By Vince Rugari
When the idea of managing England was first put to Ange Postecoglou, his reaction said it all.
“Come on, mate...”
It was October last year and Postecoglou’s feet had barely settled under his desk at Hotspur Way, Tottenham’s lavish training facility and headquarters in north London. He had just finished his weekly press conference. I was there. The press pack had convinced the club to let Postecoglou speak for a few minutes more about his time in Australia, under embargo, with the quotes to be released a couple of days later in advance of the Socceroos’ friendly against England at Wembley Stadium.
Ange Postecoglou watches Tottenham’s 5-1 win over Hearts, their first pre-season match.Credit: Getty
This was probably the peak of the English media’s early fascination with Postecoglou, who by that stage had been named Premier League manager of the month twice in a row, with a third gong to come. The honeymoon period was in full swing, and they were all still trying to get their heads around him.
Postecoglou was first asked if he would ever consider returning to coach the Socceroos later in his career. The answer was a firm and polite no, having just elaborated on his views about the many structural and cultural challenges blocking the progress of Australian soccer, his frustrations with them, and how he “gave up that fight” by leaving on the eve of the 2018 World Cup and moving overseas.
Then came the follow-up. Would you fancy managing England?
Then came the dismissive chuckle. Then came another follow-up: Stranger things have happened?
“Very true,” Postecoglou replied. “Stranger things have happened. But no. They’ve got a fantastic manager, and I’m eight games into a Tottenham career.”
Which brings us to now, almost 10 months later.
England don’t have a manager any more, and opinion is split over whether Gareth Southgate was fantastic. The Football Association is on the hunt for his replacement. Eddie Howe, Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel have all been linked to the job, as well as Lee Carsley, the England under-21s coach, and Pep Guardiola, the ‘Hail Mary’ hope.
Thanks to the London Telegraph, Postecoglou has now been linked as well.
Ange Postecoglou in another life, coaching the Socceroos against Roy Hodgson’s England in 2016.Credit: Getty
The link, however, appears rather tenuous: they report that he is “expected to be on the list of candidates being considered”, which is different from knowing he is actually on it. The report says that FA’s technical director John McDermott has tracked Postecoglou for many years, and concludes that he would be a good fit for the criteria guiding their search.
And he would be. Postecoglou has surely by now proven himself to be one of the best coaches in the world, so good that it would be almost a dereliction of duty if he wasn’t on their list. He also has the gravitas the role requires. But beyond that, he would be precisely what England is missing: a manager with a plan, a clear identity, someone who can not only get them to a final like Southgate did, but win it.
Much of the criticism of Southgate was about his over-reliance on individuals, on getting the ball to mega talents like Jude Bellingham or Bukayo Saka and hoping they would conjure something in the final third in absence of a collective attacking system. On sitting back, yielding possession and springing forward on the counter. Maybe his ideas were a little more sophisticated than that, but the evidence suggests if they were, it wasn’t working out.
Reprising his early career role as a television analyst for ITV during the Euros, Postecoglou said England needed to play with “a little bit more freedom and confidence”. A frightening thought. Their players are more than good enough to play Angeball. Heck, Postecoglou thought the Socceroos were good enough 10 years ago. Imagine what he’d do with them? Imagine if he finally got his hands on Harry Kane? Imagine the brick walls he could make them all walk through?
Gareth Southgate with England captain Harry Kane.Credit: Getty Images
And then imagine the reaction from Middle England if Ange’s Three Lions faced, say, Sweden in a friendly or Nations League clash or whatever, and they copped a red card or two, and he still kept his defensive line on halfway, and they lost. And then imagine how they’d react when Postecoglou is inevitably asked if he would consider changing his ways, and he says: “Nah, mate.”
Or imagine if he endured all of that and helped England win something. Have we hardy souls in the Australian soccer community not suffered enough?
Reality check time. Postecoglou hasn’t spent almost 30 years climbing the coaching ladder to get to a club like Tottenham Hotspur, and endured all the questioning and criticism he did in his first season in the Premier League, just to up and leave for a job where you’re on an even bigger hiding to nothing, and go through it all again.
Indeed, it’s very difficult to imagine a guy like him leaving the 24/7 sensory overload that is the club game any time soon to return to the irregularity of international football, having already endured it for a decade in total with Australia’s senior and junior teams – perhaps with the sole exception of a romantic stint in charge of Greece in his twilight years, whenever they happen to be.
For his part, Postecoglou knocked it all on the head pretty quickly.
“I was having a nap this afternoon. I have no idea,” he said after Spurs beat Heart of Midlothian 5-1 in Edinburgh, their first pre-season fixture, early on Thursday (AEST).
“I’m the Tottenham manager, and I’m determined to bring success to this club. That’s where my focus is totally.”
It’s not going to happen. And for that, we should all be very grateful.
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