Tottenham Hotspur: Is Ange Postecoglou nuanced or naive?

National World - LocalTV

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00:00Perhaps we look at Ange-Pasteur Coglou and his methods, his coaching, his tactics.

00:09As I say there, great to watch, easy on the eye and so entertaining.

00:13But are they a bit naive at times, do you think?

00:17Yeah, I think without a shadow of a doubt, we're very, very naive.

00:21We don't manage games properly.

00:24You only have to look at the positive side where we go to the Etihad with 4-0,

00:28we go to Old Trafford with 3-0.

00:31I just mentioned off-air there, a little stat that someone had pulled out on X,

00:35that when Pasteur Coglou has been able to call on the first choice back five

00:39in 25 games, we've only lost six games, 1-14.

00:45It's an unbelievable record when we've got the first choice 11.

00:48I think that's the thing, first choice 1-11, we can go toe-to-toe with anybody.

00:52We've taken Aston Villa to the cleaners.

00:54As I say, we've been to Old Trafford, we've beaten Manchester City twice.

00:57We demolished West Ham as well, Everton.

01:00We've had some really, really big wins and some really, really good performances.

01:05But then when plan A doesn't work, we don't seem to have that ability

01:09to grind out a result.

01:11We lose at home to Ipswich, we lose away at Bournemouth,

01:14we lose away at Crystal Palace, which was an absolutely turgid performance.

01:17When teams go into that low block and really get in our faces

01:21and try and bully us, we just haven't got a solution to that.

01:24Similar on Boxing Day against Nottingham Forest, another 1-0 defeat.

01:28But only Liverpool have really taken us apart with all the injuries.

01:32We've been really plugging on, we've been battling,

01:34but we're just not getting the results.

01:36I think we have to look at all sides there.

01:39The one for me was the Carabao Cup game against Manchester United.

01:45We're 3-0 up, we're absolutely cruising.

01:48I can't account for Fraser Foster pretty much throwing two goals in.

01:52The narrative around Spurs not being able to manage a game,

01:54that's complete nonsense.

01:56The game swung on those two individual errors.

01:59But at 3-2, we were still trying to play at 1,000mph

02:02and you're just crying out for somebody, a leader on the pitch,

02:05to just slow things down, just to tell everybody,

02:08you stay in your position, stay in shape.

02:11You do the dirty work for five minutes, you regroup.

02:14We never do that as a team.

02:17That is what is proving costly.

02:19It is in-game management.

02:21I think the one thing that we don't have on the pitch is leaders.

02:26I think Son's a fantastic captain, he does a lot of great work off the pitch,

02:29albeit his own form has been patchy this season at best.

02:32But we really lack that on-the-pitch leadership.

02:35Dare I say it, it's somebody like a Heuberg

02:37who comes on and does the rolling around for a couple of minutes,

02:40feigning an injury, stopping the ball, kicking the ball away.

02:43Just stopping the momentum of the opponent.

02:46That is something that we lack, that is a naivety.

02:49Perhaps that will come with more experience.

02:51We've got a lot of young, exciting talents,

02:53but these guys might not be ready for one year, two years, three years.

02:57We need to be winning, and we need to be winning now.

03:00I think that is a huge part.

03:02I think the point there you make, we are very naive at times

03:05and it's proving ultimately costly.

03:07That's the thing I think, I suppose,

03:09it's very much pedal to the metal constantly or nothing.

03:12Essentially, it's, as you say, 1,000 miles an hour or that sort of it.

03:16That is their way of playing.

03:18As you say there, when you've got a lead,

03:20and there's, let's be honest, what, 10 minutes to go?

03:23Yes, I can understand going for a fourth goal

03:25because that would kill the game off,

03:27but at times, because let's be honest,

03:29that would be more the case if you had a lot of the ball

03:32and you were really pressing the opposition.

03:34Man United were the ones pressing you at the time,

03:36and you just need someone, as you say there,

03:38just to slow it down and just compose

03:40and get the ball back because you weren't receiving the ball.

03:43You were getting the ball, giving it straight back to Man United.

03:46That's the problem because you were trying so hard to get up the pitch

03:49that they were just getting the ball back so easily.

03:51You were just kicking it long

03:53or just trying to play silly Hollywood balls

03:55that were realistically never going to come off.

03:57That's an issue for, I suppose, the times.

03:59You just need to keep it simple in those situations.

04:01That's something that they have struggled with.

04:03I don't know.

04:05I know, obviously, the way Aaron Postacoglou has his tactics

04:08is very much to attack teams,

04:10but surely he can see from the sidelines what's going on.

04:17Does he not then issue instructions?

04:19I don't know.

04:20Is it naivety on his behalf,

04:22or is it just the fact that he will not deviate

04:25from the way he wants to play,

04:27even if it means conceding goals,

04:30because surely that's not what you want.

04:32From a neutral point of view, I find it very difficult to comprehend.

04:36Yes, and I think that's what some of the Spurs fans grapple with.

04:39Ultimately, we're not a team that's ever been able to sit back.

04:42We've never been a team that can soak pressure up

04:45and hang on to those 1-0 wins.

04:47From Postacoglou's point of view,

04:49the fact we squeeze the pitch, we play so high,

04:51we want to play in the opposition half,

04:53essentially that keeps the ball away from the goal at the other end.

04:57The problem is, at the moment,

04:59that we're trying to do that with players who were going to the well,

05:0212, 13 players that have been fit for the last three months

05:05playing twice a week, and we can't sustain that.

05:07The squad is not built or deep enough

05:10to maintain the relentless press.

05:12In that case, do we need to look at being slightly more pragmatic?

05:17But it's just not his way,

05:19and he'll live or die on the side, won't he, in that regard,

05:22should anything happen with his future.

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