Is Ruben Amorim ‘doing a Jose Mourinho’ to prove a point to Manchester United? Also: Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou should only be doubted if he strays from his principles.
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com…
Where is the Man Utd criticism?
I had to laugh around all the discourse about Spurs being a laughing stock getting trounced by a three goal margin at home. Yet there’s very little about Man Utd being and doing the same.
Hated. Adored. And now also ignored.
Derek, LFC
I’m loving Big Ange instead
You know, reading all this dross from the other side of the world about Ange’s need for a “Plan B”, playing kamikaze football, being out of his depth, I had to bite. I’ve read about Ange’s shortcomings for well over a decade now. He proves you all wrong time and time again.
Ange had trouble in the 2000s as the coach of the Joeys, Australia’s national team youth side. And at the end of that dark tunnel, he made a promise to a close friend and colleague: enough compromise, I’m sticking to my principles. This lead to success at ‘Roarcelona’, the Socceroos, Yokohama and Celtic. Mickey Mouse you say? I’d love to see the credentials of Sir Alex and Arsene pre-EPL. I’d also love to see the “winning” English managers have achieved. So why should he listen to you or your pundits? You can’t even win your own league.
It is from sticking to his principles that he has made it to Tottenham. For all those Spurs fans that have short memories (*cough* the regulars of certain youtube channels *cough*), the Spurs’ motto is “Audere est Facere”. To dare is to do. We lost this under Poch’s final season, Mourinho, Nuno and Conte. Turgid, dire football, relying on Kane and Son to pull us through it all. I really enjoyed waking up at 3am on a Monday to watch that utter garbage.
Now no Kane, an older Son. Here is a manager willing to commit to breaking a mental fragility at a club so unwilling to change. To do so with significant contraints in his squad depth. A man who has an identity of attacking football, something Spurs fans (again, very short memories) have begged for for years. Danny Blanchflower would be disgusted by these “fans”. Quick reminder to those that have forgotten: “The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.” Take that from someone who was actually successful at Tottenham. Sounds like Danny was almost exactly describing Ange…
Argue to a brick wall about Plan Bs and being pragmatic, it’s a loser mentality. The THST were a joke, ready to ‘explain’ to Ange about the importance of Arsenal losing the league. Like he hadn’t just come from the Old Firm derby, a rivalry beyond the football pitch. Again, the English thinking they know best. Lsoer mentality. But what Ange can do right now, is build the right mindset. Make the impossible happen, and transform the club’s relationship with success.
A Plan B like a low block does nothing for the club’s future. Nothing for the players like Bergvall and Gray who will be there for years to come. To play on the front foot even when the going gets tough, means these players won’t retreat, they won’t hide, when the games matter. When success is within reach. They will take the game to anyone. Don’t lie to me: you all saw the score from 1-5 to 3-5 and thought “no way, but maybe?”
On the game: Liverpool have no injuries, insane depth everywhere on the pitch, an extra day of rest, and are the clear best in England and Europe. What did you expect? Just defend for your lives? Sorry, the manager doesn’t believe in you guys. Give up before the first whistle and know your place. Be losers before the game even begins. Seems like the message from the pundits and some Spurs fans (those at the ground were brilliant).
The moment Ange strays from his principles, it’s over. That’s not what the club needs in this revolution. It needs the strongest will in the darkest night. No matter the difficulty, the injury toll, the lack of squad depth, Tottenham Hotspur have to believe they can still beat anyone, anytime, anywhere. Once the team is ready to compete with personnel, the mentality will already be there, ready to take this club to another level. Ange is trying to eradicate the English from Tottenham, and build an unwavering belief that the team can win no matter the circumstance.
Oh, and F365. Utter gutter journalism. The constant use of derogatory terms for a team with about 10 injuries, a (correct) ban for racism, signings that reflect more a child labour camp than a football club, and only now rebuilding when a rebuild was required 5 years ago. You yearn for personalities, for points of difference in this league. Bemoan likeness amongst teams. Yet write utter dross time and time again about a guy who won’t waiver over his beliefs in how to lead a team. I can’t imagine the rubbish you would have written about Gasperini at Atalanta when his attacking football resulted in crazy scorelines. That would be if I can even read beyond the 40 pop-ups and ads on your website.
Do better.
Matt
Big Ange criticism
Hello,
Why do you insist on making preposterous statements concerning the ability of Tottenham’s visionary coach?
Ange Postecoglou has a successful style which is poised to sweep the PL. His issue at present is that the players he inherited are not ideal for his system, neither in character nor in ability.
Give Ange his due praise instead of displaying your obvious lack of discernment.
Regards,
Jerzy Fila
Man Utd is not an office…
Morning,
Interesting from Saby MUFC reading this morning. They might be on the clickbait hunt, but I have to say, MUFC is not an office and Amorim is not a middle manager.
