Yeah I don’t get what his aim is. He constantly says things which make out like he would rather lose by playing his way than win playing another way. And for me, his way isn’t always exciting anyway. Lots of sideways passing and wide open against any opponent doesn’t do it for me.
The interview is better than the quote. I still don’t get him though. He says he understand that supporters desperately want a trophy and are right to. But then follows it up by saying he wants more. To me that sounds like he would favour a top 4 finish over a cup. I’m not saying I want anti football and a defensive manager (Mourinho style) but the kamikaze style of defending we’ve seen under him clearly won’t bring trophies or bridge the gap to where he wants to take the club. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. I get Ange wants to do things his way (as he should) but by now he’s been in the job long enough to see that the PL with Spurs is completely different to his previous jobs. The comment about PL arrogance is a bizarre one too. He seems to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder about only managing in small leagues.
Part of it is the mentality of winning a cup is the destination, when for a club looking to build it very much shouldn't be and a cup is merely a checkpoint This is why the Season Killer Cup is such a poisoned chalice, given the numerous times where a team has won it and you can see a change in their approach because they won a cup so the job's done - but there's still a lot of football to play at that point, and their league form either dips or more often than not nosedives
Can you not do both? Aim to win the league cup but also want to finish high up? Why does it have to be one or the other?
By and large, no, as the only teams whose seasons aren't derailed by winning it are those in a title chase - which also makes the SKC a checkpoint, just on a shorter timescale
I think when he says that he wants more he means that he wants to win the league. As for the Premier League arrogance, I think that's the wrong word. It's more like the football equivalent of American exceptionalism. People always say that something won't work in the Premier League. Then someone makes it work. Will Postecoglou do this with his system? Probably not. It's worked very well for him so far, though.
I've no idea if Ange's tactics can be successful in the PL, but I really want a coach to be given time and a proper shot at doing the job. The last 3 appointments would be funny, if I supported another club. Someone has to be given the chance to implement a plan, don't they? The club has finally broken ties with the vast majority of players who went close under Poch and picked a direction of travel. Recruit the best young players and get them involved. At the end of this season, I'd hope to see improvement from our form thus far...but I'm not expecting any trophies this season, probably not next either. The players and coach need our support to get to a point where we may be capable of winning. I'm not against criticism of the coach or individual players, but right now, for my part, it'll be subject to a large dose of appreciation of the job they've got in hand. Trying to make us into winners has eluded some very experienced, successful coaches. Two League Cups since 2001 tells you all you need to know. This isn't going to happen very fast, if it happens at all, under the current ownership. Good luck to Ange and the lads!
I cannot infer that from the comment. His teams are dropping points because of the mental/ technical capabilities of his squad in defence/MF when "the going gets rough" The only pragmatic way around that would be to select teams whose primary collective good is in defence and not attack. Which of course would then mean most of you would then complain about the entertainment value of the games ...
Mass exodus on the cards!!! Would’ve taken it semi-seriously if the source weren’t Football Insider, lol. The fact that knobhead, Cowlin, is posting it too sums it all up.
The irony is that the one potentially credible example of a player blanking Ange isn't even mentioned, namely Maddison straight up ignoring him after the West Ham game
They couldn't even be bothered to make up a source for the supposed trouble. They're upset with him because of what, exactly? Lazy ****ers.
Throwing all the Serie A players into the basket makes it more blatant At least mix things up and add someone like Bissouma or Porro
Yeah I've touched on our win/ loss record since that Chelsea mauling as it had been a full season's worth of games since that initial good opening run of matches which feels like an anomoly. We definitely need to improve. My concern is more with the board though, I don't think they're giving Ange the desired level of players for him to work with and because he's so far shown an inability to improve any current players, I think we'll continue to win and lose matches in almost equal fashion until quality is brought in... if it's brought in that is...
If this is true, as I've said elsewhere, he is essentially another Mourinho or Conte but with a less impressive CV and less sexy accent. I see no reason why the board should give him the kind of money they refused to give eminently more qualified managers when he hasn't shown an ability to improve anything he already has.
I think that’s probably why we should back him, having felt for years that Poch wasn’t backed enough and then bringing in Jose and not giving him significant funds, it should act as a warning to the board that if you don’t buy quality you’ll almost certainly fail to improve or achieve what you want. Unless we sack Ange and stumble on another Poch, almost all managers are going to require the club to give them good players in order to do well. Otherwise it’ll be another 18 months - 2 year rinse and repeat job with every manager that comes and goes. I don’t see Ange lasting for much longer unfortunately though because I don’t think the board have it in them to “go for it”, so that’ll just result in the manager (again) taking the fall.
If the club thought he was the answer last summer when they appointed him, then they should give him as many resources as possible to prove his worth. If they now think he’s not the answer then they need to accept they made a mistake and then go and get their guy and properly back that man. All this half arsed stuff is just seeing the club flounder.
