EPL TALK: Postecoglou can wipe away Asian football’s negative stereotype

ANGE Postecoglou knows all about snobbery and prejudice. The new Tottenham Hotspur manager is a product of his Asian football environment. He comes from the land Down Under, where the ball is not always round and the sport can be viewed with a mixture of bemusement and indifference.

Football isn’t even the most popular football in Australia. While Asian football is still considered more Mickey Mouse than Messi. And despite one Disney-esque ending after another in various leagues, Postecoglou continues with the elitist arrogance of one continent and the ongoing imposter syndrome of another.

The perception remains that those working within Asia haven’t really made it until they go west, which can nurture an inferiority complex. And western employers remain reluctant to give Asians, particularly coaches, enough worthwhile opportunities, which only plays into the inferiority complex.

Asians don’t get the top football jobs, so the top football jobs are not offered to Asians. So why bother? Might as well stay here. Keep it parochial. And Asian football keeps its reputation for kampung competitions and substandard talents, particularly on the touchline. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

A little over the top? Consider this. A manager who has succeeded at every level of the game, winning titles in domestic and foreign leagues as well an international trophy with his country, gets the Celtic job on merit, and is openly ridiculed on Britain’s most popular sports radio station. A radio presenter considers him a joke, out of his depth and not in the same league as his professional rivals, all of which proved to be true - for the radio presenter.

Speaking on TalkSport, Alan Brazil infamously savaged Postecoglou’s Celtic appointment in an on-air rant so unfair, he later apologised when Postecoglou won a double. But the ignorant diatribe was informative in many ways, highlighting the jingoistic nonsense that passes for informed opinion in the mainstream football media, whilst highlighting the many obstacles that anyone from this part of the world must overcome.

When Postecoglou took over at Celtic, he had already won a Premiership with South Melbourne, a couple of A-League titles at Brisbane Roar, finished top with Yokohama F. Marinos in the J.League and guided Australia to the 2014 World Cup before winning the Asian Cup in 2015, the Socceroos’ first major silverware, an astonishing achievement for a country where football arguably ranks third or fourth in the nation’s list of sporting priorities.

But this all happened in Asia, so it didn’t count.

And the irony should be lost on no one that Alan Brazil’s initial, patronising attitude towards a coach from supposedly inferior Asian leagues taking over his beloved Celtic is now being parroted among English cynics criticising Postecoglou for leaving an inferior Scottish league for Tottenham. The misplaced entitlement is entertaining, but not surprising for a manager who's dealt with snide comments and backhanded compliments for decades.

Tearing down cultural barriers, entrenched stereotypes

Being the proud son of Greek immigrants, Postecoglou grew up playing a sport largely dismissed as a volatile, tribal game for immigrants. Real Aussies played Aussie Rules or rugby league. Football was sneered upon, the "other" sport played by others.

But Postecoglou has admirably devoted much of his career to tearing down cultural barriers and entrenched stereotypes in two ways. First, his unswerving commitment to “Ange-ball”, a quick, possession-based game, showcased his tactical principles and his belief that pretty patterns weren’t just knitted together at Ajax and Barcelona.

From South Melbourne to Celtic, football training sessions are conducted below the waist. Passes are kept low with minimal touches and perpetual movement. Risks are not only encouraged but considered necessary. At Brisbane Roar, Postecoglou won back-to-back titles via a 36-game unbeaten run that reached an aesthetic pinnacle that no Australian club has replicated, before or since. At Celtic, he even succeeded where Pep Guardiola arguably failed in getting Joe Hart to play out from the back.

And still, it’s not enough. He's got to prove himself all over again.

Of course, all managers do. In a fickle working environment, they are only ever as good as their last trophy or as bad as their last sacking. But Postecoglou needs to be twice as good as his coaching peers, it seems, paying the price for being cultivated in a part of the world where the set-up is often considered twice as bad.

While it’s unfair to compare his achievements with Singapore’s ongoing shortcomings, it really doesn’t matter. Others will do that anyway. We’re all lumped together under the raggedy umbrella of Asian football. And if it’s Asian, it’s considered a bit too low-end and inadequate for the likes of Europe. If Uefa is a five-star establishment, then AFC is a pasar malam, touting dodgy copies of the real thing. It’s good for a cheap giggle, but that's all.

At the 2014 World Cup, a well-known British journalist said to me, “Ah, Singapore football eh? How’s the match fixing going?”

Reputations stick. Judgments are easily made and hard to change.

But Postecoglou is trying. Having elevated the game’s reputation within Australia, the second aspect of the manager’s sly crusade is to improve Asian football’s standing. He took Kyogo Furuhashi from the J.League to Celtic and the striker rewarded his manager’s faith with 34 goals in 50 games. Furuhashi is now linked with Spurs as Postecoglou deliberately moves away from Eurocentric recruitment – and the snobbery behind it.

Previously, Postecoglou’s knowledge of Asian football was looked down upon. Now, such an extensive network of contacts, scouts and agents is considered an asset. Spurs will almost certainly tap Asian markets to bolster their squad and hope the attractive brand of “Ange-ball” that took shape in South Melbourne, Brisbane and Yokohama will be further refined in North London.

Postecoglou has already worked wonders for Australian soccer. If he could do the same for Asian football, we’d all have a reason to thank him.

Neil Humphreys is an award-winning football writer and a best-selling author, who has covered the English Premier League since 2000 and has written 28 books.

Follow the new EPL season with the "Footballing Weekly" show on YouTube, Spotify and Acast.

For more football news, visit our Football page on Yahoo!

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube.