through like amateurs. What was even the point of the high press?? It wasn't even that effective and with less men it was always going to fail.
Edit: There was nothing to learn here from Ange in any way. Chelsea are shit that's nothing new, you can't successfully press high against a PL team with 2 men down and expect to succeed everybody knows that too. If he really wanted to learn something he would have tried to set up his team to defend the box in that second half to see how well his team can play on the backfoot. This was not a learning experience in any way for him.
Speak for yourself, you dont know what every fan would think.
 
Hes the media's darling atm, that'll soon change if he carries on with his kamikaze tactics.
It's an interesting test for him now.

Wolves away next, then some toughies. Without two of their backline, Madison possibly out. When the pressure's on will Spurs grind out wins?

They create so many chances which is a sign of a good team. Also you won't get this wishy-washy guff that most managers come out with. Ange will be brutally honest.
 
Why are you assuming he'd use the same tactic against sides that are far more competent than Chelsea? Surely part of the calculus is whether or not the opposition is good at finishing chances - if they aren't then all the more reason to take risks.
Because he basically said himself that he would. That’s who they are now while he’s there
 
I'm not sure the criticism on here is fair in a week when most people on the forum have complained Ten Hag turned his back on his Ajax system too quickly chasing results by any means - which hasn't worked.

If the second half sending off was a Chelsea player and it was 10v10 I think Spurs win the match. Losing the young CB who is a physical beast for that high line and a fast creative player in Maddison hurts when all is equal on the pitch but you can adjust. 9v11 had no chance so he stuck to principles which will at least be embedded even further now.
 
Just going to ignore goal difference then? I'm not even presenting another way of playing as the "better way", I'm just highlighting the obvious issues with the way he played and also the objectively worse outcome by playing that way.

I'm not stuck in what would SAF do mode? I'm highlighting that goal difference is important. Why is this presented as some sort of binary choice, like a tap you can only turn on or off? You can definitely still play on the front foot with 11 men and then on the very rare occasion you go down to 9, not play stupidly high and open.

Who on earth is thinking about goal difference in November? How often does GD play a role at the end of the season? Do you not think that there are potentially nebulous benefits in terms of mentality and team spirit that are completely worth conceding two extra goals in this fixture, especially given the reaction of their supporters?
 
Why are you assuming he'd use the same tactic against sides that are far more competent than Chelsea? Surely part of the calculus is whether or not the opposition is good at finishing chances - if they aren't then all the more reason to take risks.
Ange plays the same way regardless. That’s his strength and his weakness. It’s why watching them under him is going to be so fascinating.
 
It's the (English) assumption that route 1 football and all men behind the ball would prevent these sorts of pastings that get me.

Tottenham have 8 outfield men. Whether you go with 4-4-0 or 5-3-0, you're doomed to lose the game as eventually an overload will be created, repeatedly.

What the high line does is leave you with a chance to score. Which they nearly did with Son and Dier if he timed his run better. Parking the bus makes you a sitting duck.

You'd think it was only the likes of Leeds being thrashed because they "were too big for their britches", as if route 1 merchants like Stoke and Burnley didn't get pasted as well.

Uh, Spurs chances in the second half had nothing to do with their high line, though conversely their high line was the reason Chelsea got in behind with ease over 10 times in the second half.
 
The odds of that are nearly nil. How many 9 side teams have ended up with a draw against 11 men?
Liverpool but for OG deep into added time would have done it already this season.

The three Chelsea goals and other chances in the 2nd half all came from the way Ange set Tottenham up, no way would Klopp set themselves up like that to allow the opposition to create at their ease.
 
I'm not sure the criticism on here is fair in a week when most people on the forum have complained Ten Hag turned his back on his Ajax system too quickly chasing results by any means - which hasn't worked.

If the second half sending off was a Chelsea player and it was 10v10 I think Spurs win the match. Losing the young CB who is a physical beast for that high line and a fast creative player in Maddison hurts when all is equal on the pitch but you can adjust. 9v11 had no chance so he stuck to principles which will at least be embedded even further now.

Its a bit strange indeed. Only thing i can think of is that people didnt like that Ange/Spurs were getting praise and now use this moment as a way to cope with that. Spurs isnt expected to win the league or anything really... atleast this way their fans will have fun watching their games. Manchester United isnt likely to win anything either but it also isnt really that much fun to watch.
 
