Ange Postecoglou will relish the chance to prove people wrong at Tottenham after claiming he has needed to be “faultless” to reach this stage of his managerial career.
A coaching journey spanning nearly three decades has taken the Australian from Melbourne to London via spells in Yokohama and Glasgow.
Success has followed the 57-year-old, but he is now tasked with a sizeable rebuilding job at Spurs, who have not won a trophy since 2008 and finished eighth in the Premier League last season.
“All I know is I love winning,” Postecoglou said during his first press conference in his new role. “I don’t do any job unless I think I can win. That’s going to be my intent.
“I’ve been fortunate in the past because I’ve had success but whenever I reflect on any job I’ve had, it’s not the success that I look back on, it’s the build that I look back on because I know it’s not always going to be smooth.
“There’s going to be plenty of doubters, which is when your belief and resolve gets doubted. Not just for me personally, but the whole club, the whole group and I love working through that, getting out the other side.
“That’s the biggest attraction for me in this position. Aside from being in a massive football club and the premier competition in the world… the opportunity to do something that people will see in many respects as insurmountable. I love that.”
Postecoglou struck all the right notes a month on from his June 6 appointment, having guided Celtic to five trophies in his two seasons in Scotland despite a rocky start to life in Glasgow.
He is now in charge of a club in desperate need of direction and a cultural reset after the spells of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte saw Tottenham move away from the attractive, attacking football often associated throughout their history.
Postecoglou recalled memories of watching Ricky Villa’s 1981 FA Cup winner and admitted the challenge of trying to bring back the glory days to Spurs was too great to turn down.
He added: “My wife knows better than anyone, I can’t resist a challenge.
“I’ve always gone with my gut on these things. I know when I’m at my best and I’m at my best when the challenge is the biggest. I thought this was a challenge that would fit all the things I’m looking to achieve.
“For me to come from where I’ve come from and be sitting here, I needed to have that instinct inside me to know when to move on because I’ve had to be faultless in my career to get to this point.
“That’s because no-one’s going to rate an Australian manager, are they? So, if I had any significant failures along the way, I was never going to get here. Part of that process is knowing that I need to keep moving to be at my best.
“Even if I’d stayed at a club for five years, I’d never be satisfied with where we’re at. I’d be looking to improve all the time.
“The key factor was there was an opportunity here to again make an impact at a football club, which I’ve tried to do at every club I’ve been at.”
Asked to recall his memories of Spurs teams, Postecoglou said: “I remember Ricky Villa and Ossie Ardiles, absolutely. I remember that FA Cup final.
“They were my best childhood memories, I’ve said it before, because it was me and my dad, 2am. That’s me as a young boy, sitting on a couch watching a game of football.
“Glenn Hoddle, an absolute master and those kind of players resonate around the world.
“There are plenty of teams and Tottenham players through that era that I have strong memories of in my childhood.
“I’ve had a lot of success in my career but it’s also been done on the back of playing a certain way.
“I dare say that was probably part of one of the biggest factors in the club appointing me, was that they saw that. That’s what I’m going to try and deliver.
“That seems to be the right fit for this club in terms of the fans’ expectations. We call it entertainment but also win games of football, score goals, be exciting. They don’t want to see their team sit back.
“There are different ways of winning but the intent for us will be to try and make sure this football club’s a compelling watch for everybody.”
Van Nistelrooy wishes Man Utd success under Amorim
Ruud van Nistelrooy says Manchester United deserve to be successful under new head coach Ruben Amorim, having left the club after the Portuguese's arrival this week.
Amorim officially left Sporting CP for United on Monday, with Van Nistelrooy having overseen four matches as interim coach after Erik ten Hag was sacked last month.
United won three and drew one of those matches, beating Leicester City twice and overcoming PAOK in the Europa League while drawing 1-1 with Chelsea in the Premier League.
At 39 years old, new boss Amorim will become the youngest man to lead United since a 33-year-old Wilf McGuinness took charge of them on Boxing Day 1970 against Derby County.
Van Nistelrooy, who had initially hoped to stay on in a backroom role under Amorim but departed earlier this week, is backing the Red Devils to be successful.
In a farewell post on Instagram, the former striker wrote: "To everyone at Manchester United football club, in particular the backroom staff, the players and the fans.
"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your incredible efforts and support. It has been a privilege and honour to represent the club as a player, coach and manager, and I will always cherish the memories we have shared together.
"M.U.F.C will always have a special place in my heart, and I hope there are many more glory days at Old Trafford very soon - not only because I want the club to do well, but because you all deserve it!"
Amorim's first assignment as United boss will be a Premier League trip to Ipswich Town next week, before Bodo/Glimt visit Old Trafford in the Europa League on November 28.
Between his March 2020 appointment and his departure this month, Sporting won 77% of their Primeira Liga matches, the best win ratio in Europe's top 10 leagues in that span.
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
McTominay has no regrets over Man Utd exit
Scott McTominay says he has no regrets about leaving Manchester United to join Napoli after a lightning-quick start to life in Italy.
He has scored three goals in 10 appearances for the Italian club in all competitions, netting twice in Serie A to help them sit top of the table after 12 games.
Only Romelu Lukaku has scored more league goals for Napoli than him this season, while McTominay has also had the second-most big chances (four) among his team-mates, scoring two of them.
Before his transfer deadline day move, McTominay had spent 22 years at United, joining their academy aged five before making his debut in May 2017.
The Scotland international made 255 appearances for the senior team, scoring 29 goals, including 10 during his most prolific season in 2023-24, and providing eight assists.
While McTominay admitted leaving his boyhood club was not an easy choice, he is pleased with the outcome of the choice.
"Obviously, it's a big decision, there's no denying that. It was a huge decision for me and my family and my friends," he told The Times.
"At times like that in your life, you just have to say, 'Do I want to do it? Absolutely,' and go for it. There's no looking back. I've never had any regrets in my life, or my career and I continue that way to this day.
"I want my career to be successful, and I'm going to go out of my way to try and push myself to be the best football player and best person that I can possibly be."
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