Popping in with a few observations on his time so far. I'd like to think it's fairly objective, since, given work and personal commitments, I haven't had the time to get too invested in this season - mostly I just watch the games and then put it out of my mind.
1. I feel like Postecoglou took the league by surprise in his first ten games - his approach with underlapping full backs and an aggressive high press created overloads in the middle that teams simply couldn't handle.
2. The easy start in terms of fixtures, the lack of midweek games, and the growing confidence of the players in their approach, all helped us click into high gear early.
3. It all came apart against Chelsea - the combination of long-term injuries to key players (for both Van de Ven and Maddison, the longest of their careers so far), suspensions disrupting momentum, and having to play players regardless of declining form or fitness due to lack of alternatives, meant the next ten games (11-20) were up and down. But this was more down to fitness and availability than tactical issues or player commitment.
4. Since then though, even as our availability issues have greatly eased, two things seem to have happened - teams have figured us out, and players aren't as committed to the plan as previously. For the first, teams have committed to pressing us ridiculously high, and man-for-man, knowing we lack the technical ability to play through them - this has resulted in many turnovers and an inability to control games. There have also been smaller tweaks to take advantage of our issues - Vicario being marked at corners, etc. And, crucially, teams have crowded us out of the middle, trusting that our wingers are not good enough to hurt them - and they have been entirely right. For the second, look at how the press has declined in recent games - we don't press well anymore, with large gaps between players leading the press, players being caught in poor positions well away from the ball carrier, etc. Look at how our players pass back when under pressure, instead of turning and playing through it. All signs of declining belief in the system.
Overall, Postecoglou has had a fairly even hand to work with. In his favour, he has had fan buy-in, and mostly empty midweeks to work with his players. Against him, he has had severe injury and availability crises. He's shown some promise, but he needs to get a grip on our recent decline in performances and form.
1. Part of the issue lies in his selections - Kulusevski on the right instantly nullifies that wing because he cannot use his right foot at all, so the opposition easily controls him. Son on the left only works occasionally - more often, he has completely anonymous games. These selection issues need tweaking.
2. More broadly, he needs to get players believing in his plan again - pressing high, playing through the press. And if he can't do that, he needs to have alternatives for when the players can't execute it, and after the end of the season, he needs better players, period.
I think Postecoglou has shown enough promise to persevere with. He is *not* Pochettino - Poch, along with Klopp, completely revolutionized tactics in the Premier League by bringing coordinated high pressing to England, which is why we had a sustained period of success while teams tried to adapt to us/copy us. Postecoglou's plan is more of a variation on Guardiola's system of underlapping full backs and high pressing, than a total revolution.
But it's clear that his system, when it has total buy in, can work. It just needs a lot of time, and a lot of buy in - much more than the first ten games might have indicated.
With Kane gone, I think a lot of pressure on Postecoglou and the club to succeed now has gone. He'll get the time to build. But, equally, he needs to tweak things on his end, too, to make it a success. The toughest league in the world rarely rewards puritanism.
