Ange Postecoglou is the madman the Premier League has been waiting for, writes RIATH AL-SAMARRAI… and why Jude Bellingham has a lot to learn

If you don’t mind a little detour, I did some reading before and after Tottenham’s defeat at Chelsea about men of faith whose beliefs match an appetite for risk. Eventually, this journey headed to an American preacher named Jamie Coots.

Snakes were his thing. Yes, he was one of those guys. He stood outside his church in Kentucky and, no matter how often the rattles caught him, he always returned to the stage to deliver his message, more and more convinced that he was right.

Which was all well and good until the ninth time he was bitten – he’s been gone for 10 years now. If there is a point here, it might be the value of balancing devotion and self-preservation. To know the right time to refine your approach in the service of an ideology.

So what do we think of Ange Postecoglou in the football business?

Since he came into our orbit, he’s been the Premier League vivarium preacher – you can’t spell evangelical without Angel. He has his guiding principles for how this silly game should be played, his “religion” as he puts it, and he is not one to roll over.

The Australian lashed out at his players during a dreadful first half against Chelsea.

He stuck to it when Tottenham were flying, he stuck to it when they had nine men against Chelsea in November, and he stuck to it when everything went wrong against the same team on Thursday. He will stick to Liverpool on Sunday even if it means a fourth defeat in a row. And he will stick to what was once first place after 11 games, and will find himself sixth after 38.

He will stick to his theory that everything, including those many goals conceded from set pieces, is of lesser importance, of lesser priority, than getting his players to buy into his vision of attacking football. Go backwards? Ask Cristian Romero and Pape Sarr what their manager thinks. Ask him again about free kicks and he might pass you the rattlesnake.

And isn’t that a little weird and wonderful? Such inflexibility can be flawed and self-defeating at one’s job, and usually is, but it is fabulous in a less conventional way.

I loved an interview he gave to Mail Sport about it in the happiest days of November. That’s when Spurs’ early run of eight wins and two draws ended with a cavalier defeat to Chelsea and a softer defeat to Wolves. Folk had just begun to wonder, quite reasonably, if there was something to be said by holding back a little more, but he wasn’t accepting it.

“I don’t know any other way,” he told Ian Ladyman and Chris Sutton. “In the vast church of football philosophies, I have remained very strict to one religion. I walked into a library of football books and got stuck on a section that dealt with attacking football. It’s the only one space in which I feel comfortable.

He’s had that vibe since he arrived here and it’s perhaps even the most consistent aspect of Tottenham’s season. Last Wednesday, a day before the worst half of their campaign against Chelsea, Postecoglou developed his theme, first when talking about the need within his team for “true believers” in his teachings, then in context of their sad record.

The latter became urgent as Spurs had conceded 14 by such means and he was asked if it was a problem. “Not at all,” he said before rummaging through the snake box again. “To quote Billy Joel: ‘You may be right, I may be crazy, but it may be a crazy person you’re looking for.’

“There is an underlying reason for this that I am very comfortable with. Ultimately I will create a team that will be successful and it will not be through working on set pieces.

As things stand, Tottenham currently sit fifth in the Premier League table.

Tottenham lost 2-0 to Chelsea in their Premier League clash on Thursday evening.

Obviously the sentiment around set pieces seems a bit insane, if it were to be taken literally, as Tottenham were bitten twice by free kicks against Chelsea. Only three other teams have conceded more and they are all in the bottom four of the division. Manchester City and Arsenal aren’t in the top two purely because of their set pieces, but it’s not unimportant that they also have the two best records when it comes to defending dead balls. Just like they are both in the top three for goals and Spurs are tied for 10th.

Unless Postecoglou was traumatized by an errant free kick as a child, it is difficult to understand an “underlying reason” why he seems so reluctant to improve this aspect of his coaching business. It is sporting madness to leave the stone intact when so many rivals attach fanatical importance to it.

But Postecoglou is also right about something: he’s the madman we were looking for.

This is the 58-year-old who, after coming such a long way to the Premier League, is determined to do what he wants. A Sinatra quoting Billy Joel. A friend of the most exciting form of football and a manager who made ‘mate’ a slightly dirty word. He’s the nervous old romantic who doesn’t want to sell out at a time when English football has flogged FA Cup replays and may soon send a few games to the United States.

On a less ethereal level, this is the manager who arrived at Tottenham and almost immediately lost Harry Kane. It was the same as moving into a palace and finding a cobra in your bed: he just picked it up and started preaching his way to the top, if only for a moment.

Currently, he looks and talks like a manager on the wrong side of a painful bite. It’s a disappointment we could compare to a record that shows Postecoglou amassing 60 points in 34 games – that’s three more than Mikel Arteta managed in his first 38 at Arsenal and he’s on course to overtake Jurgen Klopp for the same period. The numbers are dire, of course, but the ones you see in the table should take most of the venom out of the investigation.

Postecoglou is also right about something – he’s the madman we’ve been looking for

The question is how he adapts to the subtly changing mood of his work. To these doubts which insinuate themselves externally around part of his wisdom.

If we remember the brilliant interview he gave in these pages last year, you will find some clues, reminding us that it took place after two defeats.

“Perversely, that’s what I love,” he said. “It tests me as a person. This tests my belief.

The new fang marks in his hands suggest he still keeps the faith, from the good to the bad to the foolish. Buried beneath the craziness of it all, there is real beauty in it.

Jude Bellingham’s immaturity showed

I was at the Allianz Arena for Bayern Munich’s Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid on Tuesday and it got me thinking.

One of these centered on Jude Bellingham’s immature efforts to deny Harry Kane before his penalty – if he doesn’t yet recognize the futility of cold-baiting a killer, it would suggest that this young genius still has some time left. work to do.

The others concerned the price of tickets – the cheapest were only 19 euros. The Germans showed us on and off the field during this year’s competition.

Jude Bellingham still has work to do after trying to dissuade Harry Kane

Tiger Woods is still a warrior in pleated pants

There would be no doubt about Tiger Woods’ right to a special invitation to play in next month’s US Open, even if he failed to qualify for the first time since 1992.

Making the cut at the Masters showed he’s still a warrior in pleated pants, but his assertion at Augusta that he’s not yet a ceremonial golfer appears to be on shakier ground.

There would be no doubt about Tiger Woods’ right to a special invitation to play in next month’s US Open, even if he failed to qualify for the first time since 1992.