Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[bradfordspur]

Medical department are not responsible for the fitness and conditioning work either. They're just responsible for the treatment. If we keep getting injuries you have to look more at the training sessions between matches and the analysis of players fitness during each match. Absolutely though they need to look at the schedule and whether they can do better separating league from international games. Also they need to look at how the TV schedule is impacting players. We should not have played Thursday night and then Sunday afternoon as simple as that.

It has been mentioned before, but the stop/start delays caused by VAR reviews and/or injury treatment can’t help with players standing around cooling down and then being expected to resume at 100 mph cannot be doing the muscles much good, especially the hamstrings.

 

[McFlash]

Kids who failed to get an appearance at Celtic are now at Liverpool, utd, and city.

So, come on the mate, who are these kids that left Celtic to forge great careers at top clubs because of Ange?
We're all waiting...

 

[Sophos151]

It has been mentioned before, but the stop/start delays caused by VAR reviews and/or injury treatment can’t help with players standing around cooling down and then being expected to resume at 100 mph cannot be doing the muscles much good, especially the hamstrings.

I’m convinced this was the reason for Van de Ven’s injury, given the massive delay before Romero’s red card. Maybe Maddison’s too?

Not sure about any of the others though.

 

[mil1lion]

It has been mentioned before, but the stop/start delays caused by VAR reviews and/or injury treatment can’t help with players standing around cooling down and then being expected to resume at 100 mph cannot be doing the muscles much good, especially the hamstrings.

I'm not so sure many of these injuries have been related to var. There was certainly no var prior to Sarr and Veliz as it only came into stoppage time. Veliz barely has played either. Its difficult to pinpoint what the cause is as they're all different situations. I don't recall much stop start when Romero got injured either.

 

[g_harry]

Hard not to love Big Ange. Please please Dan for once do the right thing.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

I was impressed when Ange got us to the top of the table but what he's managed to do keeping us within a few points of top place with our freakish run of injuries and suspension is on a whole new level.

That comment from the Arsenal fan on us being able to win with four full backs in the backline (although he never mentioned our goalscorer having to go off or our young striker hobbling off reducing us to 10 men) summed it up for me.

At no point as he come up with excuses or complained about it he's just accepted it and tried to find a way out such as resurrecting Lo Celso, or finally getting some goals from Richy.

There seems to be a school of thought that he's not above criticism, but if there's one manager in the modern history of Spurs who deserves to be, it's this man who's still only halfway through his first season with us.

Great positive post mate and some really great points.

What I love about Ange more than anything is that he has a positive and solution focused mindset. As you say he’s had tons of opportunities to bitch and moan and complain and say woe is me with all the freakish injuries and suspensions and bad luck BUT he hasn’t and he’s said we/he have to ‘kop it’ and get on with it. (So so refreshing after Jose, Nuno and especially Conte’s awful negative defeatist attitude).

Ange is assertive enough to speak his mind and say what he wants and no one will walk all over him but at the same time when times are tough he won’t complain he stays strong and positive.

I really think this behaviour and mentality rubs off on our players and also on our fans over time and it’s something we’ve needed in terms of a culture shift at our club for a while and it all stems from the Manager.

Klopp did it at Liverpool when they had a dry 7-8 years or 30 years if you count from their last title, I feel like Ange’s quick and massive immediate impact to us is most similar to Klopp when he came to Liverpool and it shows what a special world class Manager Ange is as well as what a good fit he is for our club. (Ange’s start has actually been faster and better than Klopps was at Liverpool but I mean the way that from day 1 the team completely changed their style of play to a far more intense pressing attacking style and in pressers etc Klopp made statements to start to turn the fans and his players from dreamers to believers and the rest is history as they say.

Very happy and excited for what’s ahead in 2024 but as usual ready for some ups and downs.

Happy New Year all.

COYS.

 

[Marty]

Fuck this picture got me so pumped for the new year. Never would've dreamed of feeling like this about the club again in May.

Bring it on.

