Tottenham Hotspur has had the best early season in its history in the English Premier League.
Successes will be recorded in June when the head coach is appointed Angelos “Ange” Postecoglou resume. Under him, Tottenham was leading the Premier League after ten rounds. Eight wins and two draws have brought 26 points.
Spurs have once managed a better performance when the London club won their first ten games in the 1960-61 season.
Postecoglou’s attacking style of play has been criticized for years, and he has not survived criticism at Tottenham either. The team plays with a huge risk in its matches, as Postecoglou refuses to compromise on attack or counter-pressing. The head coach wants to prove the critics’ opinions wrong.
– The head coach is rarely changed if everything is in order in the club. I enjoy being doubted. I’m more nervous when things are going well, but I don’t question myself when things are fixed, Postecoglou said on the Masterminds podcast in 2020.
As if out of nowhere, the 58-year-old Postecoglou was, according to the British media, the opposite of a safe option. In the past ten years, the club’s head coaches have been coaches who have already shown their skills in the Premier League: Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte.
Postecoglou came to Tottenham from Scottish Celtic. Before that, he had coached in even smaller football clubs in Australia, Japan and Greece.
Football united father and son
Postecoglou was born in Greece. The family moved to Australia to escape the rule of the military junta when he was five years old. Postecoglou describes that life was difficult in a new country.
– People often misunderstand the reasons for immigration. It is said that one moves to another country for a better life. That’s not an accurate description. We move to another country in order to provide opportunities for the next generation, says Postecoglou.
Soccer was a way to connect with his father. Jim Postecoglou became different – as if came to life – when talking about football. The father took the son to the matches of the Australian Greek club South Melbourne Hellas and woke him up at night to watch Liverpool’s games.
Postecoglou’s coaching philosophy is not based on Barcelona’s or Liverpool’s style of play, nor is it Josep Guardiola or Johan Cruyff lessons, because he has not played in clubs or been coached by them. Postecoglou says he will comply his father’s mantra.
– The answer lies in three small words: “Κάτω η παλα”, which roughly translates to “Keep the ball on the ground”.
As a child, Postecoglou played cricket with his friends, and his father did not like the sport.
Football was a sport for European immigrants, and by no means a significant competitive sport in the 1970s and 1990s in Australia. The first professional league, the A-league, was founded only in 2004. Football was Postecoglou’s father’s sport, so it also became his son’s sport.
“The team that didn’t win”
As a player, Postecoglou played at club level only in South Melbourne in 1984–93. The team won the championship twice, the second in 1991. At that time, the head coach was a Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas. He didn’t speak much English, but he knew Greek well enough.
– I often picked him up from his home and drove to the field. We spent a lot of time talking about football. People say I’m an offensive coach. It was then that the seed was sown. He was much more open than previous coaches who were very disciplined and structured, Postecoglou describes his relationship with Puskas.
Postecoglou’s playing career ended at the age of 27 with an injury. He then served as assistant coach at South Melbourne before being appointed head coach.
In addition to coaching the club teams, Postecoglou led the Australian men’s national team from its lowest Fifa ranking to the Asian Championship and twice to the World Cup.
In the 2014 World Cup, Australia lost all their matches. The team returned home in a happy mood, because in the tournament Australia played well against Chile and Holland. Postecoglou proudly presented photos of the team to his father.
– This is the team that didn’t win a single game, right? father said.
The father was his son’s biggest fan and toughest critic. For the boy, the father was a hero whose expectations he did not want to disappoint.
The way dad loved it
Urheilu’s football expert Miika Nuutinen says that Postecoglou’s rise as if out of nowhere speaks of the level of international football. According to him, Europe does not always remember how high-quality football is played in, for example, Japan or Australia.
In recent years, football has become accustomed to players filling the field evenly so that the team has several passing opportunities. Postecoglou’s Tottenham does the complete opposite, Nuutinen states.
– In ball control situations, several Tottenham players come close to the ball, and the team dominates the central area. For example, Tottenham’s full-backs are exceptionally in the middle of the field.
The idea is that the opponent will break their defensive formation if the team presses Tottenham. This opens up additional spaces to be utilized, thanks to which Tottenham can, for example, get one-on-one situations in the wing areas.
– What Postecoglou’s Tottenham does excellently is that they open up the opponent’s press with passing combinations, speed up the attack towards the penalty area and get a lot of players into the opponent’s box to finish.
Postecoglou has also brought a big change to Tottenham’s counter-press. All players chase the ball more aggressively than before when the team loses the ball. According to the news, the intensity of the counter-press is a pleasure to watch.
– In addition to everything, profile acquisition for the summer James Maddison is the heart of Tottenham’s ball game. He is allowed to move quite freely within the player formation, and others fill the structure around him.
Nuutinen estimates that Postecoglou has captured the hearts of Tottenham fans and others with his personality and attacking football. Postecoglou is only really measured when the first difficulties come, he says.
Postecoglou’s father admired Liverpool, and especially the attacking style of the teams of the 1970s and 80s. Postecoglou wants his teams to play the football his father loved.
– My father’s death was the hardest thing I faced. When he passed away, I told him I loved him. Then I said three words that were more meaningful to both of us: “Keep the ball down, Dad,” Postecoglou wrote in 2018 after his father’s death.
Sources: ABC, Athletes Voice, AU PFA, BBC, The Analyst, The Athletic, Sky Sports.