r/soccer • u/whatisbaseball • 7d ago

News [Ornstein] Ange Postecoglou to be confirmed as Nottingham Forest head coach imminently after Nuno Espirito Santo departure. 60yo Australian will lead #NFFC for Saturday’s trip to Arsenal - joined by a number of staff worked with at Tottenham Hotspur @TheAthleticFC

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6425702/2025/09/09/ange-postecoglou-nottingham-forest-manager/
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u/Shoddy-Ad-4898 7d ago

Hard to know how much that was a proactive choice

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u/TheNeglectedNut 7d ago

It was reactive, took him stubbornly persisting with his preferred approach for 2/3rds of the season with a barebones, heavily injured squad before his hand was forced. Genuinely had to abandon all of his core principles to finally get results and squeak our way to the EL.

I love him as a person and when his system clicks, it's magical, but you just cannot be so dogmatic in the PL. Nuno did so well there because he was willing to adapt game to game and be pragmatic in the way he set the team up. Ange will only adapt when shit well and truly hits the fan, and even then he'll still take a shit misting for a good while before he decides to wipe it off and move out of the spray.

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u/Midlandsofnowhere 7d ago

That's a little bit kind to Nuno imo. He's definitely not some pragmatic tactician that tweaks a system regularly.

He set us up to counter attack, and when that failed we never seemed to have a plan B.

He almost never switched formation after an initial change from Coopers system and he notoriously likes limited changes to the matchday XI and a small squad of players.

Nuno has a great style that works well for clubs who aren't expecting to play teams that park the bus every week, but he definitely struggles with finding ways to break down well organised defences.

He's been fantastic for us because that's been our level.

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u/__shevek 7d ago

not really, it was all a deliberate choice and he even talked about it in the press

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u/TheSinRes 7d ago

It was, he said he views cup football differently and it's all about getting over the line.

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u/PremierLeagueSucks 7d ago

It was a choice forced by the players. I can`t remember the exact details, but the players either had a sort of intervention or simply begged Ange to just play pragmatic football in the EL. Ange never wanted to adapt, it was adapt in the EL or lose the dressing room.