{"id":412527,"date":"2025-09-10T07:09:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/412527\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T07:09:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T07:09:16","slug":"ange-postecoglou-proved-he-can-adapt-at-spurs-and-he-can-do-it-again-at-nottingham-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/412527\/","title":{"rendered":"Ange Postecoglou Proved He Can Adapt at Spurs, and He Can Do It Again at Nottingham Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ange Postecoglou is
\nback in the Premier League as manager of Nottingham
\nForest<\/a>. On paper, this is a huge departure from Nuno Esp\u00edrito
\nSanto, but might it work?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s quite natural to be at least a little confused by the news
\nthat Ange Postecoglou has replaced Nuno Esp\u00edrito Santo as
\nNottingham Forest manager.<\/p>\n

Nuno did an exceptional job in charge before being dismissed in
\nthe early hours of Tuesday morning, having taken Forest back into
\nEurope following a 30-year absence. He did so while playing a
\nreactive brand of football that was based on a solid defence and
\nquick, direct attacks. It might not be everyone\u2019s ideal style of
\nplay, but it was wonderfully effective.<\/p>\n

Postecoglou\u2019s preferred playing style could barely be more
\ndifferent. He almost became a caricature for his commitment to
\nmaking sure his Tottenham<\/a>
\nwere fun to watch. Some of the things he said hardly helped his
\ncause.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you not entertained?\u201d he bristled at a Sky Sports
\nreporter who asked if he was concerned with any aspect of his
\nteam\u2019s performance after they nearly threw away a 3-0 lead at home
\nto an out-of-sorts and weakened Manchester
\nUnited<\/a> in the EFL Cup quarter-finals last season, only to sneak
\nthrough with a 4-3 win.<\/p>\n

A year earlier, he had insisted on playing with a high line
\nagainst Chelsea<\/a>
\ndespite being down to nine men. \u201cAs long as I\u2019m here, that\u2019s what
\nwe\u2019re going to do,\u201d he said. \u201cEven with five\u00a0men, we\u2019ll have a
\ngo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those comments, alongside Spurs playing a high-speed,
\nhigh-pressing, attacking kind of football which at times appeared
\nto neglect any consideration for keeping the ball out of their own
\nnet, all made the Australian out to be too dogmatic.<\/p>\n

He was so committed to that style of play because it had worked
\nfor him wherever he\u2019d gone before. He\u2019d won titles with Brisbane
\nRoar, Yokohama F. Marinos and Celtic, so he had good reason to
\ncontinue playing the same way.<\/p>\n

And at Tottenham, his possession-based football was initially a
\nbreath of fresh air after the dour stuff fans had been forced to
\nwatch under Jos\u00e9 Mourinho and Antonio Conte, but it ultimately
\nproved his downfall.<\/p>\n

He was so intent on attacking relentlessly that his Tottenham
\nteam were consistently left too open, conceding far too many goals
\nand losing far too many games. They were certainly entertaining,
\nbut results became so poor while sticking to that style of play
\nthat it was almost as though winning was a secondary consideration.
\nThat obviously wasn\u2019t the case, but fans understandably found his
\ncommitment to \u2018Angeball\u2019 infuriating when it appeared clear he
\nneeded to adapt.<\/p>\n

In 2023-24, his first season in England, only Manchester
\nCity<\/a> (65.5%) had more possession on average in Premier
\nLeague<\/a> games than Spurs (62.0%). They scored 74 goals on their
\nway to finishing fifth but also conceded 61 goals, which was 10
\nmore than 15th-placed Everton.<\/p>\n

That meant that Spurs went into the UEFA Europa League for
\n2024-25, which brought a new challenge for Postecoglou. Could his
\nplayers stick to his playing style, which was based around
\nrelentless energy and running, while also managing a European
\ncampaign?<\/p>\n

The short answer is \u2018no\u2019.<\/p>\n

Spurs endured their worst top-flight league season since
\n1976-77, finishing 17th after losing 22 of their 38 matches. Only
\nthe three relegated teams and
\nWolves<\/a> conceded more goals than Spurs (63), while only the
\nbottom three allowed their opponents a higher\u00a0expected
\ngoals<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0total than them (64.4 xG). Based on their
\ndefensive displays, they fully deserved to finish 17th.<\/p>\n

Their season was derailed by an injury crisis that Postecoglou\u2019s
\nfootball was at least partly to blame for. Tottenham ranked either
\nsecond or third in the Premier
\nLeague<\/a> last season for distance covered (111.5 km per 90),
\nsprints (167.5 per 90), off-ball runs (159.0 per
\n90)\u00a0and\u00a0pressures in the final third (55.2 per
\n90). Their squad fell apart.<\/p>\n

It was completely different to how Forest played. Forest had
\njust 40.7% possession in the Premier League last season, and
\nallowed their opponents chances worth 49.6 xG. They covered less
\nground than any other team in the Premier League (104.1 km per 90)
\nand applied fewer pressures in the final third than anyone else,
\ntoo (36.9). They pressed high less than anyone else and spent more
\ntime in a mid or low block (80%) than every other side.<\/p>\n

\"what<\/p>\n

The average position at which Tottenham\u2019s defensive line caught
\nopponents offside was more than 10 metres higher up the pitch than
\nForest\u2019s. Forest, often camped in their own half, caught fewer
\nopposition attackers offside (36) than any other team in the
\nPremier League.<\/p>\n

