STICKING TO THEIR GUNS

In the world of football right now there are two managers taking a stand on their philosophies. From where I sit, I agree with one and disagree with the other…. Lets get into it!

Big Ange! I love Ange Postecoglou. His demeanor and the way in general he speaks about his ideas and the fact that he will not change. THE PROBLEM… Big Ange continues to talk about the injury crisis and how it is affecting the team, while giving praise to the effort put forth by the players on the pitch. Ange ball is entertaining or at least it WAS entertaining. The openness they play with has cost them dearly in recent games and they continue to die on that sword. As much as I love Ange, he has to adapt. Tottenham Hotspurs cannot continue in this current form they are in and succeed. They MUST adapt or they will fall and fall hard. Playing both fullbacks so far up the pitch is a disaster when they lose possession, so why not play one back and one up, to give the backline a little more balance. To not leave acres of space around the 2 center halves. Another option if the fullbacks simply must play high, in a 4231, drop a defensive midfielder between the center halves, play the pivot. There has to be some give, or Ange will be looking for a new place to coach and Tottenham will be back in the ever so scary hands of Daniel Levy… Yikes!

Oh, how Manchester United have fallen! But the light in the tunnel may just be Ruben Amorim. Amorim continues to stand on his ideas just like Ange, the difference, Amorim is trying to instill a philosophy and a way of play. He is just getting started. Ten Hag and the ownership at Man U have done zero to help Amorim as most of the players on that squad are just not good enough. Diallo, Dalot, and Mazraoui may be the ONLY players at least in my small mind that I would keep. That being said the life they have shown is possible against top tier teams like Arsenal and Liverpool shows that it is indeed possible, but the inconsistency is blinding. A lot has been said about Marcus Rashford and his falling out with Amorim and I actually applaud him for standing firm. If you do not give the maximum, you will not play. Hell, not even be on the bench! Kudos for standing up for the standards in which you are trying to instill.

Will either of these Managers last? Maybe. But what they bring to the Premiere League is gusto, the if I am going to fail, I will fail my way attitude. From my perspective, one of them is succeeding and the other is holding on for dear life. Both Tottenham and Manchester United are clubs in need of a revitalizing energy. Could this January transfer window turn these clubs around? We shall see!