Tottenham's appointment of Ange Postecoglou is part of "a golden era" for Australian football, according to James Johnson.
Postecoglou was handed a four-year deal at Spurs on Tuesday, leaving Scottish champions Celtic after two successful years which culminated in a domestic treble.
Football Australia CEO Johnson believes Tottenham fans are wrong to hold concerns over Postecoglou – who has been hired to replace Antonio Conte – even if the 57-year-old was not one of the biggest names available.
Johnson feels Postecoglou's track record speaks for itself and is certain he will succeed in the Premier League in an era of rapid progress for figures connected with Australian football.
"Australian football is in a golden era right now," Johnson said to Stats Perform.
"It is a really extraordinary development and Australian football is very proud of Ange.
"Ange has gone through every level of Australian football. He's played in the NSL. He's coached in the NSL with South Melbourne.
"He's coached in the A-League with Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory. He's coached all our national teams from the youth national teams, all the way up to the Socceroos.
"He's had success at Celtic and now to land a job in the biggest league in the world with one of the biggest clubs in the world is extraordinary for Ange and for Australian football.
"The Ange appointment is another example of the many great waves that Australian football is pushing out at the moment.
"We are seeing a lot of our Matildas [Australia women's national team players] who are playing at some of the biggest clubs in the world from Chelsea to Tottenham to Arsenal to Lyon to Manchester City.
"We are seeing players re-enter the Premier League again, like Harry Souttar did at Leicester. We are seeing many players who are transferring from the A-League into Europe.
"And we are seeing our Socceroos coming off the best performance at a World Cup that they have ever had.
"Then we are hosting the biggest tournament in women's sports, the Women's World Cup, in only six weeks’ time, so it is a fantastic time for Australian football."
Postecoglou will take charge of a Spurs team that struggled to eighth place in the Premier League and will not play in Europe next season, with star striker Harry Kane facing an uncertain future.
Conte was sacked in late March, with Cristian Stellini and then Ryan Mason taking temporary charge. Johnson is convinced there will now be a rapid improvement and an attacking style of play.
He added: "Ange is someone who understands football from top to bottom, he's coached that youth team level. So at Tottenham, he's going to have a great connection with the youth team.
"He's competed at the European level. So he's going to understand what it's like to juggle players who were playing both domestically and European football which a club like Tottenham do.
"He's going to understand the friction between national team football and club football.
"Ange is a total package as a coach and Tottenham are very smart to hire him.
"He plays very attacking football. He's one of these people that he won't have restrictions put on him, he'll go out and play his style against any opposition.
"I think that kind of positivity and energy is exactly what a club like Tottenham need at the moment when they probably haven't done as well, in the past 12 months, as people would have expected them to."
Johnson continued: "I think people particularly in Europe need to understand the Australian football is coming quickly.
"Ange at the forefront of that movement and will be successful in the Premier League. I'm absolutely sure about that."
Spurs have friendlies against West Ham, Leicester City and Roma lined up in July.
New England Revolution v D.C. United: Lesesne hoping to keep high level on 'hard' road trip
Troy Lesesne was full of praise for D.C. United's comeback win over Nashville SC but has urged the team to maintain their high level when they travel to New England Revolution.
D.C. came from behind, scoring two late goals to snatch a 4-3 victory over Nashville in midweek, moving them to 11th in the Eastern Conference.
They are one of three teams on 37 points and still have a chance of making the playoffs with two games remaining.
Lesesne is now keen to build on their latest run of form in what he describes as a tough place to visit.
"It's another situation where we need three points," Lesesne said. "We can go do it, but we just need to be in this mindset.
"New England are a very good team, I understand where they are in the table, but it's really hard to get points there and we need to be at our best again.
"I've been trying to communicate a clear message the entire season about the mentality, and how the players display themselves. That was on full display [against Nashville]."
Meanwhile, New England's slim chances of making the playoffs are still alive, despite suffering a 2-1 defeat to Houston Dynamo last time out.
They sit 14th in the table on 31 points with three games left, but head coach Caleb Porter acknowledged they need to improve the small details if they want to make it to the postseason.
"For me, where we fell short is the details [against Houston]," Porter said. "And that's the area of our team that we have to continue to work on.
"We have to finish our chances. We have to be smarter in those details of our decision-making. And the guys know that. So, for me, that's a real learning lesson."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
New England Revolution – Carles Gil
Carles Gil scored for the first time since early September from the penalty spot against Houston, ending a run of four games without a goal.
He is the team's second top-scorer on seven goals, while he has also registered the most assists (five), and the Revs will be hoping he can provide the spark in their search for a vital three points.
D.C. United – Gabriel Pirani
Most of the headlines for D.C. will often go to Christian Benteke, who has a league-high 22 goals so far. However, Gabriel Pirani stepped up when it counted on Wednesday.
He sits second on their goalscoring charts with six for the season, getting two of those in stoppage time in midweek, to flip the game on its head and claim a superb victory.