Liverpool but for OG deep into added time would have done it already this season.

Again, they lost. We all remember it, since you know, it was only like 3 weeks ago. But the outcome, was still... a loss. It didn't work. And Liverpool are arguably one of the best built teams to even try it. We're asking for a time, when it actually worked.
 
Ange plays the same way regardless. That’s his strength and his weakness. It’s why watching them under him is going to be so fascinating.

True - he is absolutely principled, but I don't think he's dogmatic. Perhaps this is conjecture but I think he'd be less aggressive against a City in terms of defensive positioning - because they are far more clinical and thus the optimal setup would be different.

If you are playing against a team that can't hit the broadside of a barn, why wouldn't you try to get into an open match with them where you gamble that your much more clinical forwards can do better? Surely on the balance of probability that's a better approach than basically conceding any form of attack - which is what they'd have had to do by playing a 4-4-0 or a 5-3-0 or whatever. Plus they'd lost both CBs - why would they gamble on their defense holding up? If they had their first choice pairing but had lost players elsewhere I'd guess the strategy would be different.
 
Uh, Spurs chances in the second half had nothing to do with their high line, though conversely their high line was the reason Chelsea got in behind with ease over 10 times in the second half.

What are you basing this on? They were literally only able to draw fouls in Chelsea's half because their attackers weren't camped out 10 yards outside their box.
 
Its a bit strange indeed. Only thing i can think of is that people didnt like that Ange/Spurs were getting praise and now use this moment as a way to cope with that. Spurs isnt expected to win the league or anything really... atleast this way their fans will have fun watching their games. Manchester United isnt likely to win anything either but it also isnt really that much fun to watch.
If ten hag did this and we give Chelsea or a team chance after chance after chance and didn’t really create anything ourselves he would be slaughtered on here. I think people are just pointing out it was really bizarre to watch and was always a matter of time until Chelsea timed just one of those runs right.
 
Some mad opinions on here, spurs nearly came away with a draw whilst sticking to their defined way of playing. Seems some are happy with the tumescent nothingy dross ten hag is serving up
 
Again, they lost. We all remember it, since you know, it was only like 3 weeks ago. But the outcome, was still... a loss. It didn't work. And Liverpool are arguably one of the best built teams to even try it. We're asking for a time, when it actually worked.
It was working until OG deep into injury time lost it. What Tottenham did certainly didn't work, losing 4-1 to a Chelsea side struggling for goals this season. Even Paddy power has called it like it was.

 
If ten hag did this and we give Chelsea or a team chance after chance after chance and didn’t really create anything ourselves he would be slaughtered on here. I think people are just pointing out it was really bizarre to watch and was always a matter of time until Chelsea timed just one of those runs right.
It would be miracle if ten hag had us the top of the league playing entertaining football
 
True - he is absolutely principled, but I don't think he's dogmatic. Perhaps this is conjecture but I think he'd be less aggressive against a City in terms of defensive positioning - because they are far more clinical and thus the optimal setup would be different.
I just don’t see it. I’ve watched Celtic go away to Madrid under him and play like it was Dundee at home - create lots of chances - miss them and get walloped. And I doubt he looks back on those games thinking they should have set up any different.
 
It was working until OG deep into injury time lost it. What Tottenham did certainly didn't work, losing 4-1 to a Chelsea side struggling for goals this season. Even Paddy power has called it like it was.



Which backs up that it was a class move. Thanks.

Sons scores and it's 2-2*... let's ignore "deep into injury time" and just speculate instead.

* = I still think they blow this really by the way. Because the defence is shite without their main centre backs.
 
Who on earth is thinking about goal difference in November? How often does GD play a role at the end of the season? Do you not think that there are potentially nebulous benefits in terms of mentality and team spirit that are completely worth conceding two extra goals in this fixture, especially given the reaction of their supporters?
Because he explicitly said they're going to continue to play like that, so it shows how teams will be able to play against him. If he has his 2 first choice CBs missing, they're going to concede a lot more chances and naturally will have a bigger affect. Sure, but you can't just ignore it. We'll see how he sets up against Wolves.

I don't buy the mentality or team spirit argument. It's dogmatic about a style when they didn't need to be. Ok it's only two extra goals, but it's the chances they gave up that was far more concerning.
 
