Everything has its challenges. From my perspective, I knew what I was getting myself into. It s a proud club historically but it s not one of the big clubs now in terms of budget, the way they spend their money, even the facilities it s not at the level of some other clubs anymore, Postecoglou added. That s part of the challenge for the club to get back up there. The rationale behind it is, if we have success, we can raise the club. That doesn t mean you prefer it that way because you want to work with the best players. It doesn t change my approach too much.
I always felt coaching is a challenge wherever you are. I don t think that changes whether you have money or not. The key thing is, are you able to implement a philosophy on the players you work with? Getting the players style that is going to be successful and do things a little bit differently. I m not daunted by it. It wasn t what attracted me to it. The attraction was to come to a different league, I knew it was a challenging league and see whether I could implement my style.
Postecoglou extended his contract at the end of last season. The former Melbourne Victory boss – who harbours strong ambitions of coaching in Europe having spent time in charge of Greek outfit Panachaiki in 2008 – wants to leave a lasting impression in Japan.
It s showing that a team playing a certain kind of football can be successful. Not just put a mark on Yokohama but Japanese football, he said. I think Japanese football is still very much in its infancy in its potential. They have outstanding players, their league is really well run, they re professional in everything they do and they have a real desire to reach the top of the football world.
From my perspective, if I can show them a club side playing a certain way… Most club sides here are still fairly conservative in their style of play which isn t unusual for most leagues around the world. There s still a great emphasis on playing defensively and a bit conservatively. I think when a team comes along and changes that dynamic a little bit, it changes football. That s kind of where I m at overall but you can t do any of that unless you re successful because people, ultimately, that s what they look at it. That s what the focus will be for me over the next 12 months or so.
The football world reaches all parts of the globe and I want to reach as many parts of that globe as possible while I still can as a coach, Postecoglou continued. But I m concentrating on doing a good job here.
近日公開～
MOVIE第13弾は、我らのボス・アンジェ ポステコグルー監督が、満を持しての登場
底知れぬ情熱や探求心を生み出した背景は、一体どこにあるのか。
ギリシャからオーストラリアへ。
彼が歩んできた半生に迫った――。
— 横浜F･マリノス【公式】 (@prompt_fmarinos)
Just like Guardiola and Sarri, Postecoglou s tactics have been questioned and scrutinised throughout his career. Unlike most, his approach is often under the microscope. How does it feel?
I don t think it s hard, the four-time Australia international said. If you spoke to Sarri or Guardiola, I think when you re doing what you really believe in, it s more difficult for other people to understand that when the results don t come immediately why you don t change. But you know that it will work, that s why you do what you do. It s not just football but life in general.
People don t have a lot of patience… The great things still happen when people have conviction. It s not even that much patience. When you look at myself, it s rarely taken more than a year to get what I want across, it s just people don t see it in first 24 hours, then they expect you to change and then you don t change, then they start questioning what you re doing. But for me and others who coach this way, this is what I know, this is what I do and what I believe in, so I m not going to change in the short term. If you stick to it, then you re going to reap the rewards. Today s world, there s too much expediency and people want immediate satisfaction and aren t prepared to stick it out.
You re going to read all this analysis about Ajax and how great it is but for four years they ve been building something that has literally cost them league titles and other trophies because they ve had young guys who have been making mistakes. Now those young guys are on the cusp of creating something unbelievable. That s how I believe you create great things, it s not by doing what everyone else does, not by reacting to what other people fear or are not sure about.
