How Kewell plans to uphold Postecoglou’s legacy at Yokohama F. Marinos

Among the many pieces of advice Ange Postecoglou gave Harry Kewell in their 12 months together at Celtic was this little nugget: if you get the chance to work in Japan, run – don’t walk.

Well, he listened. On Saturday, Kewell was officially unveiled as head coach of Yokohama F. Marinos, the J.League club where Postecoglou started a growing Aussie tradition.

Kewell is replacing former Socceroos teammate Kevin Muscat, who has moved on to Chinese outfit Shanghai Port.

It continues a remarkable change in fortunes for the 45-year-old, whose coaching career was on the rocks after four dicey stints at clubs in England’s lower divisions, the final one at Barnet lasting just seven games before he was sacked.

That was until Postecoglou brought Kewell on staff at Celtic, where the former Liverpool star was a first-team coach.

“[Postecoglou] always talked about how wonderful the J.League was and his experience over in Japan was excellent,” Kewell said at his first press conference since being confirmed in the job.

Harry Kewell has been officially unveiled as the new head coach of Yokohama F. Marinos.Credit: YouTube

“And he always spoke highly enough to say to me that if you ever have an opportunity, you should take that opportunity and work over here.”

Kewell has landed the gig at Yokohama on the back of strong endorsements from Postecoglou and Muscat, who steered the club to J.League titles in 2019 and 2022 respectively – both by playing an uncompromising, high-octane attacking style of football. Like in their cases, success in Japan could lead to even greater opportunities for Kewell in Asia or Europe.

“I’ve known Ange and Kevin a long time. I class them not only as work colleagues, but friends,” he said.

“The way that the Marinos have been playing ... none of these things are going to change. They’re just going to alter slightly with a slightly different touch from an Aussie. I’m looking forward to continuing the work that the Marinos have put in over the last five, six years and kind of bring in my own gold dust on top of it.”

Ange Postecoglou raises the 2019 J.League trophy in Yokohama.Credit: Getty

Kewell has first-hand experience of Japanese football, not just from his playing days with the Socceroos but from last year, when he travelled there with Celtic for a friendly against Muscat’s Marinos in what was Brendan Rodgers’ first official match in charge of the Scottish club after returning as Postecoglou’s replacement.

Meanwhile, Postecoglou baulked at a question in his weekly Tottenham Hotspur press call about whether they consider themselves to be in the title race. Spurs are fifth on the Premier League ladder, six points off top spot, halfway through the season, with a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Monday morning (AEDT).

“Define to me what a title race is,” he replied with a smirk.

“If I say no, you’d turn round to me and say, ‘Come on Ange’. By definition, we are, aren’t we? So yes we are, and I’ve said all along that until the point where you’re not, why discount the possibility?

“We’ve gone through a really tough period and we’re hanging in there. We had four games when results went against us, but we’ve clawed our way back. We’re still in there. Our performances have been pretty consistent. With the conditions we’ve overcome, with the conditions we’ve made, we certainly feel we can finish the season stronger. We’ve got a platform here to kick on.”

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