13 October 2023 , 05:00
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Speaks his mind, does Ange Postecoglou.
The Aussie-Greek coach has seemingly done the impossible by becoming a manager in English football who everyone likes. He's also done another job which some would've regarded as impossible: take Tottenham top of the Premier League without Harry Kane.
Okay, we're just eight games in and Spurs are only leading the way on goals scored, but there's no doubt that Postecoglou has done an excellent job so far. That's continuing from his stellar two-year spell in charge of Celtic, who he managed following a similarly successful stint with Yokohama F Marinos in Japan.
Before then, 'Big Ange' was charged with leading one of his countries, Australia, between 2013 and 2017. In qualifying for back-to-back World Cups as well as winning the Asian Cup, Postecoglou impressively transitioned the Socceroos from a team who were criticised for being over-reliant on their ageing Golden Generation into a vibrant side that, to this day, continues to make history.
In May 2016, they set themselves the challenge of facing England away from home, specifically at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. Even with the end of Roy Hodgson's reign as Three Lions boss looming and little hope around the nation ahead of the European Championships in France a month later - not that anyone expected a last-16 defeat to Iceland, mind - this was still England.
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So, would claiming victory on English soil be another significant marker in Australia's evolution under Postecoglou? He didn't think so. In fact, the former South Melbourne defender - capped four times by the Socceroos as a player - declared that getting excited about beating big nations in friendlies is "stuff of a bygone era," suggesting the prospect of winning against England was overrated.
"I think our football's progressed since then," Postecoglou, never one to water down his opinions even in the face of the media, affirmed. "Hopefully we're past trying to get feathers in caps in friendlies. A feather in our cap would be to beat a team like England at a World Cup.
Have your say! Can Ange Postecoglou lead Tottenham to the title? Let us know your prediction in the comments section.
Australia won the 2015 Asian Cup under Ange Postecoglou (Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)"If we don't see ourselves as a credible football nation now... (we never will). Friendly games should be used to make sure we're continuing to progress the nation so when we get to the real stuff, World Cups, we can challenge anyone in the world."
The Athens-born tactician then doubled down on his rather aloof sentiment, adding: "I don't want to play this underdog crap, I've been over that for a while. I don't really care what other people think, I've always said that.
"At the end of the day it's really about us and we want to play our football against a good opponent - whether other people like it or don't like it is pretty irrelevant, to be honest. Hopefully, we get into the space as a national team and as a nation where we don't really care what other people and other nations think of us. Hopefully, they don't want to play us in the future."
Ange Postecoglou told his players to cut the "underdog crap" (Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)The game itself ended up being a 2-1 England win, with Manchester United hotshot Marcus Rashford taking just three minutes to score on his international debut, continuing his meteoric rise that spring. Substitute Wayne Rooney doubled the Three Lions' lead in the second half before an Eric Dier own goal gave the Aussies hope, although they were unable to capitalise on their positive play and merely came away with a valiant defeat.
Much like during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, though, Australia were encouragingly competitive and Postecoglou was pleased with his team's display. "It could've been very easy for us to go out there today and just try and snatch a result, sit back, try and absorb some pressure and try and get them on the break," he explained.
Ange Postecoglou came close getting a result at the Stadium of Light (Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)"We kind of flipped it and went the other way. From that perspective, I think everyone contributed. We just lacked that clinical edge in the end."
Seven-and-a-half years later, Australia have returned to England for another friendly, this time taking place at Wembley on Friday. Their spirited run to the World Cup round of 16 in Qatar - where they were narrowly beaten by eventual champions Argentina thanks to some Lionel Messi magic - provided great encouragement for boss Graham Arnold, who was assistant to manager Frank Farina when the Socceroos recorded a famous 3-1 friendly win against England at Upton Park back in 2003.
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"It's going to be a fantastic and historic occasion but at the same time my expectation is improving our performance and making sure we get things right," Arnold vowed after landing in London on Tuesday. Just don't tell Ange that Australia are underdogs...