Southampton manager jumps to Postecoglou’s defence with touching tribute
Before their teams play each other on Sunday, Southampton manager Russell Martin has put up a fierce defence of Ange Postecoglou, denouncing the Australian’s detractors.
Calls growing for Ange Postecoglou to modify his tactics
Since the beginning of his Tottenham reign, Postecoglou has had to contend with detractors of his aggressive and
hyper-attacking style of play, and these complaints have only gotten louder recently.
Commentators keep saying that if the Australian doesn’t modify his strategy in response to specific resistance or the
current situation of the game, he won’t be in his position for very long.
The Spurs manager has made it clear from the beginning that he will double down on his strategy when there are any
concerns, so we already know that the 59-year-old is not one to change his ways.
Russell Martin says Postecoglou would be crazy to change
Martin has now made the observation that coaches who play an attacking style of football are constantly criticised for
their methods, comparing Postecoglou to Graham Potter at Chelsea.
In response to the criticism directed at the Spurs manager, the head coach of the Saints stated (via Fox Sports): “I
think it’s really interesting because every manager that sits behind a team has some form of beliefs and value system
and what they deem as acceptable or what they want to see, what they want compromised on, what the non-
negotiables are.”
“But the ones who are only criticised are the ones that are a little bit different from the norm. So if we all believed the
same thing I think it’d be pretty boring but it’d be less open to criticism. I think his team is brave. It’s aggressive,
they’ve been really unfortunate with injuries, it’s so similar to Graham Potter when he was at Chelsea.
“Everything he got praise for and credit for at Brighton, he then got criticised for at Chelsea. So, he went from being
calm, studious, really brave in his approach at Brighton to managing a team with different expectations and then all
of a sudden he didn’t show enough passion on the sideline and was too emotionally consistent and all this nonsense.
It’s exactly the same with Ange.”
Martin further insisted that Postecoglou would be ‘crazy’ to suddenly abandon the principles of play which have
brought him success across his career.
He continued: “They (Celtic under Postecoglou) were brilliant. There was so much praise for being so aggressive, so
brave, relentless restarts, energy… he did a great job, won lots of trophies, got to the Champions League, goes to
Spurs and starts so well.
“So, when results are good no one questions the style or his conviction or belief system and the minute it starts
faltering it’s always down to that… and I’ll get criticised for the same thing about being stubborn and all that stuff.
“But if you believe in something and it’s taken you a certain way in life and on a certain pathway and journey, to
deviate too far from that I think is crazy. I can’t speak for him but we are adapting.
“We adapt shape, we adapt approach, we adapt personnel but with the same consistency in what’s really important,
with the same concept of the game so we can’t deviate too far from that otherwise we become nothing really… I have
a lot of respect for him.”
Russell Martin explains why calls for Plan B miss the point
The head coach of the Spurs has been widely criticised for lacking a backup plan in case things don’t work out for his team.
However, Martin noted that if Plan B differs significantly from Plan A, it indicates that a management does not
believe in Plan A at all.
“This is the concept we all get completely mixed up,” he continued. Plan B doesn’t need to be a million miles away
since that would be absurd, therefore you don’t truly believe in Plan A. Plan A is to play this way.
“When you have Plan A, of course, you need to be able to move on certain things but you start with a vision and a
version of the game that you want as the coach … they’re all very different.
“I have respect for every single person that does the job because it’s incredibly tough. There’s no right or wrong. But
this is where we all get mixed up.
“People are quite ready to judge if it’s not their version of the game after watching it. They are far less critical of the
game if it is their interpretation of it and how they played it or perceive it. This is the issue.
It’s not necessary for Plan A and Plan B to be quite dissimilar. Mixing it up in some parts is Plan B. Perhaps alter
your pressing technique, your building strategy, the players’ shapes, and their positions without taking away from
the idea of Plan A. Otherwise, what good is it to have a Plan A?
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