‘Different’ Ange Postecoglou calls for Tottenham players to back his coaching methods
Ange Postecoglou wants Harry Kane to stay at Tottenham, but his priority is planning for long-term success at Spurs.
Ange Postecoglou has vowed to do things his “way” at Tottenham, with or without England captain Harry Kane.
Star Spurs striker Kane, who has been linked with a move to German giants Bayern Munich, is yet to have discussions with former Socceroos coach Postecoglou, who was last month appointed as Tottenham manager after winning five trophies in two seasons at Celtic.
“I want him involved here,” Postecoglou said of Kane when fronting the media for the first time since his Spurs appointment.
“My conversation with him will be about how we can make this club successful, and I’ve got no doubt that’s what he wants as well.
“I doubt (the conversation) is going to be defining in the manner that people think it’s going to be.
“What I want is to introduce myself to Harry to give him my vision for the football club, to get an understanding from him on what he thinks this football club needs to be successful, and then going on the training pitch to try to make it happen.”
Postecoglou, who will soon leave for Perth with his Tottenham squad for next Tuesday’s pre-season friendly against English Premier League rivals West Ham at Optus Stadium, for his current priority was establishing the “direction” Spurs were heading under his guidance.
“We’re in that stage, like most clubs, where you know that there will be activity between now and the start of the season and the end of the (transfer) window,” he said.
“There will be some players who won’t be here and other players who will come in.
“Until something’s certain, I’m not going to commit either way to whether a player’s going to be here or not because there’s no point wasting energy on something that may or may not happen.
“If I start thinking about that detail right now, I’m going to miss the opportunity to establish some of the fundamentals of what I want us to be.
“What’s going to be important in the long-term goes beyond individuals. It’s more about … who we want to be as a team.
“It’s not just the way we play, (it’s) the way we train, the way we behave, (and) the way we talk.”
Postecoglou called for the Spurs squad to be “open-minded” about his coaching style.
“We are going to go down a different road and do things differently, not because I think it’s better, but just because it’s me,” the former Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory coach said.
“That’s who I am. I’m different to the other managers that have been here and I’ll do things my way.
“The more we have people buying into that, the quicker we’ll get where we want to, because when there is resistance, it just slows the process down.
“What I’ve made clear is that it won’t change the process. It won’t change where we’re going, it won’t change me, it won’t change the way we do things, it’ll just maybe derail it for a little bit, (but) it won’t derail it for long because I won’t allow it.
“The quicker they jump on the train, the quicker we will get to our destination.”