Why 'Ange Ball' isn't sustainable for Tottenham | OneFootball

Following the Spurs's upsetting 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Europa League second leg will take place in a hostile environment, where a single 1-nil victory can take the Eagles to the semifinals. Spurs, on the other hand, will regret not taking their chances, mainly in the second half - also due to Kauã Santos's brilliant goalkeeping last night.

Even so, Ange Postecoglu's tactics have offered few innovative ideas for Tottenham to score in this match in general. Since AngeBall is designed to keep possession and surround the opponent's box, looking for openings, the Spurs had a hard time getting in those dangerous areas with frequency, even with 31 touches in Frankfurt's penalty area.

In total, the Spurs generated a 0.94xG, which is below their standards in the whole campaign, the only exception being the AZ defeat (0.5xG). They also only created two big chances in 10 total shots. As a reflection, Ange's team became over-reliant on crosses, as Son and Johnson struggled to run to the byline and create chances. For instance, the Spurs crossed five times correctly out of 27 times with a low accuracy of 19% (SofaScore), while it's been the second game in the whole Europa run with the most crosses only behind Elfsborg.

Tottenham aren't creating enough quality chances

In other words, the team could have created more quality chances inside the box — and Bentancur's corners and Bergvall's screamer were some of the best ones they had — but still, they had the opportunities to get a win. The point is that AngeBall is not providing the clear-cut chances it was last season, as the numbers show. From the 49 matches played this season, Tottenham Hotpsur had 1199 touches in the opponent's box, which averages 24.5 per match. In 2023/2024, the Spurs averaged 32 per match, or 1316 touches in 41 matches, according to FBref.

The numbers simply expose a fact that can easily be seen by any Spurs fans who have been following this season's matches. AngeBall has mostly regressed than evolved in Postecolglu's second year, as opponents started to pick up on the scheme's flaws and explore them more efficiently. For example, the highline and defensive transitions were already a problem in the past campaign, which not only irresponsibily leaves the team unprotected in counters but also gives the players more ground to cover.

And with more ground to cover, players are forced to play in a more high-paced rotation, which leads to (yes, you have guessed): injuries. After all, injury crises at the Spurs were not something new during Ange's tenure, as that famous 4-1 defeat against Chelsea put a break on Tottenham Hotspur's aspirations that season. Not exclusively, but that loss also opened the Pandora's Box of AngeBall, which has its undeniable qualities but also comes with many risks.

Ange Postecoglou has lost his bond

Therefore, I came up with the conclusion that AngeBall is NOT a reliable option in the long run. As much I was once excited with Ange's style and discourse at first, adaptability and humility are key traits for any manager. He indeed has made adaptations at times, but they are often rarer than everyday practice. At the same time, his recent behavior towards Spurs fans against Chelsea has made me question his profile as a Tottenham Hotspur manager, as his bond with the fans seems to be growing weaker and weaker. No more: I'm loving Big Ange instead...

I still do admire Ange for sticking to his principles and ideals on and off the pitch, but I am not sure if that is a style of play the Spurs can sustain, mainly with a lack of ideal personnel and an owner notably known for his unwillingness to spend funds on players. Hopefully, he will prove me wrong and win the Europa League, but, at this stage, it is more likely that Levy will pull the plug on the Postecoglu project. A valid and exciting attempt, but just not sustainable.