Ange Postecoglou is still the most interesting Aussie coach around

Whilst still pre-season and yes they lost - it's amazing that EPL teams don't get more possession than Man City during the course of the season (please don't get technical on me) - but Ange could in the friendly. Made Man City have to adapt to a different game. That's a pretty mean feat.

Rakuten do a free stream of the J league now

Ange ended up being too stubborn for his own good and in the end it all but consumed him as national coach. Playing a system of 3 at the back when you only have a week or so to work with the players at national level was always going to end in tears. One thing he never lost sight of though was calling out the dopey aussie media with their inane questions. Yes the channel 9's, 7's, daily terror, herald sun and courier mail all fit into the dopey aussie media category.

Sure he probably is the best Australian coach going around. But he's still not as good as Bert van Marwijk.

I rate Ange the most interesting coach in the world, and what I find interesting is what a coach gets his players to do as opposed to coaches who get into histrionics on the sideline or do jigs. The J-league has quality players but it also high in fitness levels, so its both good for playing out from the back, its also good for pressing which is good for Ange in one way playing a high line, but pressing can counteract playing out from the back so its bad in an other way. So at least he is fighting quality with quality and there is time to change things at a club whereas I can see him being a bit of a disaster in other situations.

I agree with Ben - there's no way Grampus would ever let him move ... particularly not to a domestic competitor. He has been a steady presence between the sticks, and Grampus has a habit of sticking with the same guy for a full career.

Mike, the coaching system may be less a problem with the coaches as it is a problem with management. The combination of Mikitani's demand for quick results with his personal relationships to players (Iniesta and Podolski in particular) makes the coach's job impossible. I have to preface by saying that Iniesta has kept his head down, done his job and avoided any prima donna behaviour; but it was always clear that Podolski and Villa were only there to "be stars", and not to do any of the grunt work necessary to build up a team. You might manage to cover up for the "laziness" of one high-paid foreign superstar, but when there are two or three in the lineup who cant be bothered to run unless the ball is at their feet, and contribute practically nothing on defense (NB: even Iniesta himself was never known for heroic defending), the result is the most unhappy, internally divided team in the entire J.League. That even includes Coach Brylcreem Bosozoku and his rapidly aging Reds.

I was on the fence about Ange until he moved to Yokohama, and even there, I had some doubts about his quality over the course of last year (though more to do with his human-management skills than his strategic and tactical ideas). But there is no question that he has made the adjustment to a new competition and . . . though not abandoning his basic philosophy . . . .tailoring it to the specific strengths and weaknesses of the J.League. To be honest I never spent THAT much time trying to analyse the things Ange was doing with Australia. The general ideas were obvious, and just as obviously, Australia was having a hard time implementing them. I agreed with all the people who said that the philosophy did not fit his players, but as for whether it was a shortcoming of the strategy or a shortcoming of the players, I couldnt venture a guess. But now that I see it being implemented at Marinos, I have developed a much clearer picture of exactly what he is trying to do when he insists that his team plays the ball out from the back (even against Manchester City), and maintain an offside line as close to midfield as possible. The team still doesnt have it down perfectly, but they are getting close. I still have some doubts about whether it is a "good" strategy for a team that expects to challenge regularly for league titles. It is a very high-risk / high-reward philosophy, and I think Marinos could be in a position for rewards even without that much risk. But Ive changed my mind on whether he was justified in what he did with the 'roos. Youre in charge of a national team that is almost certain to clear the first hurdle (AFC qualification) no matter WHAT you do, but which lacks technical quality. If you want to go anywhere at the World Cup you need a strategy that takes some risks. Now that Ive seen what Ange's approach CAN do, I think he was entirely right to stick with it as NT coach.

We don't doubt his ability at club level, where you can recruit players to fit your system

It's deja vu all over again seeing an Ange-coached team have 80% of the possession but lose 1-0 because the goalie was caught off his line.

Ange defined himself as an Australian, a coach and a man when asked by an Victorian sports journalist how to pronounce his surname, Postecoglou. Ange basically replied that it was the same way you pronounce DiPierdomenico. Cuckles went around the room, Ange asked for next question. Ange has never allowed anyone to define himself or his footballing philosophies. He is what he is and will not change for anyone, such is the strength of his belief and vision. We basked in the national team's Asian Cup glory several years ago, claiming Ange a coach for the ages. Two years later on the road to qualifying for the World Cup we were head kicking, claiming he had lost the dressing room, his tactics ill conceived. At Yokohama Ange has added a vital new dimension to the J League that not even the recent armada arrival has been able to match. Though not always successful, the team stats have been phenomenal while the football produced at times breathtaking. The Japanese football community is embracing Ange, we seem to still lay doubt in his ways. And yes, get to Saitama and experience an evening with the Urawa Reds. You won't regret it.