MATCH PREDICTION: NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION WIN
New England were on a three-match unbeaten streak against D.C. but lost their most recent meeting with them this season, going down 3-1 in February. However, D.C. have lost their last four trips to Gillette Stadium.
The Revs have won just one of their last seven MLS matches (D2 L4), though that victory came in their last home game as they edged past Nashville 1-0.
Meanwhile, D.C. have lost just one of their last six outings (W3 D2) – that defeat did come on the road, but they bounced back, coming from behind to get their win over Nashville in midweek.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
New England Revolution – 45.5%
Draw – 26.8%
D.C. United – 27.6%
Leicester's heads are not down as wait for a win goes on, says Cooper
Steve Cooper insists the mood at Leicester City is not downbeat as the Foxes' wait for a first Premier League win rolls into matchday seven.
Leicester fought back from 2-0 down away at Arsenal last time out, only for two goals in second-half stoppage time from the Gunners to break their resolve.
Attention now turns to a home game against Bournemouth, who beat Leicester's fellow promoted side Southampton 3-1 on Monday.
And though Leicester sit in 17th without a win to their name, Cooper is not down in the doldrums.
As reported by Leicestershire Live, he said: "We're not heads down and we're not of the mindset that we'll be okay either.
"Both of those mindsets are dangerous. We're in the middle of that, where we're frustrated that we haven’t been able to get more out of the games, but there's a constant determination to put things right.
"We have to make sure the mindset is right with the players. I really believe that will happen, convinced of it, that we will get what we want from this season."
One bright spark this season for Leicester came off the pitch, as they won an appeal that means they cannot be penalised by the Premier League for an alleged breach of the competition's financial rules in the 2022-23 season.
This means Leicester are extremely unlikely to be hit with a points deduction for that supposed breach.
"The landscape has definitely changed on that front," said Cooper.
"Even when that was looming over us, it wasn't interfering with our daily work either.
"What we want to achieve, as we decided on, it's still very much achievable. When we achieve it, we will look back and say it was a rocky road."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Leicester City - Wilfred Ndidi
Bukayo Saka (five) is the only Premier League player with more assists than Ndidi (four) this season.
Ndidi's four assists is just one fewer than he managed in 32 Championship appearances last term, while it is already his joint-best in a single Premier League campaign (also four in 2020-21).
Bournemouth - Antoine Semenyo
Only Erling Haaland (31) has had more shots than Semenyo (28) in the Premier League this season, with Semenyo the only Bournemouth player to score more than once so far (three).
The Ghana international has also completed the most dribbles (eight) and had the most touches in the opposition box (34) of any Cherries player in the competition this term.
MATCH PREDICTION: BOURNEMOUTH WIN
Cooper has never beaten Bournemouth in five attempts in all competitions (D2 L3). It is the joint-most he has ever faced an opponent as a manager without ever winning (also five vs Manchester United).
Leicester have faced more shots than any other side in the Premier League this season (114), with their 34 faced against Arsenal last time out their most on record (since 2003-04) in a single match in the competition.
However, since winning four consecutive away league games in November/December last season, Bournemouth have won just three of their last 13 on the road (D3 L7), with two of those wins coming against sides in the relegation zone.
That being said, Bournemouth have won each of their last three Premier League games against Leicester, their joint-longest winning run against the Foxes in their league history (also three between 1987 and 1989).
Leicester have won just two of their 12 Premier League games against Bournemouth (D5 L5), with both of those victories coming at the King Power Stadium in 2019 (2-0 in March, 3-1 in August).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Leicester City - 31.5%
Bournemouth - 43.3%
Draw - 25.1%
Solanke earns England recall, Foden, Palmer and Bellingham return
Lee Carsley has recalled Dominic Solanke to the England squad for their upcoming Nations League matches against Greece and Finland.
Solanke's only previous call-up came when he was at Liverpool back in 2017, earning his sole cap as a substitute against Brazil.
Despite missing the start of the season through injury, he has made a fine start to life at Tottenham and has scored in each of his last three matches in all competitions.
"Dom's a player I'm fully aware of having worked with him in the past," said Carsley.
"He was really close to being in the last squad but got injured just before selection. He did so well at Bournemouth, and now he's taken that form into Spurs. He's extremely talented, and it's good that we've got him."
Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Jude Bellingham are also back in the squad after missing the September fixtures through illness and injury respectively.
Should Bellingham feature for the Three Lions this international break, he would move outright second for most England appearances before turning 22 (currently 36, level with Marcus Rashford), after Wayne Rooney (40).
Kyle Walker is also back in the fold having been left out of the last squad due to a lack of playing time, and could move into the top five for most England appearances made at Wembley Stadium (37) if he plays against Greece.
Meanwhile, Harry Maguire, James Maddison and Eberechi Eze all drop out.
England squad in full:
Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle United), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
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