Fair enough football is a game of opinions. Rather see this approach tonight in the face of adversity than sitting back with 9 men sat in the box hoofing balls clear but oh well
It doesn't need to be either extreme though, does it? There could have been a mix of the two styles which would have probably better served them in getting a point against a Chelsea attack that is quite rubbish. Again, I understand that he has a style and wants to stick to it but you do feel that there could have been some middle ground if he hadn't lost so many defenders.
 
It was working until OG deep into injury time lost it. What Tottenham did certainly didn't work, losing 4-1 to a Chelsea side struggling for goals this season. Even Paddy power has called it like it was.


That picture :lol:

that’s not having a go, that is suicidal foot race defending
 
Played too negative while banging 90 goals is a wild one.
Man City scored 1 more goal last season more than that 2011-2012 season. You think their 2011-2012 attack is as strong? Or only 2 teams scored less than 40 goals (not relegated) means that back there teams are better at attacking? Last 2 normal PL seasons as top league in the world, there were about handful of teams fail to reach 40 goals each season. Was it the tactic (higher coaching level) improvement and talent level rise from lesser teams?

Counter attacking and negative in the right circumstances/ its era doesn't mean they're low scoring. Mourinho's Real Madrid created a scoring record over Pep Guardiola team. Would you say Mourinho play with total football mindset? Does it change that there were no games where negative tactic backfired in the past? And evidently with how football is played now. The focus clearly shifted away from that tactic that got us undone in those games I listed.
 
I just don’t see it. I’ve watched Celtic go away to Madrid under him and play like it was Dundee at home - create lots of chances - miss them and get walloped. And I doubt he looks back on those games thinking they should have set up any different.

Personally given who Spurs lost in the match, I'd adopt any tactic that allows the attack to be more prominently featured. If the defense is already going to be a 0/10, why not put the attack in a position to be decisive? I genuinely don't understand the argument that they could have just defended the box with 8 - with no one up the pitch, Chelsea would have just attacked with 9 or even 10 and had an advantage.

Because he explicitly said they're going to continue to play like that, so it shows how teams will be able to play against him. If he has his 2 first choice CBs missing, they're going to concede a lot more chances and naturally will have a bigger affect. Sure, but you can't just ignore it. We'll see how he sets up against Wolves.

I don't buy the mentality or team spirit argument. It's dogmatic about a style when they didn't need to be. Ok it's only two extra goals, but it's the chances they gave up that was far more concerning.

Dogmatic based on his approach to one match and his interviews about said match? Until he actually adopts the same sort of approach elsewhere it's entirely premature to label this as dogmatism given the sample size is 1
 
Man City scored 1 more goal last season more than that 2011-2012 season. You think their 2011-2012 attack is as strong? Or only 2 teams scored less than 40 goals (not relegated) means that back there teams are better at attacking? Last 2 normal PL seasons as top league in the world, there were about handful of teams fail to reach 40 goals each season. Was it the tactic (higher coaching level) improvement and talent level rise from lesser teams?

Counter attacking and negative in the right circumstances/ its era doesn't mean they're low scoring. Mourinho's Real Madrid created a scoring record over Pep Guardiola team. Would you say Mourinho play with total football mindset? Does it change that there were no games where negative tactic backfired in the past? And evidently with how football is played now. The focus clearly shifted away from that tactic that got us undone in those games I listed.

You've gone into a tangent to prove some point that was never even there. Man Utd didn't play negatively that season... and neither did Mourinho's Real Madrid. I'm not disagreeing or even claimed anything about tactics evolving substantially over the past 10 years.... just that United weren't negative in that season, and neither were Real Madrid under Mourinho, not even close.
 
Personally given who Spurs lost in the match, I'd adopt any tactic that allows the attack to be more prominently featured. If the defense is already going to be a 0/10, why not put the attack in a position to be decisive? I genuinely don't understand the argument that they could have just defended the box with 8 - with no one up the pitch, Chelsea would have just attacked with 9 or even 10 and had an advantage.
I’m with you. I don’t think it cost them the game at all and it’s a positive going forward for everyone to show that much faith in his players and way of playing. All I’m stating is Ange has shown throughout the last few seasons that he isn’t pragmatic in any way and I don’t think he would have been against City either.
 
