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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Ange Postecoglou issues 'copying Pep' Spurs style quip

Ange Postecoglou has joked that he's simply replicating Pep Guardiola's philosophy when instructing his teams in how to play football.

The 57-year-old was in fine spirits when speaking to TNT Sport this afternoon after watching his Tottenham team defeat Bournemouth 2-0.

James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski scored the goals on the south coast, which sees Postecoglou's unbeaten start to life at Spurs continue.

Post-match, in the TV studio at the Vitality Stadium, Joe Cole asked about the Australian's method of playing inverted full-backs, which sees them drift inside the pitch into midfield. 

The former Yokohama boss successfully implemented the same playing style at Celtic - and it would appear that his Spurs team are getting used to it now too.

Postecoglou quipped: "There's no secret, I'm just copying Pep, mate."

Cole and Peter Crouch certainly saw the funny side to his witty response.

The boss continued: "We do a lot of work on it. A lot of it, it is on instincts but we're trying to create a system, wherever I've been, that is as fluid as it can be. 

"If there's space there, forget that you're a full-back, you're a footballer, get in that space. It's up to us to make sure that we're covering the gaps that are left. 

"I think once players realise that they have the freedom to be able to do that, it's still very structured, then they don't second guess themselves. They know that it doesn't matter if they're a left full-back, if there's space there then they get into it.

"Both Pedro and Destiny, when they have the ball and they're running with it, they're really difficult to stop. It's an essential area and it makes it more effective."

Postecoglou also had the TNT television studio in stitches after he reacted to an over-zealous technician adding a microphone to his shirt.

Having been in the dugout for the match, he arrived in the studio without the requisite gear so was hooked up quickly while on camera.

A little too quickly for Ange's liking who clearly felt a bit harassed by the encounter as he reeled back and jokingly stated: "Introduce yourself first mate!"

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