Ange Postecoglou declares Kenny Dalglish and unlikely TV star as his teen heroes
Ange Postecoglou was inspired by his hero Kenny Dalglish during his Happy Days as a kid.
The Spurs boss puts the north Londoners’ unbeaten record on the line against Liverpool, also undefeated, in a mouthwatering match up on Saturday evening. Postecoglou joked that Sir Kenny - a three time European Cup-winning striker with the Reds - and the Fonz, star of the hugely popular comedy show Happy Days, were the men he was most excited by during his teenage years.
“It was just about that time when I was what 12, 13,” said the Australian. “And we look for heroes in our lives. Kenny was he was it for me, scoring in European Cup finals and the way he played. For me it was him and the Fonz! I watched the European Cup finals, they beat Tottenham 7-0, that was pretty memorable. I watched all of them, I didn’t miss anything.
“I taped them - you know what tapes are? Videos? - when they won the European Cups, loved it. That’s 4am for me as an 11-year-old so a fair bit of commitment to getting up and watching them. I remember all those games. I was fascinated by the culture at a club like Liverpool. The Boot Room, and Shankly and Paisley, and Ronnie Moran, all those guys.”
Despite his love for Liverpool, Postecoglou will need to take points off Jurgen Klopp’s side to preserve his 50-match unbeaten home run - at Celtic and Spurs. His chances are heightened by the fact that his men are the joint-highest scorers in the Premier League so far with 16 goals.
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Although he will be up against the creative and goalscoring talents of Trent Alexander Arnold, Mohamed Salah, Andy Roberton and Luiz Diaz, Postecoglou will be able to call on Son Heung Min, Dejan Kulusevski, Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro.
His love for flying full-backs and goalscoring wingers comes from playing for the legendary Ferenc Puskas at South Melbourne.
He added: “We played wingers and the wingers’ instructions were to stay wide and never come back - which wasn't great for me as I was the full-back! But it really made an impact on me that here was a guy going against trends and conventions which said that 4-4-2 was a more solid, more conventional way of playing.”
Whatever happens this weekend, the Spurs boss insists he will retain his customary cool on the touchline.
“I watch a game of football like I watch a movie,” he explained. “I concentrate. I look at it, I don't like people talking to me, I don’t like being distracted.
“And to be fair, I think I've probably gone down even a level in recent years because of VAR. I don’t want to look like a clown either because you could be celebrating then have it chalked off so I also have this thing in the back of my head - let’s just wait and see what the outcome is."
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