Ange Postecoglou says myth around his Tottenham tactics has been busted

Ange Postecoglou feels that the perception of his footballing philosophy by some parts of the media has always been flawed right from the start, insisting that it was exposed once again during Tottenham’s 1-0 win at the Deutsche Bank Park last week.

What perhaps surprised many, including Spurs fans, about the side’s win in Frankfurt last week was the nature of the performance, which was very un-Tottenham-like.

The away side were prepared to dig deep, show resilience and were happy to take the sting out of the game in intervals rather than just looking to get on the ball and get bodies forward.

It perhaps showed a different side to Spurs than we have seen for much of the season, but Postecoglou insists that side has always been there.

Ange Postecoglou rubbishes media narrative about his tactics

While the outside world might have been surprised by Tottenham Hotspur’s robust and solid defensive display, Postecoglou certainly was not.

The 59-year-old remarked that it is not the first time his side have produced a mature tactical performance like that but insisted that they get ignored since they do not match the narrative about him as a one-trick pony tactically.

When asked if he was particularly pleased with the pragmatism and defensive awareness his side showed in Germany, Postecoglou responded (via Football.London): “We’ve shown that before.

“A lot of our significant victories, even this season, have come away from home, whether that be Manchester City away or Man United away or Brentford away.

“Some of our best performances have been away from home, and a similar type of performance. There’s always a difference when you play away in Europe.

“But again, that doesn’t fit into the narrative of me being fairly simple in terms of my tactical approach, that I only do things one way, and that’s all I’ve done and all my success has been as a one-trick pony.

“What the players showed on Thursday – and it’s my experience – is that when you play away in Europe it demands from you different things to domestic competition. Not least because of the atmosphere you face, and the people who travel to these European games will understand what that means. That provides motivation and incentive to the opposition and you have to deal with that.

“The lads dealt with that outstandingly the other night. They are a team that at home are really tough, they always score goals at home, so you know if you can keep a clean sheet, that’s a significant development.

“If you can win there, that’s another significant development because they’re very strong. So the manner in which they did it and another part of that is just the atmosphere in the ground because their supporters make them a tough team to be.”

Postecoglou feels a win over Frankfurt can be a game-changer

Ange Postecoglou stated that the kind of performance that his side produced last Thursday can be a catalyst for a resurgence, pointing out that Tottenham showed what they are capable of against a top-class side in a high-pressure contest.

However, the Australian admitted that the result will mean nothing if his side cannot back that up with other good performances and results.

When asked if the win over Frankfurt can be a game-changer for Tottenham’s season, Postecoglou responded: “At times it can, yeah. Depending on the result and more importantly, the context in which it is made.

“It’s easy to sit here and say Thursday night is a pivotal moment, but it won’t be a pivotal moment if we don’t back it up in the semi. That’s when you’ll find out whether it was and if you do a season review DVD – do they still do DVDs? – You might go that was the turning point but you only do that at the end.

“But do I think Thursday was significant? Yes, I do. For a number of reasons. We overcame a really difficult opponent. We deserved to go through. There was no luck about it.

“Over two legs, we were the stronger team, we did it in a really convincing manner and just the prospect of being in a semi-final means you’re two games away from being in a European final. That is hugely incentivising so maybe that was the pivotal game, but we won’t know that.”

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