 

[hamsup_sotong]

I'm not so sure many of these injuries have been related to var. There was certainly no var prior to Sarr and Veliz as it only came into stoppage time. Veliz barely has played either. Its difficult to pinpoint what the cause is as they're all different situations. I don't recall much stop start when Romero got injured either.

romero was gimpy after getting caught by dcl

 

[DogsOfWar]

Great positive post mate and some really great points.

What I love about Ange more than anything is that he has a positive and solution focused mindset. As you say he’s had tons of opportunities to bitch and moan and complain and say woe is me with all the freakish injuries and suspensions and bad luck BUT he hasn’t and he’s said we/he have to ‘kop it’ and get on with it. (So so refreshing after Jose, Nuno and especially Conte’s awful negative defeatist attitude).

Ange is assertive enough to speak his mind and say what he wants and no one will walk all over him but at the same time when times are tough he won’t complain he stays strong and positive.

I really think this behaviour and mentality rubs off on our players and also on our fans over time and it’s something we’ve needed in terms of a culture shift at our club for a while and it all stems from the Manager.

Klopp did it at Liverpool when they had a dry 7-8 years or 30 years if you count from their last title, I feel like Ange’s quick and massive immediate impact to us is most similar to Klopp when he came to Liverpool and it shows what a special world class Manager Ange is as well as what a good fit he is for our club. (Ange’s start has actually been faster and better than Klopps was at Liverpool but I mean the way that from day 1 the team completely changed their style of play to a far more intense pressing attacking style and in pressers etc Klopp made statements to start to turn the fans and his players from dreamers to believers and the rest is history as they say.

Very happy and excited for what’s ahead in 2024 but as usual ready for some ups and downs.

Happy New Year all.

COYS.

Yeah, it's the culture shift that has won me over.
The transfer committee did their job by bringing in three of the signings of the season in Vicario, VdV, and Maddison but Ange has created an incredibly positive culture around the entire club.
And even in adversity he has stuck to his principals and it's great to see him still positive compared to Klopp and Arteta whose masks soon slip in interviews after defeats.
Even the shitshows against Chelsea and Brighton saw us almost equalise with nine men and then launch a spirited comeback with ten minutes to go which must have had a few Seagulls fans panicking.

After the last few years of Mourinho and Conte pretty much all fans just wanted attacking football again even if we didn't improve that much position wise.
And now we have both within half a season despite circumstances which should have seen us languishing in mid-table not hanging on to the top four.

I'm generally a glass half full person anyway but our glass is almost to the top so I can't understand any negativity around Ange and the club in general at the moment. Why can't people just enjoy the ride?

 

[fridgemagnet]

Just seen the Bournemouth comments and they were complaining he didn't just hobble off instead of going down and delaying time. Although every team does the same and they even admitted as much so seems to be an overreaction. It's just a passionate situation above anything so I hope the teams don't get punished for not controlling their benches.

Then they're talking out their hoops as AFAICR players cannot leave the field of play without the ref's say so.

So he needed to go down and then hope the ref stops the game for physio's to come on and you're in the hands of gods as he probably thinks he faking it.

I may be wrong but that's always been my understanding of the rule. Same as physios etc can't run onto pitch without permission and game being halted (see when players have gone down with cardiac issues/or fans in the stand on the opposite side of the pitch need similar assistance)

Happy to be corrected though.

e.g that Turkish side who all walked off in protest at a ref's decision recently; congratulations you've forfeited the match 3-0 only exception is having permission prior to the match such as when England played that racist bunch of twats, if any England player had said to Kane (who was captain) I'm getting racist abuse we should leave the pitch, Kane would have told the ref they're walking off and there'd have been no repercussion's on England.

 

[$hoguN]

if it wasn’t for one of the most ridiculous injury crises I’ve ever seen, I’m pretty certain Ange would have been toasting in the new year with a substantial lead in the PL. Wolves, Villa, West Ham would have likely been wins.

Looking forward to 2024. Let’s hope we can add a couple to the party early on and then push again

 

[Nebby]

So, come on the mate, who are these kids that left Celtic to forge great careers at top clubs because of Ange?
We're all waiting...

