The message Ange Postecoglou would give Tottenham supporters is hold your nerve.
To this day the defining image of the Postecoglou era is the surreal nine-man high line deployed by Spurs in a 4-1 defeat at home to Chelsea in November last year, a game of absurdist kamikaze commitment to ‘Plan-A’ that soon became the manager’s mantra.
A year on and against the same opponents it was the same strategy and the same problems and the same result, only this time with a lot more antipathy raining down from the stands.
Spurs were applauded off the pitch last November, the defeat that ended their run of eight wins and two draws from the first ten games of the season being so noble - and oh so heroic - it left fans and pundits swooning over the new manager.
Next Premier League Manager to leave odds (via Sky Bet)
- Gary O'Neil - 6/4
- Julen Lopetegui - 15/8
- Ange Postecoglou - 4/1
- Russell Martin - 5/1
- Eddie Howe - 20/1
- Pep Guardiola - 33/1
- Sean Dyche - 40/1
- Kieran McKenna - 40/1
- 66/1 bar
Odds correct at 0700 GMT (13/12/24)
The reaction was considerably colder at full-time last Sunday after another hopelessly one-dimensional performance.
Tottenham did what Tottenham do: press high and hard, endlessly, no matter the scoreline, the fatigue, the injuries or anything else that might make another manager change tack just a little.
Jamie Carragher led the criticism on Sky Sports, lamenting Tottenham’s decision not to sit off a little and frustrate Chelsea after they had stormed into a 2-0 lead, and it was Carragher who came up with the perfect image to capture the madness of Postecoglou’s single-mindedness.
“I wake up every morning, and if the sun's shining I put a pair of trainers, shorts and a t-shirt on. But if it's raining… you put your coat on!”
"I wake up every morning, and if the sun's shining I put a pair of trainers, shorts and a t-shirt on - but if it's raining, you put your coat on!" ☀@Carra23 has an analogy for Ange Postecoglou's in-game management style 👇 pic.twitter.com/RzJOcL42vS
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 8, 2024
It really is – or ought to be – that straightforward. Postecoglou’s refusal to adapt will be his downfall.
The same can be said of his opponent this weekend, Russell Martin.
Martin never puts his coat on, either, hence the frankly ridiculous number of times Southampton have given away possession while attempting to pass the ball out from the back.
They’ve made 26 errors leading to an opposition shot this season, 10 more than anyone else and already more than any Premier League team made in the whole of 2023/24.
Postecoglou and Martin have a lot in common.
They are the only two managers who stubbornly refuse to adapt to the game state or the strength of the opposition and fans at both clubs are starting to become restless; in an era of constant tinkering at Premier League level supporters who once craved a strong tactical identity are now savvy to the benefits of a more flexible approach.
It isn’t coincidence that Pep Guardiola is also on the ropes. The Manchester City manager has never been dogmatic, but he too is struggling because his overarching philosophy has become predictable in this new age of hyper-adaptable coaches, from Enzo Maresca to Unai Emery.
Maresca leant into the transitions to beat wide-open Spurs; Emery pressed hard onto the Saints centre-backs to force Jhon Duran’s winner.
In short, the teams meetings at St. Mary’s on Sunday are just too predictable. In that, the two managers in the dugout have become anomalies.
One is rock bottom on five points, a tally only three teams in Premier League history have ever had this late into a season. All three finished 20th.
The other has collected 60 points from the 43 league games since the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea, the ninth most in the Premier League in that time.
It gives Spurs a points-per-game average of 1.4, enough to win 53 points over a 38-game season; enough to finish somewhere between eighth and 12th in the last five years.
For more than a calendar year Tottenham have been mid-table. That suggests Postecoglou is underachieving at least to the same degree as Martin, if not more so.
The crux of the issue for both Southampton and Spurs is simple enough: the rest of us can see what needs changing, but the two managers, looking oddly powerless on the touchline, are unable - or more likely unwilling - to compromise.
Postecoglou and Martin expect fans, and their clubs’ owners, to hold their nerve through difficult times.
There is no particular reason why they should, because refusing to yield is not a sign of self-assuredness but of an absence of new ideas.
It is a sign of weakness, not of strength.
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