\"Tottenham<\/p>\n

\"Nottingham<\/p>\n

So, what are Forest thinking in swapping Nuno for Ange? Are they
\ngoing to rip up everything Nuno did and head to Arsenal \u2013 of all
\nplaces \u2013 for Postecoglou\u2019s first game in charge on Saturday with
\nthe aim of dominating the ball and playing one of the best teams in
\nthe world off the park on their own patch? Can we expect Forest to
\ntry and dominate possession from here on?<\/p>\n

That seems incredibly unlikely. Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis
\nis a fiery character who is prone to making emotional decisions,
\nbut even he surely won\u2019t expect Postecoglou to change things that
\nmuch that quickly.<\/p>\n

It might be the ultimate goal, though. Reports suggest Nuno was
\ndetermined to adapt his side\u2019s style of play and focus a little
\nmore on keeping possession, but he hasn\u2019t got a great deal of
\nexperience of doing that successfully. Postecoglou certainly knows
\nhow to play that way, so perhaps he convinced Marinakis that he can
\ndo it with Forest further down the road.<\/p>\n

But in the immediate term, there\u2019s every chance the Australian
\ncontinues the work Nuno did at the City Ground. Postecoglou proved
\nin Tottenham\u2019s run to Europa League glory that he can
\nadapt and is willing to. In doing so last term, he brought Spurs
\ntheir greatest triumph in a generation.<\/p>\n

In the latter stages of the Europa League, Postecoglou\u2019s side
\nabandoned Angeball and became an impressively solid defensive unit.
\nIn the final four games of that run, they conceded only one goal, a
\ndeflected effort late on in the first leg of the semi-final against
\nBod\u00f8\/Glimt when they were already three goals up. They had no more
\nthan 41.7% possession in any of those games and won every one.<\/p>\n

\"tottenham<\/p>\n

In the win over United in the final, Spurs had 26.7% of the
\nball, completed 61% of their passes and managed just three shots.
\nBut they also barely looked like conceding. It was a million miles
\nfrom how Spurs had played in the league.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, Postecoglou suggested the approach was one needed
\nspecifically for knockout football.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always felt that knockout football is different from your
\nleague football,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re in that situation, it comes
\ndown really to good organisation, belief, having a good game plan
\nand then moments; if you can minimise the moments the opposition
\nhave by having a really strong foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while he might not want to play that way for a full
\nleague season, he has shown he can do it. He is willing to
\nadapt when necessary, and he won\u2019t try to revolutionise how Forest
\nplay with just a few days to go before his first game this
\nweekend.<\/p>\n

For one thing, his new club don\u2019t have the players to play pure
\nAngeball straight away. We\u2019re not going to see Chris
\nWood<\/a> pressing for 90 minutes at the Emirates.
\nNikola Milenkovic<\/a> isn\u2019t going to be forced to play a high line
\nwith a few days\u2019 preparation.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, Spurs\u2019 football in the knockout stages of the
\nEuropa League really wasn\u2019t that far away from how Forest played
\nunder Nuno. Despite the damning evidence of Tottenham\u2019s defensive
\nrecord in the Premier League under him, Postecoglou is clearly
\ncapable of setting his team up to shut the opposition out.<\/p>\n

\"Tottenham
\nJonathan
\nManuel \/ Data Analyst<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth noting that in the Premier League last season,
\nSpurs weren\u2019t quite as extreme in their style of play as they had
\nbeen in 2023-24. Plenty of other teams played a far slower and more
\nintricate brand of football than them.<\/p>\n

\"Tottenham
\nJonathan
\nManuel \/ Data Analyst<\/a><\/p>\n

One aspect of Tottenham\u2019s play under him that may bode well for
\nForest is how effectively they attacked on the counter. Forest (45)
\nwere one of only six teams that had more shots from fast breaks in
\nthe Premier League last season than Spurs (36), but Postecoglou\u2019s
\nside ranked second behind Liverpool<\/a>
\n(14) for goals from fast breaks (10).<\/p>\n

They were happy to keep hold of the ball to try and wear
\nopponents down \u2013 something we may see a little more of from Forest
\nunder Postecoglou \u2013 but when there was an opportunity to attack at
\npace, they took it. Forest should expect to continue to
\ncounter-attack at pace under their new manager.<\/p>\n

On the face of it, this looks like as big a jump in managerial
\nstyle as you could get. It\u2019s the kind of change you might expect
\nfrom a team battling relegation who desperately need something new,
\nnot from a team who have just had their best season in a
\ngeneration.<\/p>\n

But while Postecoglou\u2019s ideal philosophy is clearly a big
\ndeparture from Nuno\u2019s, he showed with Tottenham that he can play a
\ndifferent way, and he\u2019ll have learned a great deal from his time
\nthere. He\u2019ll know that changing too much too soon at Forest
\nwouldn\u2019t be the best idea.<\/p>\n

For Forest, there\u2019s no time to dwell on the loss of Nuno, one of
\nthe most significant managers in their modern history. They have a
\nPremier League game to prepare for this weekend before they begin
\ntheir Europa League campaign next week.<\/p>\n

And with a manager who has very recent experience of adapting
\nhis team\u2019s football to go all the way in that competition, maybe
\nthere is even reason to get excited about this appointment.<\/p>\n


\n\"Premier<\/a><\/p>\n

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