Firstly, as a person who works in an office, if I witnessed sexual harrassment, theft, or some generalised gross miscounduct on my very first day, I wouldn’t wait a few months to get the lie of the land and then address it. Some things you just know aren’t good and a failure to address them immediately is poor management.
Secondly, writing a report on sales performance in various regions of the UK, or creating a mad spreadsheet looking at 18 month projected recruitment needs is not comparable to watching footballers on the training ground. The ability to send an email is not the same as the ability to instantly control, with one touch, a football fizzed to you whilst you’re in a tight space. My point: it takes longer to judge performance in an office than it does in a sport.
Thirdly, after the lassitude and lethargy of the last decade at United, I would venture that someone on the front foot is exactly what is needed, and this sqaud, the majority of whom simply don’t pass the eyeball test when watching, needs signifcant change. Implementing a system that you know works is a reasonable approach, and if that also begets a reset of playing staff, well, then I’d say that’s a positive.
Further, how can have a stable team when you don’t yet know the players? If there is a failing there, and there is, it is the casual approach of the senior management in not removing Ten Hag ealry enough to give Amorim a pre season with the squad.
All of which said, agree with you totally ref Fernandes.
Have a wodnerful Christmas all,
Michael, The North
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…Does anyone else feel that maybe Amorim is “doing a Jose”? And by that I mean purposefully picking players who we know aren’t good enough in particular positions so it can be used as evidence to get rid?
I mean, Malacia has never really been good enough. A solid enough back up at full back but in midfield?
No one thinks Zirklee is a 9. And we have a 9 on the bench who has been doing well (are we saving him for something?), plus another not in the squad and seemingly destined to be pushed out but who is comfortable (and has been successful) as a 9.
No one thinks Garnacho is a 10. Dude cannot pass and simply doesn’t have that kind of vision or awareness. He’s an out and out winger.
No one thinks Eriksen is a hardworking central mid. He could likely do very nicely where Bruno gets to sit and misplace passes and shots. He can also take a decent corner and free kick. So obviously that’s not happening. We’ll let Bruno keep doing that as it’s working so well.
Casemiro? Nah. Collyer? Amass? Nah, both apparently are to be sold for a pittance if rumours are true.
We all knew (or at least, the sane non-plastic fans knew) this change would take time. And it requires a different type of player than we necessarily have in depth.
But it does start to feel like there’s some purposeful intent behind some of these selections. Either way, it’ll all come out in the wash, and this season is not the season to judge or build up huge expectations. Other than maybe to play the best suited players in their best available positions in matches we don’t need to concede so tamely.
Badwolf
Johnny Nic back to his best
Thoroughly enjoyed JN’s latest diatribe. It’s been a while but that was up there with some of his best. ‘Like cutting off your cock because you might get syphilis’ had me in stitches. Keep it up and Merry Christmas to all at f365.
Rob
He HAS to go
Dear Editor
I have been saying this for a year. Ange Postecoglou is out of his depth in the Premier League. It is all very well winning in the Aussie, Japanese and Scottish Premier leagues – the latter which have giants such as Hearts, St Johnstone and Dundee – but our Premier League is arguably the best in the world.
It is impossible to have a Plan B which is the same as your Plan A which doesn’t work.
In the Carabao Cup match against Man Utd, the game was won in the 55th minute – yet this inane system of short passing in the penalty area and mistakes by Forster left the result in doubt until the final whistle.
Who is daft enough to have high-line against Liverpool speedsters, Sala and Diaz. While smiling sheepishly, Ange is adamant he will not change and any player not playing to this ‘system’ will be out.
I was writing a letter to Daniel Levy on Sunday evening, with match still with 20 minutes from finishing.
Here are two ‘HAVES’!
Tottenham HAVE to sack Ange and HAVE to make Bournemouth an offer for Andoni Ariola which they cannot turn down.
Regards
Jim Sokol
Missed concussion?
Beginning to think that the concussion protocol in the Premiership missed a previous incident involving Fraser Forster.
Jason G, Montreal Canada
On Spurs v Liverpool
Obviously, happy with the results on Sunday. I know the odds were always with us to be top at Christmas, and that that doesn’t really matter except for pride at this stage of the season but it’s nice to have the lead and the points buffer back.
But: Am I the only Liverpool fan who watched those first two Spurs goals going in and thought: “Kelleher would have saved that”?
It used to be that I would watch Kelleher’s games seeing goals going in and thinking “Alisson would have had that” more recently, I’m watching saves and thinking “Alisson wouldn’t have got that”.
I know the history of how great Alisson has been, and still is compared with most, I just don’t think he’s our best keeper any more and I think we might be about to nudge our best keeper out of the door by not recognising him. Worse still, Kelleher could sign for a rival and still be helping them beat us to trophies in six or seven years’ time.