Revealing the new Tottenham manager: once seen as a joke, winning the Asian Cup + treble, a reconstruction expert
The 57-year-old has made history as the first Australian manager in Premier League history after taking charge of Tottenham, and he faces the daunting task of rebuilding Tottenham. So why did Tottenham choose a little-known manager?
In his first season in charge of Celtic, Postcoglu won a league and Scottish Cup double, and in his second season he won three domestic competitions.
However, after winning the Triple Crown, Postcoglu said, "Let's not beat around the bush, it was considered a joke when I took office." ”
In June 2021, Postcoglu switched from Yokohama Mariners to Celtic, who few knew at the time, but he quickly proved himself and became an icon in the hearts of Celtic fans.
Despite losing to Hearts on his debut in charge of Celtic, he has proven himself after becoming the fifth manager in the club's history to win the treble, and Tottenham fans are expecting him to make the same impact in London.
Good at recruiting
Before he took charge, the Celtics did not pay much attention to signings, and since he has coached, the Celtics have signed a full 29 players, including 6 players, and Furuhashi Hengwu is the best signing of the Postcoglu era.
In July 2021, Hiroshi Furuhashi joined Celtic from Kobe Vissei for a transfer fee of £4.5 million, and his value has risen as he scored one goal after another. Despite injuries in his first season with Celtic, he still scored 20 goals in 33 appearances.
In the 2022-23 season, Furuhashi scored 27 goals in the league and 34 in all competitions, becoming the top scorer in the Scottish league and winning the Player of the Year award by the three major associations.
Standard-bearers Hiroyo and Maeda also joined Celtic in December 2021 and quickly became core members of the team, scoring on their debut and being named to Team of the Year.
Celtic are always looking for a reliable goalkeeper but fans will still be wowed when Joe Hart is signed from Tottenham in the summer of 2021. Many consider the former Manchester City goalkeeper to be outdated, but he has played an extremely important role in the last two seasons.
An accomplished coaching career
At just 30 years old, Postcoglou began his coaching career as manager of South Melbourne before managing the Australian youth team for seven years.
He then went on to coach the Brisbane Lions, helping the bottom-placed team win back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012 and set an unbeaten run of 36 games.
After coaching the Australian national team, he led the team to the 2014 World Cup, winning the Asian Cup in 2015 and winning a ticket to the 2018 World Cup. After coaching the Yokohama Mariners, he led the team to a league title in 2019, their first in 15 years.
During his two years at the helm of Celtic, he won five titles in six domestic competitions, including the treble last season. Of course, he has never won a European competition, but Celtic had a good Champions League last season, drawing home and away to Shakhtar Donetsk.
Lack of top-flight coaching experience
Postcoglu had never previously managed in a top-flight league and he became the first Australian to manage a Premier League side. He wasn't worried about that, though.
In his first press conference with Celtic, he said, "You can assume I'm second choice, or you can think I'm fifth, you can never know." It doesn't bother me much, the most important thing is that I am given responsibility and given opportunities. ”
He doesn't see coaching Celtic as a "leap" in his managerial career: "I've played in the World Cup and I've coached some of the best teams in the world. "During his time at Celtic, he went from being doubtful to being successful, so he was ready to coach Tottenham.
Aggressive offensive tactical style
The team he coached not only achieved great results, but also created a tactical style that thrilled fans. In the 2022-23 season, Celtic scored 114 goals in the league, setting a single-season goal record for the club since World War II.
Celtic's offense tends to start from the goalkeeper, with two full-backs actively involved in the attack, while the centre-backs are extremely aggressive. Attackingly, he will have two attacking midfielders and two wingers at the same time, and once the wing is crossed, there are often four players in the box vying for the spot.
Postcoglu's mantra was "we never stop" and even the Celtics' caddies had to do what he asked.
Get used to rebuilding the team
Postcoglu once spoke of his love of starting from scratch, "Almost every job I did was a massive rebuild. Usually you come in when people need to change, and secondly, the way I get my team to play is challenging and requires major changes. ”
He controlled multiple parts of the Celtics, and he carried out large-scale reconstruction, which helped the Celtics achieve excellent results. He earned the respect of his players and created a culture of unity for the team.
Australian international McGowan has revealed that on one occasion he flew long distances with the manager, and Postcoglu was silent on the trip because he didn't want to be swayed by personal relationships when making decisions. Postcoglu never befriended the players, he only chose to motivate or criticize the players.
After successfully completing the transformation of Celtic, Postcoglu may face the biggest challenge of his coaching career. Coaching a Premier League team for the first time, facing a Tottenham Hotspur that needs to be rebuilt, can he be as successful as he was at Celtic?