by “If you had to pick a pound, what do you think I’d say … just a wild guess?” Ange Postecoglou asks. Everyone knew. But it was still good to hear the Tottenham manager say it. Because when he’s in full swing, explaining why he does what he does, why he’s so passionate about his methods, it’s so compelling.
Spurs have lost three games in a row. They are without 10 players – the worst selection crisis Postecoglou can remember in his years as a manager. And there are historical details that feel relevant too. Spurs have won five of their last seven Premier League games against Manchester City, who they face on Sunday – doing so under four managers: José Mourinho, Nuno Espírito Santo, Antonio Conte and Cristian Stellini.
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What the quartet agreed on was the approach they took; City conceded possession, defending deep, hitting hard on the counter. In other words, the antithesis of how Postecoglou plays – the high defensive line, looking to have a huge impact on the ball, making runners forward. Maybe it’s time for him to be a little more conservative? The short answer is no. The longest is a retelling.
“I don’t do what I do to make a point,” says Postecoglou. “You look at the best teams and there is one common trait among them. They all have a plan, invest in that plan and stick to it. They do not shy away from it at the first difficulty.
“Whatever you strongly believe in because a person is only tested in the hardest of times. And for me these are the important times because this will show what kind of football team we want to be. You can be shy, say we have injuries, we are playing Man City away, but you will be a club that tries to break the big clubs or you are a big club. You are one or the other.
“You have to show some backbone. So that is my methodology. I’m not going there to show people … ‘Look at me, I’ll take them.’ It’s because I think that’s the way forward for us.”
Postecoglou has not looked back at any of Spurs’ recent defeats against City as part of his preparations. It’s not that he’s disrespecting them; he respects the achievement of results. But they are irrelevant to what will happen to Spurs under his care.
“I think there’s a reason I’m sitting here and the reason the last game isn’t to beat City,” he says. “I’m not trying to build a team to beat City, I’m trying to build a team to succeed. If that were enough [beating City], I wouldn’t be sitting here. It would be someone else.
“It’s a legitimate question: ‘Why wouldn’t you do it if you knew it would work?’ But I would be surprised if people expected me to go down that route, knowing who I am as a manager.”
Postecoglou goes back to a previous encounter with Pep Guardiola’s City to illustrate the point that sometimes these kinds of things are more about the processes, the staging points in the wider journey. When his team Yokohama F Marinos faced City in a 2019 friendly, they lost 3-1. But they played their way, hogging 58% of possession, asserting themselves and strengthening their faith. “For us at that time, it was a great exercise to say: ‘We continue down this path. This is the team we want to be,’” says Postecoglou.
Postecoglou’s latest headache is the ankle ligament injury Rodrigo Bentancur sustained against Aston Villa last Sunday following a poor tackle from Matty Cash. It was Bentancur’s first start for Spurs since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in February – a heartbreaking setback that rocked the squad, according to Postecoglou. In the words of his manager, Bentancur will not be available “early into next year”.
While Yves Bissouma is back from suspension, Pape Sarr is still out with a slight hamstring issue, meaning Postecoglou is likely to have to choose between Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Bryan Gil. In other words, play it safe or be progressive. For central defence, it will probably be Eric Dier or Emerson Royal. So, pretty much the same question. If you had to take a punt, what do you think Postecoglou will do?
“Every time we put a team out there it’s up to us to be the team we want to be,” he says. “We have to make sure we don’t lose focus on the end game which is why most teams and organizations fail – because when their solution is tested, they are found wanting.
“Look at all the top teams – they’ve all been criticized. How do they handle it, the ones who are through the other side? The ones who handled it differently… where are they now? I have a very strong belief in what I do, where the team is going and I’m not going to be afraid of it.
“You have to be prepared for some rough moments, you have to enjoy that. The alternative is that I’m not in a job… I’m sitting on my couch with no pressure and no one questioning anything. Maybe I’ll end up in a heap, I don’t know, because there are no guarantees. But my gut tells me I won’t.”
