Experience the thrill of the game

By Eduard Banulescu

Ange Postecoglou’s tactics haven’t really revolutionized the Premier League yet. But they’ve certainly given analysts plenty to talk about. With the Australian coach promising a measure of success in his second season as manager of Tottenham, it’s time to take an in-depth look at the tactical setup of what is certainly one of the EPL’s most charismatic managers at the moment.

Don’t forget that it’s always a good time to put this knowledge to good use in FootballCoin competitions. The fantasy football events are free, daily and always come with prizes.

Career before managing Tottenham

Ange Postecoglou’s career is certainly one of the most interesting of any manager in the Premier League. However, it is not the typical path to the best football league in the world.

Postecoglou’s coaching career began as assistant manager of South Melbourne, the club he had played for at right-back. To the surprise of many, he was the next manager of the Australian youth team and several other local clubs before being given the job as manager of the senior Australian national team in 2013.

Postecoglou probably enjoyed the most successful period in Australian football history. The team qualified for the 2014 and 2018 World Cup and won the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

In 2018, he was manager of one of the Japanese league’s bigger clubs, Yokohama Marinos, before heading to Europe to coach Celtic Glasgow. Two Scottish Premiership campaigns followed. The latter included winning a treble in 2023. It was probably the impetus for Daniel Levy and the Spurs board to hire Postecoglou as their club’s manager.

Yes, Ange Postecoglou has a style of football that he has implemented in virtually every team he has managed. It is a bruised and battered philosophy. If it works, it’s a great box office hit.

The Australian coach prefers a 4-3-3 formation and wants his teams to play fluid counter-attacking football. His teams like to use sharp transitions and quickly get the ball into dangerous situations with short, quick passes.

The Postecoglou teams are courageous. The team builds up from the back and presses from the front. It’s an aggressive approach that the manager generally doesn’t want to change, even when the odds are stacked against his team. He even used this when Tottenham were reduced to 10 men in his first season, and he used it when Australia took on mighty Brazil.

Formations and adaptability

As mentioned, Ange Postecoglou prefers a 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 formation for his team. This is intended to encourage aggressive pressing, quick transitions and a play-based possession game where the aim is to move the ball quickly into dangerous areas.

However, Postecoglou has shown that he is willing to adapt to opponents. Earlier this season he used a 4-2-3-1 formation against Newcastle, but when this resulted in defeat he reverted to his previous tactics, or he was selected to play on the wings in the memorable defeat against Manchester United to flood.

These changes are largely aimed at giving Tottenham a numerical advantage at certain stages of the game. Ideally, Postecoglou would like to have five of his Spurs players against four defenders when attacking. Likewise, when building up the game, players such as the full-backs can change their roles to create additional passing opportunities.

Tottenham in defense

Ange Postecoglou has set up Tottenham to play in a four-man defense. While the manager delved heavily into the transfer market to fill these positions early in his tenure, he has used the same players in this lineup wherever possible.

When defending, Spurs’ goal is to give their opponents as little space as possible. Tottenham presses aggressively and intensively. The central areas are usually flooded with players, forcing the opponent to take risks on the flank. However, Spurs struggled with the more technical teams accepting that they needed to find space between the lines.

Central to Tottenham’s tactics is the defensive partnership between Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven. Both are very confident on the ball, so the team can build from defense. Both are good at tackling and finishing the game. Romero offers more security in aerial duels, while van de Ven’s speed allows him to run more into the midfield role with the ball when necessary.

The team’s inverted full-backs also bring a lot of energy needed to play the type of football that Postecoglou’s tactics promote. Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie can take on attacking roles, but are often used to move into a central position and force opposing players to make mistakes.

The ball-playing goalkeeper

In fact, this frantic pace of pressing was one of the things that worked best for Spurs under Postecoglou. Although this is not the best team in the league when it comes to pressing, and while most of the top teams in the EPL take a similar approach, Tottenham have been one of the best teams at forcing mistakes and regaining possession against their opponents.

Finally, if we mention Tottenham’s defense, we must also mention the attackers and the goalkeeper. The team’s attacking players are expected to apply pressure from the front and disrupt passing lanes. Playmaker James Maddison and hard-working striker Song-Heung Min were particularly successful.

Finally, the arrival of Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli seems to have been a brilliant idea from the scouting department. Vicario was bought for 35.00 million euros and is promising. This season he has led one of the better defenses in the EPL, has one of the lowest post-shot expected goals numbers in the top leagues and has generally been a stabilizing factor.

For Vicario to keep up with the likes of Ederson and Alisson, more clean sheets and a greater involvement in the team’s passing game will certainly be required, but there is certainly potential.

Tottenham in attack

As frustrating as Tottenham’s attackers have been at times, the team has scored the most goals alongside Manchester City this season. This proves that Ange Postecoglou’s tactical principles are at least partially adopted by the team.

Typically Tottenham starts in a 4-3-3. When in possession and especially when they benefit from a substitution, the three attackers are joined by the wide midfielders, typically Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison. The aim is to create a numerical superiority over the four opposing defenders.

The aim is to quickly get the ball into the final third through controlled passes. Typically, Spurs attack in the middle of the pitch, which overloads the players. However, van de Ven’s clever use over long stretches to create superiority in attack has stunned some teams such as Manchester United in the game against Spurs.

The departure of Harry Kane more than a year ago had a profound impact on Tottenham. But it also meant other players had to step up.

Of course, Son usually remains the team’s biggest goal threat. He has scored three goals this season and the South Korean is the best option in almost every phase of attack.

However, Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke have also appeared this season. The first was transferred from Nottingham Forest and is making full use of his prodigy potential. The latter was injured in the first half of the season, but can provide exactly the robust finishing that Spurs need.

Although Timo Werner is not the most reliable finisher, his work rate and tactical knowledge are enough to cause real headaches for defenders and provide an additional attacking option for Ange Postecoglou’s tactics.

Construction phase

Spurs generally like to build from the back. Vicario is the player who makes the first pass and should have three options around him at all times. This means that one of the two full-backs moves back to a more central area, while Bissouma also drops deeper to receive the next pass.

This movement creates triangular shapes on the playing field. This, along with the skills of players like Udogie and Porro, who are able to retain the ball in tight spaces, has been an integral part of the way Tottenham have constructed their attacks.

The other important factor was the signing of James Maddison, the former Leicester City playmaker. Maddison is an extremely mobile player. He will switch roles naturally and comfortably, moving into whatever position he needs while demanding the ball and trying to link play.

What’s next for Postecoglou and Tottenham?

Ange Postecoglou seems destined to become a cult hero at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The team plays courageous, attacking football and is often extremely entertaining.

But what about the results? Tottenham have improved in many ways. However, the EPL has never been more competitive. There is a feeling that some teams, such as Arsenal and even Aston Villa, have made it to the top of the Premier League food chain quicker than Spurs.

Won’t winning a trophy or securing Champions League qualification be enough to justify a change of manager? Maybe not, but stranger things have happened.

What is clear is that the players and fans believe in Postecoglou’s radical tactics for now and that the team still has ways to fulfill its potential.