Spurs Online

Tag: manager

  • Ange hung out to dry?

    Ange hung out to dry?

    Let’s be honest, we are all scratching our heads as to how and why Ange is still in a job at this moment. Ange Postecoglou led Tottenham Hotspur to their worst half-season since 2008/09 and it’s only gone from bad to worse since then. If these levels of performances continue then Ange could be setting a few more records before the end of season that he may not want on his CV. 

    How is it, a relatively unknown and unproven manager in top flight football is being given so much time when other managers in the past have not. Even the legendary Glenn Hoddle was only given 6 games by Daniel Levy before being shown the door in the 2003/04 campaign.

    Some may argue Ange is being given the benefit due to the extreme number of injuries this season, but isn’t he partly responsible for those injuries? The sheer number of hamstring injuries certainly raises questions about his training methods, football tactics and lack of squad rotation earlier in the season.

    If we are looking for answers, then maybe this January transfer window gives us a better clue as to what may be happening behind the scenes. Even by Daniel Levy’s standards, it seems inconceivable for Spurs to be entering a transfer window in such a time of crisis and yet nothing appears to be developing in either a change of coach or additional players to help ease the injury problems.

    There is absolutely no doubt Ange is up the creek without a paddle right now, he has said it in his own interviews, he needs players, he needs help! In fact Ange went as far to say that Tottenham (and Levy indirectly), “were playing with fire if we don’t bring anyone in”. By this he means relegation, it’s that simple, Ange himself is making no light of the situation so why is the club so quiet when everyone else is crying out for answers. 

    As far as I am aware no one at the club has come out to publicly back Ange in this moment of crisis and maybe Ange himself has even realised by now he is well out of his depth for this job. It may be the kinder thing to just put him out of his misery, with only his pride perhaps stopping him from walking. Yet if Levy wont publicly back Ange, but doesn’t want to sack him or help him in the transfer market, has Ange been hung out to dry by Levy?

    If so, then what is going on at this club? What we do know from the appointment of Ange Postecoglou is he was more than likely not the first choice, some believing even that he was Tottenham’s 6th choice. We know several managers came out publicly and snubbed the job after what they had seen prior with the likes of Conte, Nuno and Mourinho. Since Poch was given his marching orders for failing to produce miracles, it has been a bit of a merry go round at Spurs and it seems finding a replacement may not be that easy.

    Any top managers that may be interested in the job would most likely not be available until the end of the season if they are already in employment. Not only will a lot of high profile managers not be interested in such a position, but ideally Tottenham needs to find a replacement coach who is willing to carry on the work of rebuilding this squad with the youth development that has already been put in place. 

    We know not all coaches are keen to go down this line as there is little reward for them to invest the time in players that cannot deliver trophies within a 2 year span, as a coach is well aware that 2 years is most likely his own life span at the club. So the alternative option may be another unknown, unproven manager who is willing to take the risk, which makes this proposition of switching managers less appealing at the moment. 

    This puts Spurs in a difficult and very dangerous position, to hold out until the end of the season. Sure they could sack Ange Postecoglou and replace him internally but other than Ryan Mason, who is there that you would trust? We know Ryans previous spells as caretaker manager were hardly inspiring and so in this time it would be deemed far too risky for Levy, not to mention embarrassing.

    For me the logical answer is to wait until the end of the season to replace Ange Postecoglou but with whom I have no idea. If Daniel Levy is to take this route then Ange has to be backed in this transfer market, even with short term loan deals to help us get over the line! There must be an abundance of players available on loan and let’s face it they don’t have to be that good, just injury free would be nice. A couple of experienced veteran players would be good to help balance the team that’s currently packed with youngsters.  

    The fact that Daniel Levy seems unwilling to invest in players for Ange when they are facing a crisis only strengthens the argument that Enic are contemplating a replacement come the end of the season. As Ange said, Enic are playing with fire and may well come to regret this. I really hope not but we can’t ignore the fact we may be discussing one of the biggest relegation upsets in football’s history by May.

    Would that be the end of Levy?

  • Ange Postecoglou Exit?

    Ange Postecoglou Exit?

    I’m a big believer that any manager needs to be given time in a job and I would say 2 years would be the minimum time a manager needs when he is rebuilding a squad to the degree we have been doing this last 2 seasons. But at the same time there has to be a moment when you say enough is enough. Is that moment now? Or is the prospect of a cup final and mitigating excuses of injuries and inexperienced youngsters enough to warrant him a little more time.

    I like the fact our youngsters are getting a good run out this year, even if it’s mostly down to injuries. I hope these youngsters will progress and we can benefit from this in future years. If we have to watch poor performances every week, I want it to be at least for the sake of these youngsters finding their feet in the Premier league, that I can accept.

    But if Ange Postecoglou is still with us come the end of the season, will Tottenham Hotspur or these young players benefit from continuing this philosophy of football. After all, if we want these young players to progress, we need them to be led by coaches who have a little bit of a clue about tactics and understanding of Premier league football. 

    How much can these youngsters learn from Ange ball, or as the rest of the world knows it, Predictable ball. This constant insistence of short passing with virtually no direct balls out from the back not only make it predictable and easy for the opposition to apply pressure, but it is making it much harder work for themselves. Without mixing up their play they are forever finding themselves under pressure and it is inevitable that a bad pass will occur sooner or later. Has anyone actually worked out just how many goals we have conceded under Ange that have been self inflicted ? I am quite sure that percentage will be well above the average for any team. 

    If you look at Arsenal’s distribution for example, they are known for playing a progressive and attractive style of football but they are willing to go long with their goal-kicks as they are short. Stats show roughly half of Arsenal’s goal kicks end in the opposition half. If you compare this to Spurs, incredibly we have gone long with just four of the last 145 goal-kicks so far this season. I would be interested to know out of those 141 short passes out, how many times were we able to get out of our own half before we lost possession? 

    It’s not just this playing out from the back that is the problem. These so-called inverted full backs seem to create chaos for ourselves and leave more gaps at the back than it is really worth. If you are going to play this way you need to see a lot more discipline from a defensive midfielder to provide cover, but instead the Spurs setup looks like a complete melee. When we do manage to form an attack the threat of a counter attack is imminent because our midfield is wide open. If you are going to insist on pushing these full backs so far forward then you need a holding midfielder who can be relied on, or even implement the system with three centre halfs.    

    To be honest, I didn’t see the point of bringing in another manager until the end of the season but the situation in the league table is becoming a concern. The last time our league position was this dire was under Juande Ramos. Interestingly this was also the last manager we picked up silverware with. Is it an omen?

    However, had we not brought in Harry Redknapp when we did that season there was a strong possibility we were heading for relegation. We should never underestimate the threat of relegation, a club is never too big to go down! As far as I am concerned we are now in a relegation fight and something may have to change, especially if we lose to Everton tomorrow.

    Unfortunately we know from last time around that top managers are not interested in the Spurs job and it has become rather a poisoned chalice. That’s hard to even comprehend isn’t it. Enic have spent the last 20 years rebuilding this club from the ground up, training facilities and stadium that compete with the best and revenues that make it one of the richest clubs in the world. But neither world class players or managers want to be part of this club. 

    That is the sad fact of things at Spurs but even with a subpar team and a coach whose football methods are more consistent with Aussie rules football, this club is making some serious money. So do Levy and the shareholders even care? I would argue that winning trophies certainly hasn’t been made a priority at this club and all these promises of bigger and better things to come when the new stadium is completed is now wavering very thin. I think it’s time some of us accepted we have had the wool pulled over our eyes!