Thanks gents. Yes Urawa is the obvious choice- should’ve known that. I remember they were my first dose of Asian football at sfs when their fans filled southern end at SFS back in Sydney’s first ACL campaign with colour, song and noise. Quality game that ended in 2-2 draw. Great night. Will look into it!

Mike very very very true... Some day people may understand how good he really is ....

Thanks Ben. I was thinking of a straight swap comparison and didn't consider potential quota allocations ;-) Thinking Langarak is settled Birighitti is the only other Aussie keeper I could think of that was seemingly available recently. I seem to recall that Birighitti seemed suspect at contested crosses/corners...whether he is a better keeper I would need to see more of Park Il-Gyu as I watched Birighitti while he was at the Jets.

100%. They are two entirely different things. What Ange was after as NT was a sea change in how we play, but that would require a generational change in how kids learn the game, pathways etc from the ground up. It would mean losing for a decade maybe until things start to come together. Possibly, Ange would say 'fine' results are not everything, I was all about that long term change. The Japanese, to their credit, have a 100 year plan for the A League. You look at successful countries like Germany where the whole league pulls behind the national team, where the curriculum for young players is geared to a particular outcome. You see it with rugby in NZ.

Park has been fine - I'd even say he's been very good. He plays the way Ange wants him to play, which requires him to play out of his area more than what is seen as conventional. The FCT game was by far Park's worst performance for us, it's not fair to solely judge him by that. Would Mitch fit the mould of the ball-playing keeper? I think Park and (the recently transferred) Iikura are ahead of him in this regard. Ange's high risk game plan is as much to blame for how we cop goals as defender errors, but on the flip side it sees us in the top 3 with a chance of winning the title. By his own words Ange is reducing the gap between our best and worst performances this season, but with his high defensive line there's always the chance of a costly individual error. As a consistent watcher of F.Marinos for over 10 years, I'm happy with how we are travelling, and would prefer to be in 3rd playing as we are than in first playing Hasegaawa/FCT's lacklustre game. Hopefully with Thiago back at CB next match and with Erik Lima coming in to fill the gap up front caused by Edigar Junio's injury we'll return to our July consistency and catch them over the next dozen or so rounds. But top three would be a very good result. As for Mitch, he needs a decent defence in front of him, and Kazama (Nagoya's manager) needs to learn how to keep a lead.

My biggest complaint about J and K League is that I can’t find it to consume very easily. In Seoul a few weeks ago I watched a really entertaining match between a K League XI and Juventus minus CR. I doubt that it got a mention here as we tend to be somewhat insular. Do we even know what is happening in the ACL now there is no Aussie sides left? Maybe broadcasters don’t worry about small minorities anymore - which is part of the reason why we watch streams of doubtful legality etc or find alternatives to mainstream media outlets. Still we get some MLS which is pretty entertaining for the most part.

Urawa Reds. You need to get your tickets early though!

Interesting read Mike. It is good to see an Aussie coach having success abroad. I tend to concur with a lot of what Fad notes above re Ange in the national team with our square peg players in a round hole formation. I still think we could have been much more successful in Russia (Denmark were not that good as a qualifier - Peru were arguably better actually) if we had a coach who'd have stuck it out and adjusted style to suit our players. That said its good to see him having success at club level where you can recruit players to match your style. I saw Pep also had some nice words to say about him recently. They had some good chances in that game against City to potentially jag a draw. Mike - a couple of questions given you are the resident Japanese expert if you have the time to answer: 1. Vissel Kobe have a genuine galacticos (albeit 30-something galacticos) with the likes of Iniesta, Villa, Podolski and Samper yet are languishing 4th last. Is there a reason for that? Big name players doesn't automatically mean success but to be 4th last and potentially facing relegation is disastrous. Do you have any reasons for this? 2. I'm very excited to say I will have my first visit to Japan with my family in November and will be having two weekends in Tokyo. Definitely want to check-out a J-League match. Any Tokyo area team you could recommend for the match day experience as much as the football?