Ange Postecoglou has said that even though Tottenham remain a work in progress in some aspects, the one area he is quite pleased with is the intensity with which his side has approached games throughout the season.
There is a sense among some sections of the Spurs fans base that Postecoglou’s honeymoon period at the club might now be over, with some of the Australian’s methods being questioned.
However, there is no doubt that the Tottenham head coach still has the support of the overwhelming majority of the fan base, who are cognizant of the fact that this campaign was always going to be a transitional one.
Many, including the likes of Alasdair Gold, have pointed out that Postecoglou’s sides do not often click into top gear until his second season at the helm.
However, the 58-year-old explained that the tempo he demands from his players is a non-negotiable, with sessions at the Hotspur Way training ground being of the same intensity as matches.
Postecoglou told Football.London: “We do try and replicate it (match intensity in training). Obviously, you can’t do it exactly the same way as game day because there are other variants that come into that, but on a daily basis, we try and train at a tempo and intensity that is going to be close to replicating what happens on game day.
“We’ve done that consistently all year irrespective of whether we’ve got a game or not. What we adjust is the amount of time we are out there. So if we want a less volume session we just tone down the time so we’re out there for less minutes but the intensity and tempo stays the same. I think it’s probably been the one area of our game this year that’s been consistent.”
The Spurs head coach remarked that he has been quite pleased with the intensity with which his side has played, pointing out that they lead those relevant metrics across the Premier League.
He added: “If there’s one area of our game that’s got us to where we are now it has been that. When you look at some of the physical parameters across the league, we’ve been outstanding and that’s helped us overcome the lack of – for want of a better term – the quality in our play, at times.
“Most of the high speed metrics, I think we’d be top of the league. Like I said, I think you need something … I try and paint an accurate picture of how I feel about how we’re going … but we’re going OK. Maybe better than OK, and I think there is a reason for that. You can look for reasons why we’re not going better but there’s some pretty strong reasons why we are where we are, as well.”
Spurs Web Opinion
While Tottenham do play with more intensity than almost any other side in the Premier League, the negative consequence of that is that our players are far likelier to pick up muscle injuries. That is why Postecoglou needs to build a big squad in order to have success with this approach.
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