One can only hope
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Manager Ange Postecoglou
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I was fuming at him at the end of last season but now full is trust restored and I can't wait for the league to start.
I think he's doing a fantastic job managing the squad in the pre season, loved everything about it so far. Exciting youth are given a chance to push for squad place and case can be made for every single one of them to get there as all seem to have high ceiling.
Plus the atmosphere around the team seems to be great. I have a good feeling we will achieve something in the near future under Ange.
I think he's doing a fantastic job managing the squad in the pre season, loved everything about it so far. Exciting youth are given a chance to push for squad place and case can be made for every single one of them to get there as all seem to have high ceiling.
Plus the atmosphere around the team seems to be great. I have a good feeling we will achieve something in the near future under Ange.
I think it's still an open question as to whether Angeball translates to the Premier League to the degree where Tottenham can be seriously challenging to win things.
I'm not talking about being able to dominate most teams, because despite a few iffy results last season to the likes of Fulham and Wolves, I do think there's enough evidence that with greater consistency in our play we'll be able to do that. What I'm talking about are the question marks remaining over how the style of football matches up against the very best teams in the league - teams full of players who can punish you for making mistakes and leaving spaces.
Having said that, as someone who watched close to every domestic and European Celtic match under Ange, I think a lot of what you're saying here is off the mark.
Domestically, Ange's Celtic dominated the SPL to a greater degree than practically any modern Celtic manager. The closest comparison is Rodgers during part of his first spell, however that was against a league without a strong Rangers.
You said that in a lot of games Celtic were giving up chance after chance and could have been down by 3 or 4, but the metrics don't bear this out. There was a period very early on where this may have been the case, but through the latter part of his first season and basically the entirety of his second, the xG differential grew to a degree where opponents were repeatedly giving up high quality chances and creating very little or very poor quality chances of their own. Opponent's xG was often remarkably low - a far cry from being at risk of conceding 3 or 4 goals.
Can that level of domination translate to the EPL? Well, no. But at the same time, that doesn't mean that we can't get to a point where we're creating more and better chances ourselves and limiting the number and quality of chances the opponent creates. Not to the degree Celtic could against Livingston or St. Mirren of course, but certainly to a degree better than what we saw last season.
I think that's what Ange is focused on and why he's so reluctant to entertain conversations about details like set pieces. Which are of course important, but a bigger issue at this stage is the differential between what we are creating/converting and what we were giving up/conceding.
Angeball can be a be a joy when firing on all cylinders, but equally it can quickly break down and be a tough watch when not working. There were too many times last season, especially the second half, when it didn't click. That's not unusual for the first season of Postecoglou at a new club, as at that point the team is still riddled with players not well suited to the style of football, whilst others are still probably buying in and adapting. The exception to this was Celtic who progressed much quicker, however that can be put down to their quality compared to the rest of the league.
With regards to Europe, firstly let's remember that it's Celtic here. They're always gonna be up against it. Especially when talking about Real Madrid or even Leverkusen, who as we saw last season are a pretty handy side.
Secondly, they weren't smashed by Dynamo Kiev because they didn't play them. You're probably thinking of Shakhtar, although they weren't smashed by them either - IIRC both games ended 1-1, and it was really only because of Mudryk that Shakhtar took anything from either game.
Regardless, I think it's too simplistic to say that Ange's style being too open is why they were "smashed despite dominating possession and creating loads of chances". The way they played is the reason they created all those chances in the first place.
I read a really good and balanced analysis of Celtic's UCL campaign under Ange and the takeaway was that although ultimately they fell well short and there were issues around the quality of chances they were conceding, the system still put them in a good position to take more from matches than what they did, if not for a combination of poor finishing and bad luck (they hit the post or crossbar something crazy like 8 or 9 times)
In both the two matches against Madrid, Celtic had more shots than anybody else right up until Real were beaten by Man City. Yet they still got pumped in those two games by an aggregate of something like 7-1, because ultimately it's Celtic against one of the best teams in the world. I've watched plenty of Celtic games in Europe under different managers where they still got pumped whilst barely mustering a shot on goal - I'd much prefer actually creating the chances and having the ball than desperately trying to cling on in the unlikely hope of nicking a goal.
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what are we? we definitely dont look like a possession side at all. we dont keep the ball well enough to be classed as a possession side! especially in the final third.
You need players on the final third that can hold the ball. We had did have Kane but now we have Son, Johnson, Werner, Kulusevski, Solomon, Richy. None of them are elite at ball retention, we don’t have a Drogba type, we don’t have a Hazard type so we will always lose the ball quickly against top opposition. Its by far our biggest weakness and why we are after Neto and Solanke who are good at holding the ball.
oh 100%. i agree that is where the problem lies. with a competent front 3 that can actually make the ball stick up there it changes everything! but hes got werner and johnson in! worrying judgement.
Shit.
All jokes aside I'm not sure how we are going to do this season, depends if we sign anybody
When we had Conte he needed 3 ball playing CB’s to work and 2 wing backs. We didn’t have that when he came in.
Square pegs round holes. That isn’t a manager problem that problem is the club, it’s on the club to fix to provide the manager with proper tools.
Ange plays quick into forwards who need to link and retain. He needs a balanced front line and quick defenders, we have quick defenders just not the forwards.
but he still wanted to pay 50m for johnson didnt he? this is what we are told anyway. you only have to watch hi for 5 minutes to see hes not a player you want at RW in a side looking to play possession football. the recruitment in the final third stinks.
To counter that arguement I think it would be nice to see Ange be abit more tactically flexible
Do you think he's getting the best out of all our players available?
Johnson was home grown and available. Beggars can’t the choosers.
Also Johnson like Son is a good goalscorer, it’s his general play that could be better. Johnson can still be useful long as someone like Neto is playing with him on the other side.
100%.
And IMO why we are taking time with transfers. We are trying to get the *right* players for the system. Not just any old player.
Perhaps not. Best manager at getting out of what he had was Redknapp but he was a pragmatist. We have a more Pep style manager and you either back them or sack them.
I don't think he will last the season personally.
Sure, we need quality players and they would make a difference and improve us but I think the system itself is flawed, far too naive for the PL imo.
I just wish we’d seen a hint of doing something slightly different in preseason but alas no. It’s going to be another frustrating season.
Yeah, I agree sadly.
Like what?