Go out there and play – Ange reveals message he delivered to Spurs youngsters

Ange Postecoglou has revealed that he told the likes of Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven, and Pape Matar Sarr that they will not be judged on their early season performances, and has instead told them to enjoy their football.

While a lot has been said and written about the impressive start that James Maddison has made to his Tottenham career since his move from Leicester City and Yves Bissouma’s transformation under Postecoglou, one can argue that the story of Spurs’ season so far has been the performance of the youngsters in the side.

Sarr has shown maturity beyond his years in the middle of the park while Udogie and van de Ven have looked like they have both been playing in the Premier League for many years.

Postecoglou admitted that he and his coaching staff could have chosen to go safer at the start of the season by trusting experience instead of throwing the younger players into the deep end.

Ange Postecoglou puts faith in Spurs youngsters

The Australian expressed his delight at the way the likes of Sarr and Udogie have fully embraced the responsibility they have been given.

The 58-year-old told Football.London: “We started off the season with Destiny playing his first Premier League game. Micky van de Ven had had two training sessions, playing his first Premier League game, Vicario playing his first Premier League game.

“All starting in a back four, back five, but within that context, you give guys the platform, opportunity and hopefully belief that we’ll support them, and you get these outcomes, but it’s still a challenge to do that.

“I think with Destiny, Micky and Pape Sarr is probably in that boat, these 20-year-olds, 21-year-olds, and say to them look ‘You’re not going to be judged on your performances in these early games, not by me, so just go out there and play’.

“I think they’ve embraced that. They’ve enjoyed that freedom and belief that there was nothing that was going to happen out there that was going to say to me that they’re never going to be a player for this football club, because I was putting them out there, but for them it’s not easy, just putting them out there in the Premier League.

“It wasn’t just one I was putting in, it was three or four. We spoke about it as a coaching staff, for that first-team selection, it could have been easier to go safer. Absolutely, but we needed to change and we needed to challenge things. Guys like Destiny and Micky and these players who have not just gone in there and found their feet, they’ve gone in there and tried to smash it. That’s what I want.”

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One of the core tenets of Postecoglou’s coaching philosophy seems to be to completely remove the fear of failure from the players’ minds so that they can express themselves.

The approach is almost the polar opposite of the one employed by Conte, who demanded that his players make as few mistakes as possible, which led to many playing within themselves.