How Ange Postecoglou changed spurs: Image: Unsplash
It has taken a long time for an Australian manager to leap into the English Premier League and Ange did it with quite a splash. He joined the struggling Tottenham Hotspur and was tasked with not only picking the squad up after an awful end to their last season and implementing the style of play he wanted.
Luckily for Spurs and their fans, he did this with flying colours. He broke a record for the best start by a new manager in his first 10 games by going unbeaten, unfortunately, this form didn’t continue but the team currently sit in 5th and has a good chance of getting into the top four.
Even if they feel I think we will all be impressed by their first season together.
Spurs have gone through 4 managers since 2018/19, and that’s ignoring interim managers. They have struggled to find the perfect Pochettino successor and Ange has taken the right strides to be that man.
Before Ange put pen to paper, Tottenham tried everything they could to find success. Running from getting proven winners like Mourinho who failed and left Spurs meaning they are the only club he has never won a trophy at, or managers like Conte, who is regarded as one of the best managers in the world and proven in the Premier League. In between the acquisitions of Conte and Mourinho, they got Nuno Espirito Santo who was known less by name and more by his success in the Premier with Wolves and he turned out to be the worst of the three
The reason Ange was chosen for the job was because of the style of play his teams use. He believes in a positive mentality and an attacking and fast style of playing football, with unique skills for developing players and making them better than they were when he first met them. Ange is very invested in the project that is available to Spurs, he isn’t expecting to join and have people betting online on the Champions League and picking Tottenham to win, he understands that this will take time and he is okay with this wait and the fans are too.
When Ange was a player he spent all of his career in his home country of Australia playing under Ferenc Puskas, yes the Ballon Dor winner, for South Melbourne. When he first became a manager in 1996, he spent a lot of his early career betting to know who he was before winning back-to-back A-League titles before leaving in 2012 to spend a year at Melbourne Victory before he got the dream move for any Australian lad, the Australian managerial position became available for him. In his first full year on the job, he guided Australia to the 2014 World Cup before winning the Asian Cup in 2015.
After this successful stint for his national team, he left to go to Japan, getting Yokohama F Marinos their first title in over 15 excruciating years, this success all over the world got him the Celtic Job and the rest is history.
Before joining Spurs he was the Celtic manager and found great success in the Scottish League, winning back-to-back league titles, after an initial struggle, as much as we should take Scottish League success with a pinch of salt, Ange’s global success is something that can’t be ignored.
This may seem like bias because I will always want other Aussies to do well, but I think that within the next few years, Spurs will be consistent Champions League players and challenging for Premier League titles. As much as I would want him to win all the trophies available at Spurs, they seem to be unappealed by winning them as they haven’t won one in over 15 years.