Alasdair Gold has explained that it is not just the first team that Ange Postecoglou has revolutionised but the Australian is also going about galvanising the academy set up at the club.
The mood around Tottenham is now completely different to what it was just a few months ago, with Postecoglou almost being solely responsible for bringing the feel-good factor back to the club despite the departure of the club’s record goalscorer, Harry Kane.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
That is not only due to the football the 58-year-old has got the side playing, with fans looking forward to games again, but also the way he communicates with the media as his messages are seemingly intended to create a sense of unity, which was not always the case under previous managers.
Gold has now revealed that Postecoglou’s arrival has also excited the young players in the club’s academy set-up, with several youngsters getting an opportunity to work with the senior side over the past few months.
Postecoglou is changing the academy set-up at Spurs
The journalist wrote in his column for Football.London: “While much of the Australian’s early tenure has been spent focused on the first team and turning that around, he has made himself available to the academy staff and the young players called up to work with him have been blown away by his methods, with clear and consistent messages that have left an impression on everyone, players and staff alike.
“For the academy players being brought into his training sessions, it has become an exciting reward again for their efforts, rather than under Conte when they were often called up only to be used as static opposition for his first team players to be drilled against and the lustre of getting that call to train with the first team had been dulled somewhat until now.”
Gold explained that Postecoglou has also made it clear that he wants all of Tottenham’s youth teams to play a similar system to the one he employs.
The journalist continued: “What helps the academy players’ transitions into Postecoglou’s training sessions is that the youth teams from the U21 development squad down have always been encouraged to play in a way that is not a far cry from the fast and furious attacking football the new head coach demands.
“Spurs’ academy philosophy has remained consistent despite the changing managers above in the first team. The aim is to try to dominate the ball, play quickly through the sections of the pitch and press aggressively when out of possession in order to get the ball back as quickly as possible.
“Tottenham’s young players are encouraged to be dominant in one vs one situations with and without the ball and all the teams are set up in a 4-3-3 formation which can become flexible depending on the opposition’s pressure.
“Even Postecoglou’s favoured inverted full-back system has flown into a somewhat fitting nest at Spurs, for the U21s and U18s often play in a way that brings at least one full-back into the centre of the pitch to create a double pivot within a midfield box.
“So as the Australian gets more time in the months and hopefully years ahead to look through the levels beneath him he will find a perfect production line ready and waiting for him.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Conte and Mourinho were very much coaches who were focused exclusively on the first team, with their methods being geared to delivering short-term success.
Postecoglou, like Pochettino, appears to be more of a process-driven manager, who is aiming to put systems in place that would lead to better future outcomes.
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