Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has shared what Ange Postecoglou told him about the tactics he was using at Nottingham Forest.
Postecoglou was sacked by Forest after just eight games in charge.
The former Tottenham Hotspur boss was dismissed less than an hour after a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea, with Sean Dyche brought in as his replacement.
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Postecoglou endured a difficult spell at the City Ground, and it’s now been claimed he was doing something he ‘hated’ while at the club.
Nottingham Forest head coach Ange Postecoglou looks on during his side's defeat against FC Midtjylland in the UEFA Europa League
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Enzo Maresca shares what Ange Postecoglou hated about Nottingham Forest tactics
Maresca recently confirmed he was at the LMA awards and spoke to the former Forest boss about his use of a back-five system.
The Italian stated Postecoglou actually ‘hates’ using five defenders. He said: “‘Ange, I’ve never seen your team play back five, apart from the last 10 minutes of the Europa League final against United.’
“He started to laugh, and he said, ‘I hate to play back five, but because it was the last 10 minutes, and we need to win the title. I said, OK, I don’t care, we play back five.’
“We played Forest, it was a back five. And I prepared the game against a back four. So in the warm-up [they are setting up with a back five], guys, all the plan, rubbish, back five.”
The ex-Celtic manager began life at Forest with his preferred back-four, but made changes after a five-game winless run.
His final three matches at the helm saw a back five/three deployed, but results did not improve and he was quickly dismissed.
Would Ange Postecoglou have stopped Nottingham Forest from being relegated?
Dyche secured a win over FC Porto during his first game in charge.
However, he is still searching for a first Premier League victory after losing 2-0 to Bournemouth last time out.
Forest have dropped down to 18th in the division as a result, and Chris Sutton has commented on whether Postecoglou would have avoided relegation had he remained in charge.
He said: “I mean, they absolutely won’t go down because, you know, I think they would have stayed up comfortably, had Ange Postecoglou stayed on.
“I think that they just have too many good players.”