Before making his mark in Europe, Ange Postecoglou spent a lot of his career in Japan and Australia, and his former right-hand man Peter Cklamovski has given his verdict on Ange’s Nottingham Forest tactics.
Cklamovski spent seven years by the side of Ange Postecoglou, working as his assistant for Australia’s national team, Australia’s under-17s and at Yokohama F. Marinos.
If there is anyone qualified to speak about the Forest head coach’s philosophy, Cklamovski would be top of the list.
Postecoglou has had very little time to drill his ideas into the squad, and the Tricky Trees travel to face Arsenal on Saturday afternoon.
Ange has already been given bad news about his squad, and he’ll want to put that to the side and start his time at the club with a strong result.
Cklamovski spoke about Ange’s methods hinting that there could be a new tactical change at Nottingham Forest, and that could start against Arsenal.
Former Ange Postecoglou assistant says head coach will change his tactics
Over his time at Tottenham Hotspur, Ange Postecoglou became synonymous with having a high-line and high tempo football and many Forest fans expect the same style at the City Ground.
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However, his former assistant Peter Cklamovski has admitted it will not be exactly the same tactics as those seen at Tottenham.
Speaking with Stadium Astro, Cklamovski said, ‘He’ll want to play the football everyone talks about in the Premier League.’
‘He might do it a bit differently than what he did at Tottenham, because I think there is a trend that everywhere he goes there is a little subtle change or variation.’
Ange’s former right-hand man goes on to say, ‘He’ll have a group of players that are a little bit different than what Spurs were and what he was building at Spurs. ‘
‘It’ll be an interesting chapter and journey how he does that mid-season without pre-season, what he does with a few days before the Arsenal game.’
However, that isn’t all Cklamovski had to say about Postecoglou, and his thoughts on the defensive side of his tactics will be music to the ears of Forest fans.
Peter Cklamovski with Ange Postecoglou for Yokohama Mariners
Photo by Masashi Hara/Getty Images
Peter Cklamovski says Nottingham Forest could still be defensively stable
One of the main worries for Nottingham Forest fans will be how open they are at the back under Postecoglou.
The high line tactics mean that teams can cut through you more easily than they were used to under Nuno Espirito Santo.
However, Cklamovski feels there will still be defensive stability under Ange Postecoglou.
Speaking on his training methods and style, he said, ‘The training methods and philosophy won’t change, it’ll be high-tempo football, exciting football and I dare say there’ll be a sense of defensive stability as well that will make Nottingham Forest strong.’
Under Nuno, Forest showed they could be resilient when defending, so Ange certainly has players capable of keeping the ball out of the net.
However, whether those players can adjust to his high-tempo football remains to be seen, as Nikola Milenkovic is one who could struggle under Postecoglou.