Ossie Ardiles has said that Ange Postecoglou deserves immense credit for instantly turning Tottenham Hotspur into an attacking side when he arrived through the door.
Postecoglou arrived at Hotspur Way at a tumultuous time, with the club reeling on the back of a disappointing eighth-place finish in 2022-23 and with the relationship between the fans and the Spurs hierarchy at an all-time low after the failed Antonio Conte experiment.
Spurs had also been a counter-attacking side for three years when the Australian walked through the gates but he wasted no time in implementing his philosophy, transforming the Lilywhites into a possession-based front-foot side.
Tottenham’s style of play under Postecoglou was not too dissimilar to the football that the North London side played under Ardiles, with the Argentine remarking that the two share a similar idea of football.
The Spurs legend told Football:London: “Certainly, the most important thing I would say is the attitude, the philosophy. The philosophy is always the same. Always thinking about the other goal, not so much in our goal. Yeah, go and attack. Go and put pressure, go.
“Ange doesn’t speculate at all. They’re not saying ‘no, we are going to put 10 people behind the ball and we’re going to defend and then maybe counterattack because they play that way’. No, no, no.
“He only thinks about his team and go, and then the other team has to react. That is a kind of total philosophy to be perfectly honest and always has been, and I’m very happy to say it’s my philosophy also.”
Ardiles is certainly happy to see an attack-minded coach at Tottenham after the club veered away from their traditions in the years prior.
When asked if it is important for Spurs to have a manager who plays on the front foot, the 72-year-old responded: “100%. Yes, absolutely, and Ange, in fact, as soon as he arrived immediately changed the perception of the club. He made the connection between him, the players and the crowd. Very, very close, Very, very important.
“Only we had lost a little bit before. We had it when Mauricio Pochettino was there and he created a very good atmosphere the club.
“You could feel it and we lost it after and Ange was incredibly quick to come back with this kind of atmosphere. So yes, I mean, it was extraordinary what he achieved in such a short period of time.”
Spurs Web Opinion
The one advantage that attack-minded managers have at Spurs is that the supporters will give them slightly more leeway if results are poor.
However, given the turgid football that the likes of Conte and Mourinho were delivering, the fans were always going to turn on them the second the results became unfavourable.
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