Ange Postecoglou doesn’t need any advice about coaching an English Premier League club.
That’s the opinion of West Ham manager David Moyes, who got the better of Postecoglou in the former Socceroos coach’s first match in charge of Spurs.
Moyes’ men beat their London rivals 3-2 in Perth on Tuesday night, but while Spurs lost, they dominated the contest playing an attacking style of football synonymous with Postecoglou-coached teams.
“I don’t need to give Ange any advice – that’s for sure,” said Moyes, who has also had spells in charge of Everton, Manchester United, Sunderland and Spanish club Real Sociedad.
“His team played well enough that they could have easily scored more goals, and we were a bit fortunate that we didn’t concede more.”
Moyes said Postecoglou did a “remarkable” job at Celtic, where the ex-Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory coach guided the Hoops to five trophies in two seasons before his off-season move to Tottenham.
“How his teams played was a very good style … and I think you saw bits of that (in Perth), which probably we expected a little bit, maybe slightly different,” he said.
“Ange will be different. Ange will invert his fullbacks, he’ll look to play through the lines and get his defenders on the ball.
“I thought Tottenham were a good football team last year (under former manager Antonio Conte). I just think there’ll be a different manager who’ll try to get them to play slightly different.”
While Moyes and Postecoglou embraced after the match, the Hammers’ boss joked the pair were set to become “bigger enemies” such was the rivalry between the two clubs.
“But overall, he’s a really good guy Ange, and hopefully we’ll bump into each other a lot more often in London than we will out here in ‘Oz’,” he said.
Postecoglou, while disappointed to lose, said the result was “not the most important thing right now”.
“Winning (in Perth) and not playing the kind of football we want … I’d be disappointed with that” he told SpursPlay.
“We’ve work to do, we know that, no surprises there, but (I’m) really encouraged with the way the boys have been working hard in training and, secondly, their endeavours to try and win the game.
“The main thing for me is that every player out there was trying to do what we’ve been working on. That’s the key for me. That gives me the encouragement to keep going and feeding more into them, and hopefully they take that on-board.”
Postecoglou and Spurs will continue their Asia-Pacific pre-season tour with a game against Leicester City – whose squad includes Socceroos defender Harry Souttar – in Bangkok on Sunday.
