In an exclusive interview, the manager discusses the strategy that has powered Tottenham's bright start to the season
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tottenham Hotspur’s encouraging start to the current season owes much to the brilliance of ‘Ange Ball’ – and the man behind it says that hasn’t happened by accident.
Boss Ange Postecoglou previously deployed the strategy to win two successive league titles at Celtic – while he didn’t come up with the ‘Ange Ball’ moniker himself, he acknowledges it’s a tangible philosophy and not just a throwaway phrase.
“I think it’s there, definitely,” he said, as part of an exclusive interview for the current issue of FourFourTwo magazine.
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“I’d like to think there’s something there that we work on every week, and it’s not just random events.”
There's certainly plenty of chaos in football – and Tottenham have had their fair share in the opening weeks of the season with late winners and tense matchups. Fittingly, their manager reflects upon the unexpected nature of games when he approaches them.
“But at the same time, what I love about football is it has its own life,” Postecoglou says.
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Tottenham Hotspur are still undefeated in the league under Ange Postecoglou (Image credit: Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
“I often say to the players that what we do during the week and the information we give them is kind of preparing them for an exam. But like all exams, you don’t know what the questions are going to be, you know?
“A game of football throws up things, but yeah, there’s a structure. We try to allow players to then find solutions within that, but there are some disciplines we need to have as a group, for the individuals to function within it.”
Chris joined FourFourTwo in 2015 and has reported from more than 20 countries, in places as varied as Ivory Coast and the Arctic Circle. He's interviewed Pele, Zlatan and Santa Claus (it's a long story), as well as covering the World Cup, AFCON and the Clasico. He previously spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist, and completed the 92 in 2017.
