Brazilian striker Erik Lima, who was managed by Ange Postecoglou at Yokohama Marinos, has admitted that the Australian had a profound impact on his career, and backed the 58-year-old to succeed at Tottenham.
Lima spent a year and a half with Postecoglou at Yokohama, scoring 24 goals in 48 appearances for the club and being a key part of their historic J-League triumph in 2019.
Spurs fans have seen first-hand how their new head coach has brought the best out of the likes of Yves Bissouma and Pedro Porro since he arrived at the club, and the former Yokohama star has remarked that the new Tottenham boss did the same with him.
Postecoglou has a big impact on players’ careers
The striker told ESPN Brasil about Postecoglou: “One of the greatest coaches I’ve ever had. He changed me a lot as an athlete and even the way I think about the game.
“He doubled my potential. Not only in my individual numbers, but in the achievements we had together. I was the champion and then the team’s top scorer.”
Lima, who now plays for FC Machida Zelvia, is not surprised by the style of football that Postecoglou has Tottenham playing.
When asked about Spurs’ current attacking approach, he said: “I don’t remember having games with less than three or four chances to score goals. We exchanged more than 600 passes per game. If we exchanged less than that, he would be dissatisfied.
“We rarely scored a few goals. Doing this with players who weren’t so renowned is very difficult. At the time we managed to improve a lot and several athletes from our squad went to the Japanese team.”
The 29-year-old insisted that he continues to root for his former manager and he has no doubt that the Aussie can replicate the success he had at Celtic in North London.
Lima added: “He built a family at Marinos. Wherever he goes I will be rooting for his success. In addition to being a great coach, he is a great person. He was very successful at Celtic and I was sure he would fit into any club with that wonderful style of play.”
Spurs Web Opinion
All the players who have played for Postecoglou during his long managerial career seem to have nothing but praise for him both as a personal and as a coach.
While it is still early days for him at Spurs, it is quite clear that the players at Tottenham have quickly become quite fond of the 58-year-old.
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