Earlier in January, Tottenham defender Eric Dier said his goodbyes to the club, marking the conclusion of his almost decade-long stint in North London.
The Englishman embarked on a six-month loan to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, with the option to prolong the deal for another year.
Dier faced a tough ending to his spell with Spurs, struggling to gain favour under Ange Postecoglou this season.
He only had one Premier League start before deciding to end his lengthy tenure with the Lilywhites.
In a recent exclusive interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap, the 30-year-old made an intriguing revelation about his former manager, Postecoglou, suggesting that the head coach emphasised minimal traditional tactical work, noting, “he really doesn’t focus much on tactical drills.”
However, the Australian manager has countered Dier’s remarks by refuting them.
Ange Postecoglou responds to Eric Dier’s remarks
Postecoglou responded to the claims about minimal traditional tactical training by stating that everything they do in training is geared towards how they play their football, which, in his perspective, constitutes tactical work.
Postecoglou stressed that whether they are honing their style of play or analysing the opposition, it all falls under tactical preparation.
He said (quotes via TheSpursWatch):
“It’s probably something you’d have to ask Eric, I don’t know what you mean by tactical work, everything we do is geared on how we are going to play our football. So for me by extension is tactical work. Whether that’s on us, or whether it’s on the opposition.
“In fact I would probably say we don’t do anything apart from tactical work. That’s all we do every day. If we’re working on our fitness, we’re still trying to play our football, but I haven’t seen the interview so I’m not sure what he’s referencing.
“If you’re talking about do we do training where we’re standing around and working on how we’re going to stop an opposition, how we’re going to break down, no we don’t do that, but I don’t think that’s the only kind of tactical work that exists.
“I think anyone who trains with us will tell you that all we do is train the way we play. Maybe that’s not tactical work, I don’t know.”
Since Postecoglou’s arrival, there has been a noticeable shift in Tottenham’s playing style towards bold possession-based football aimed at dismantling the opposition.
However, some might find it worrying that the manager does not take into consideration the opposition while preparing for the game.
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