Graeme Souness accuses Ange Postecoglou of being ‘naive’ for two reasons

Graeme Souness has been discussing Ange Postecoglou’s tenure at Spurs and the methods the Australian employs tactically, but the pundit has picked out one major issue with how the Tottenham boss approached the role.

Postecoglou should have brought his own staff

Ange Postecoglou took over at Tottenham in June 2023, and his 16 months at the club have been something of a rollercoaster, though it has to be said, progress has been made on the pitch, and the mood around the club has improved, too.

Since his arrival, Postecoglou has hired a number of coaches, including most recently, Nick Montgomery and Sergio Raimundo. He also lost Chris Davies in the summer, who took the top job at Birmingham.

Commenting on Postecoglou’s decision not to bring his former staff from Celtic, Souness told William Hill this was a big mistake.

He said: “He’s walked into Tottenham without bringing any of his own staff. Is he so naïve as to think he can trust any of the coaching staff he’s inherited not to go to the chairman with their tittle-tattle? I would not take a job and think I can just walk into it – it’s madness – you need to go in with people you trust because being a manager is lonely.”

The high line is an issue

Souness also criticised the tactical approach Postecoglou has, particularly the high line he employs. Picking out the defeat against Chelsea last season as a key example of its flaws, Souness suggested the Spurs boss has merely gotten lucky whenever his tactics have worked.

He added: “When I think of Ange Postecoglou, I go back to that game against Chelsea where they got two players sent off and he still had them playing right up to the halfway line. The only time you can do that is when you’ve got 11 players on the pitch and the ball is constantly under pressure.

“The minute someone can get their head up, you’re in trouble. They could have conceded four or five more goals that game – I thought that was naïve. It’s naïve to talk like that and say that the more open the game is, the better it is. If they’d lost that game seven or eight goals to two, you’ve lost the players as a manager. He wasn’t brave that day, they got lucky.”

Trust the process

There is so much noise in the media from people who don’t think Postecoglou’s methods will work. At the end of the day, Spurs fans can only trust in the process and believe the boss when he says he will deliver success this way. People have doubted Postecoglou throughout his career, and they’ve always been wrong.

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