Personally given who Spurs lost in the match, I'd adopt any tactic that allows the attack to be more prominently featured. If the defense is already going to be a 0/10, why not put the attack in a position to be decisive? I genuinely don't understand the argument that they could have just defended the box with 8 - with no one up the pitch, Chelsea would have just attacked with 9 or even 10 and had an advantage.



Dogmatic based on his approach to one match and his interviews about said match? Until he actually adopts the same sort of approach elsewhere it's entirely premature to label this as dogmatism given the sample size is 1
He was like that at Celtic though and was always my fear he'd play like that here if he was to come to the EPL. You can look at my posts earlier in the thread, before he came to spurs.

Point taken though, we will see how he sets up in the next few games, maybe a bit of confirmation bias from me.
 
Just going to ignore goal difference then? I'm not even presenting another way of playing as the "better way", I'm just highlighting the obvious issues with the way he played and also the objectively worse outcome by playing that way.

I'm not stuck in what would SAF do mode? I'm highlighting that goal difference is important. Why is this presented as some sort of binary choice, like a tap you can only turn on or off? You can definitely still play on the front foot with 11 men and then on the very rare occasion you go down to 9, not play stupidly high and open.

I understand your point, but we have to understand the play field is different now. Even lower teams used to score more on average (defensive quality was lower).

Nowadays if you can master the high pressing system that is both offensive and defensive weapon, you can take some damage in big games while getting back much more from other games against weaker teams or in another games where your opposition slip up. Else even though, teams like us can grind out results, we never look like we have great GD even if we can excuse some thrashing defeat as one of those days.
 
Which backs up that it was a class move. Thanks.

Sons scores and it's 2-2*... let's ignore "deep into injury time" and just speculate instead.

* = I still think they blow this really by the way. Because the defence is shite without their main centre backs.
Backs up nothing, Tottenham weren't even creating chances against Liverpool and won with Liverpool scoring the winner for them. Tonight Tottenham gave up chance after chance to Chelsea with the way they set up, Chelsea so mediocre were making a hero out of Vicario and the fact Chelsea was giving up chances themselves when 9 v 11 shows that a result (a draw at least) was there for the taking for Tottenham had they not set themselves up in a way that allowed a fairly toothless Chelsea score 4 goals against them.
 
He was like that at Celtic though and was always my fear he'd play like that here if he was to come to the EPL. You can look at my posts earlier in the thread, before he came to spurs.

Point taken though, we will see how he sets up in the next few games, maybe a bit of confirmation bias from me.

Yeah that's fair enough mate - I certainly am not as informed on his background as you are, so if you feel differently your opinion is probably more valid!

I just haven't gotten the impression that he's some sort of ideologue and I think he's generally quite canny - but as I said this is based on very limited exposure. I do still think it's a bit harsh to take what he's said in an emotionally-charged post-match interview as some sort of gospel truth about his approach, though.
 
It was working until OG deep into injury time lost it. What Tottenham did certainly didn't work, losing 4-1 to a Chelsea side struggling for goals this season. Even Paddy power has called it like it was.



That is actually hilarious when they word it like that :lol:

If Chelsea weren't so woeful in attack, it could have been double figures.
 
Backs up nothing, Tottenham weren't even creating chances against Liverpool and won with Liverpool scoring the winner for them. Tonight Tottenham gave up chance after chance to Chelsea with the way they set up, Chelsea so mediocre were making a hero out of Vicario and the fact Chelsea was giving up chances themselves when 9 v 11 shows that a result (a draw at least) was there for the taking for Tottenham had they not set themselves up in a way that allowed a fairly toothless Chelsea score 4 goals against them.

This is gonna be the great divide of 2023 it seems from not just here, but they'll be no changing of my stance here.... Liverpool's utterly heroic effort aside, with their starting centre backs by the way, I don't think there's anything that suggests this park the bus thing works as well you think it would have, regardless of how toothless people think Chelsea are.

Something different = same result = a nice trivial debate. Thanks Ange, just park the fecking thing next time :lol:
 
It would be miracle if ten hag had us the top of the league playing entertaining football
When we beat City in January we were one point behind them and were playing entertaining football. People are getting way too giddy over Postecoglou's new manager bounce. The way he persisted with the same suicidal tactics with 9 men was reminiscent of how we played at Anfield in the second half last season.