What is ‘Ange Ball’? Ange Postecoglou explains his philosophy to FourFourTwo ❯ escored

Tottenham Hotspur’s encouraging start to the current season owes much to the brilliance of ‘Ange Ball’ – and the man behind it says that hasn’t happened by accident.

Boss Ange Postecoglou previously deployed the strategy to win two successive league titles at Celtic – while he didn’t come up with the ‘Ange Ball’ moniker himself, he acknowledges it’s a tangible philosophy and not just a throwaway phrase.

“I think it’s there, definitely,” he said, as part of an exclusive interview for the current issue of FourFourTwo magazine.

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“I’d like to think there’s something there that we work on every week, and it’s not just random events.”

There's certainly plenty of chaos in football – and Tottenham have had their fair share in the opening weeks of the season with late winners and tense matchups. Fittingly, their manager reflects upon the unexpected nature of games when he approaches them.

“But at the same time, what I love about football is it has its own life,” Postecoglou says.

Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 16, 2023 in London, England.” class=” lazy-image-van” onerror=”if(this.src && this.src.indexOf(‘missing-image.svg') !== -1){return true;};this.parentNode.replaceChild(window.missingImage(),this)” data-normal=”https://vanilla.futurecdn.net/fourfourtwo/media/img/missing-image.svg” data-srcset=”https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-320-80.jpg.webp 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-1200-80.jpg.webp 1200w” data-sizes=”(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw – 40px)” data-original-mos=”https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4.jpg” data-pin-media=”https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4.jpg”/>Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 16, 2023 in London, England.” class=” lazy-image-van” onerror=”if(this.src && this.src.indexOf(‘missing-image.svg') !== -1){return true;};this.parentNode.replaceChild(window.missingImage(),this)” data-normal=”https://vanilla.futurecdn.net/fourfourtwo/media/img/missing-image.svg” data-srcset=”https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-480-80.jpg 480w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-1200-80.jpg 1200w” data-sizes=”(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw – 40px)” data-original-mos=”https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4.jpg” data-pin-media=”https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4.jpg”/> Dejan Kulusevski of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with teammates Richarlison and Destiny Udogie after scoring the team's second goal during the <a href= Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 16, 2023 in London, England.” class=” lazy-image-van” onerror=”if(this.src && this.src.indexOf(‘missing-image.svg') !== -1){return true;};this.parentNode.replaceChild(window.missingImage(),this)” data-normal=”https://vanilla.futurecdn.net/fourfourtwo/media/img/missing-image.svg” data-srcset=”https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-320-80.jpg 320w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-480-80.jpg 480w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-650-80.jpg 650w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-970-80.jpg 970w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4-1200-80.jpg 1200w” data-sizes=”(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw – 40px)” src=”https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4.jpg” data-pin-media=”https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MZfitqyqzGeNJHhiGWRLo4.jpg”/>

Tottenham Hotspur are still undefeated in the league under Ange Postecoglou (Image credit: Stephen Pond/Getty Images)

“I often say to the players that what we do during the week and the information we give them is kind of preparing them for an exam. But like all exams, you don’t know what the questions are going to be, you know?

“A game of football throws up things, but yeah, there’s a structure. We try to allow players to then find solutions within that, but there are some disciplines we need to have as a group, for the individuals to function within it.”

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