Nottingham Forest are three games into the Ange Postecoglou era, and captain Ryan Yates has now revealed what the Australian is working on with the squad more than anything.
Forest broke their average possession record against Burnley with 63.3% of the ball, a clear sign that Postecoglou’s controlled style of football is embedding into the Forest squad.
Albeit in a 1-1 draw, Paul Merson was impressed with Forest in possession against Burnley, in their best effort on the ball in the three games under Postecoglou thus far.
However, question marks remain over the Australian’s ability to create a side that can defend as well as it can attack. It’s not like he isn’t trying, though, with Yates revealing just how much effort is going into Forest’s defending in training.
Ryan Yates talks Ange Postecoglou’s defensive coaching
Postecoglou was Evangelos Marinakis’ dream appointment when he replaced Nuno Espírito Santo, but clearly the appeal was more about his ability to win trophies rather than creating a solid defence base similar to his predecessor.
Marinakis was looking for a change of playing style and while Postecoglou is providing this, it’s also true that he wants to provide a balanced approach. Speaking to Max Scott of talkSPORT, Yates emphasised that plenty of work is going into creating this balance.
Yates said: “A lot of people talk about Ange’s system going forward, we’ve spoke so much about the balance being right, defending all together, wingers tracking back and the work rate he demands.”
It’s all well and good coaching these principles, but it’s crucial that Postecoglou gets his players to buy into them, so that belief remains in inevitable moments of struggle. According to Yates, this buy-in was one of the 60-year-old’s first messages to the squad.
What Ange Postecoglou first told the Nottingham Forest squad
There’s already been plenty of doubts as to whether the new head coach can succeed at Forest, highlighted when Jamie O’Hara predicted Postecoglou would be sacked before Christmas.
This noise has to be blocked out by the players, though, to ensure that the belief in Postecoglou’s methods remains in the group.
Yates said: “One of the first things he said to us was that it’s going to take a bit of time but the more of us that can buy into the process of how he wants to do things, the quicker we’re going to get results.
“I couldn’t agree more with what he said and it’s mine and the senior players’ responsibility to keep the lads on that journey. It’s going to take a bit of time but it’s really exciting.”
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