Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has been discussing how his formation will work next season, how fluid it will be and why there is something more important than a winning mentality to him.
The Australian has often used a 4-3-3 formation and occasionally a 4-2-3-1 across his career and during a Q&A with fans this week, as he undertakes his first pre-season with Spurs, Postecoglou was asked what formation will best suit his team during this coming Premier League season.
"I think if you look at my career I play different formations. A lot depends on the players you have at your disposal and I've got this place in terms of football where I just think set formations are not quite a thing of the past, but there's such fluidity in football these days, especially at the highest level like the Premier League, you really need players who are able to perform multiple functions and roles within the side," said the 57-year-old.
"For the most part I've played a 4-3-3 but you probably couldn't pinpoint many moments in the game where that actually exists. It's more about movement and space. For me the key thing will be to have a really good look at the playing group and see what strengths they have and then come up with a formation that brings the best out of them."
One phrase often heard at Tottenham is winning mentality, or the lack of as they strive to lift trophies for the silverware-starved supporters. For Postecoglou he believes there is something more important than simply wanting to win.
"I think with winning mentality it's really important that you understand that everybody wants to win. There isn't a football club or a sporting club or a person involved in a sporting organisation that doesn't want to win. What's more important than having that mentality to win is believing in something," said the new head coach.
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"That's what separates the special teams, the special athletes, the special people from everyone else. If you're just chasing a victory then that can't be enough because nobody goes into a game of football wanting to lose.
"It doesn't matter their level. You just want to win, but if you can believe in something beyond that end result and that gets you that end result then that's when you can create something really special.
"That could be the way you play football or the way you behave or when you're trying to create something special that hasn't been done before.
"The great things in the world that have been achieved and done as a first have been done by people who have gone beyond just wanting to achieve something. They've wanted to do something special and they've had that belief.
"So I really think that's important. If your dream is to become a top footballer or a top team it's what's going to get you there. What's going to be that thing inside you that drives you, because you're not going to win every week. You're going to have challenges, you're going to have stumbles along the way.
"What's going to be that thing that gets you back up? If you can find that, well for me I've said all along it's just the way my teams play. That's more important to me than winning a game of football.
"The consequence of that is winning games of football and that's the thing that drives me and hopefully drives the group that we want to play our football a certain way and we want to play football that everyone wants to watch, not just Tottenham supporters. If we can achieve that then I think the success will follow."
