Postecoglou reveals what he told his Spurs coaches after the Chelsea defeat

Ange Postecoglou has admitted that he is pleased with how swiftly the Tottenham players have adapted to the demands of his style of play and understood what is expected of them. Just a few months into his Tottenham career, Postecolgou has already demonstrated that he will never abandon his preferred attacking approach, no matter the […]

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Ange Postecoglou has admitted that he is pleased with how swiftly the Tottenham players have adapted to the demands of his style of play and understood what is expected of them.

Just a few months into his Tottenham career, Postecolgou has already demonstrated that he will never abandon his preferred attacking approach, no matter the circumstances.

The incontestable evidence for that came in the second half of the London derby against Chelsea two weeks ago, with the Lilywhites continuing to play a high line and press their opponents high up the pitch despite having just nine men.

There has been a mixed response to those tactics, with some like Jamie Carragher applauding Postecoglou for his bravery (Sky Sports) but others like Glenn Hoddle have accused him of naivety (talkSPORT).

Ange Postecoglou is feeling good despite defeats

Speaking about the 4-1 loss to the Blues, the Tottenham head coach has now told Optus Sport: “As flat as we were because we lost the game, you don’t like losing, then we knew the fallout and what it would do for us, I said to the coaches, ‘This is a great opportunity we’ve got. We’ve got guys here who are now all-in on what we want to do’.

“Now we’re looking at what we’re going to do next. If we flinch then they’re going to start questioning: why did we play a high line, why were we so aggressive, why didn’t we try and absorb the pressure. So what we do now becomes really important.

“To be honest that night in isolation would have been a great night if it weren’t for the fallout of losing those players. That’s where put to the side whatever positive there was, as we’ve lost some significant talent from the team.”

Over the course of Postecoglou’s management journey, he has tended to have slow stars at clubs, with the players taking time to adapt to his philosophy.

When asked if he has been surprised by how quickly the players at Spurs have taken his ideas on board, the 58-year-old responded: “I don’t know if surprised is the right word, but I’m pleased about it.

“There’s a couple of factors for that: the level of players that I’ve got here now…they’ve been able to embrace it from a technical side just like that. Without being disrespectful of clubs I’ve been at before, that was always the hardest bit.

“They wanted to buy in but sometimes their technical ability didn’t allow them to, whereas here that’s a given. All the players here are at an elite level in terms of technical ability.

“Then it’s about getting the group to believe in it. The coaches have been outstanding in terms of embracing how we want to play, even guys I’ve never worked with before are strong advocates for what I’m trying to do.

“So it’s married really well together that there’s a group of players who have the ability to do it and they’ve got buy-in and coaches who are all in on it. When you have that early success then it feeds into itself.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The one thing that would have helped Ange in getting full buy-in from the squad was the disastrous way in which Conte’s reign ended. The players were desperate to be given the freedom to express themselves, which is why the Australian was just the kind of coach the squad would have wanted.

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