Ben Doak who went to Liverpool would be the obvious one. But to suggest he left because of Ange is daft. As the player made clear, he wanted out of the SPL and left Celtic before signing a pro contract. Very decent winger apparently.

 

[littlewilly]

Then they're talking out their hoops as AFAICR players cannot leave the field of play without the ref's say so.

So he needed to go down and then hope the ref stops the game for physio's to come on and you're in the hands of gods as he probably thinks he faking it.

I may be wrong but that's always been my understanding of the rule. Same as physios etc can't run onto pitch without permission and game being halted (see when players have gone down with cardiac issues/or fans in the stand on the opposite side of the pitch need similar assistance)

Happy to be corrected though.

e.g that Turkish side who all walked off in protest at a ref's decision recently; congratulations you've forfeited the match 3-0 only exception is having permission prior to the match such as when England played that racist bunch of twats, if any England player had said to Kane (who was captain) I'm getting racist abuse we should leave the pitch, Kane would have told the ref they're walking off and there'd have been no repercussion's on England.

Entering or leaving the field of play without the referee's permission has always been a bookable offence.

 

[Styopa]

I do wonder where all this stuff about Ange not trusting the youth is coming from? Is it all about him playing Royal ahead of Philips or something else?

Only Chelsea (youngest ave team 23.1), Burnley (23.6), Brighton (24.2), Arsenal (24.3) and Bournemouth (24.5) have fielded younger teams than us (24.7) this season.

In fact when you look at the stats, we have consistently fielded among the youngest teams in the league.

 

[Locotoro]

They should be established by age 20. That is how it is seen in academies. Established means getting enough full games. That’s not an opinion btw

I know you're right but I find it interesting that in Europe players don't usually have that expectation of breaking through until they are 22 or 23. I wonder if with the increased longevity of players careers we'd be better served putting less pressure on players to break through so early

 

[PaulThurston]

Entering or leaving the field of play without the referee's permission has always been a bookable offence.

Yes, but aren't the touchlines part of the field of play? Players leave the pitch all the time to retrieve the ball, get a drink etc and they never check with the ref first.

 

[Japhet]

It has been mentioned before, but the stop/start delays caused by VAR reviews and/or injury treatment can’t help with players standing around cooling down and then being expected to resume at 100 mph cannot be doing the muscles much good, especially the hamstrings.

They don't have to stand around and cool down. Maybe they should be instructed to keep themselves up to temperature whilst all the VAR garbage is going on.

 

[littlewilly]

Yes, but aren't the touchlines part of the field of play? Players leave the pitch all the time to retrieve the ball, get a drink etc and they never check with the ref first.

Sorry, just don't get your point.

 

[-Afri-Coy-]

They don't have to stand around and cool down. Maybe they should be instructed to keep themselves up to temperature whilst all the VAR garbage is going on.

This would add a significant amount of working strain on the muscles/body so it's basically a catch 22.

Running and keeping warm for 90+ minutes was hard enough before VAR, imagine adding potentially an extra 10+ mins on top of that, this is excluding the new time keeping schedule which would have the players adding even more strain.

Idealistically it's not a bad idea, but in reality it would probably be just as detrimental as standing around. (Assuming the cooling down is in fact the reason for all these extra injuries and not the fact that players haven't had a proper summer break post season in almost 3 years which I think is the real reason.)

 

[Styopa]

Assuming the cooling down is in fact the reason for all these extra injuries and not the fact that players haven't had a proper summer break post season in almost 3 years which I think is the real reason.)

Yeah I think this is probably one of the major factors.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that in our case VdV and Romero have had similar injury issues in recent seasons, whilst Maddison is also notorious for being injury prone. Romero and Bissouma are also the sort of players who are likely to pick up suspensions, and Bissouma and Richarlison had injury issues going back to last season. Bentancur was also injured from last season. So it’s not totally unexpected that these players have missed a lot of matches this season.