Saturday on the Couch with Ange Postecoglou

Gosh, if ever there’s a book I wanted to review, Changing The Game by Ange Postecoglou (with Andy Harper) is it.  

Being a devout soccer, sorry, football fan, I couldn’t wait to get my teeth into this. Ange Postecoglou HAS changed the game in Australia.  His team at the time, Brisbane Roar, set an unprecedented run of 36 matches without a loss, a record for any code.  

How this happened is because this man, of clearly singular determination, would not be swayed in his endeavour to impose his style and method into not only the team but the club.  That it worked after five successive losses, to begin with, is a fascinating story.

If there is one word to describe this book it would unquestionably be “passion”.  Ange is a driven man and that stems from his youthful attempts to bond with his father, a pivotal figure in his formative years who was somewhat distant (which impacted on the daughter) and struggled to come to terms with living in Australia, something his wife was determined to make a go of.

Another key aspect is how, at age 12, he slipped into coaching the school team (because the assigned teacher really didn’t care) and it won the state championship.  This commenced his mindset that has carried him all the way to the Asian Cup success and here is where he runs riot at the lack of coverage and respect afforded the national team in an international sport, something I’m sure Andy Harper helped embellish.

Without specifically saying it, he makes no bones about the fact that the vested interests of the press (who support other codes) were seemingly so disinterested it appalled him and that politicians, wishing to make themselves heard in Asia, could be totally ignorant of Australia’s win in the Asian Cup, albeit on pitches that, at times, were a disgrace and shamed Australia’s image overseas.  

When our prime minister visited an Asian congress not long after our success and the matter of sport was raised, he mentioned a possible Aussie Rules fixture and totally ignored the fact that, in the country he was in, 950 million viewers had watched one of the Asian Cup matches, a tournament that Australia won.  President Xi Jinping is a football fan and his country is in the midst of opening 22,000 football specific high schools, so both myself and Ange are mystified as to why President Xi would be remotely interested in Aussie Rules.

He delves deeply into the whys and wherefores of the first national league; where it succeeded and where it ultimately failed and what we need to do to make sure it works this time and how it will affect the team that he now coaches.  Along with the late much-missed Johnny Warren, he believes that we should be going to the World Cup with the intention of winning otherwise, what’s the point.  He delves deeply into the football history of Australia and why we have a cringe internationally and queries why the press affords lesser coverage on a per spectator basis.

He promotes the telling statistic that half the male youth population play football (more than all other “football” codes combined) and, amazingly, football has outstripped the sacrosanct netball in popularity with women.

How his Brisbane Roar success came about is due, in a large part, to watching how Barcelona’s possession-style football evolved and then transferring that to Australia aided, to a significant degree, by two astute signings, Thomas Broich and Besart Berisha, and the former is a fascinating story.

His aloofness from players is something he also details.  How he perceives it works for him and how it’s affected his relationships with them and others is very instructional, particularly concerning one of his best friends in football, Paul Trimboli.  Another relationship is that with Frank Lowy who appointed Ange to national coach and wants him “to get grey hair in this job”.  It’s interesting that two people born outside Australia are more passionate about the Australian team than almost any Australian born here.

The book often says the same thing several times in different ways which I found a trifle tedious and it’s a little light on some key games but it’s enlightening nonetheless and a must for football fans.  

Changing the Game by Ange Postecoglou (with Andy Harper) is available now from Dymocks. Click here to learn more.