In a four-part series, footballaustralia.com.au associate editor Michael Cockerill gets the thoughts of Foxtel All-Stars coach Ange Postecoglou heading into the sold-out game against Manchester United.
In a four-part series, footballaustralia.com.au associate editor Michael Cockerill gets the thoughts of Foxtel All-Stars coach Ange Postecoglou heading into the sold-out game against Manchester United.
Q. Where does the Manchester United game sit in terms of your career highlights as a coach?
A. It’s up there I guess. It’s a unique opportunity, two-fold. One, to coach against one of the greatest clubs in the world. Whilst I’ve done that already (for South Melbourne in the 2000 FIFA Club World Cup), I’m certainly not taking this opportunity for granted. And the fact that this is a representative team of our competition, that’s a bigger thrill for me – to be able to work with some players I otherwise wouldn’t have had a chance to. So it’s two-fold. I’ve got no doubt it will be a memorable occasion.
Q. I know how passionate you are about Australian coaching. Is there any part of you that feels you’re representing other Australian coaches?
A. Look, I think I’m representative of our competition, and in our competition, in the last few years in particular, it’s been great for the number of Australian coaches, and they’ve been the most successful. If I’m representative of that group, that’s great. I take a lot of pride in the way Australian football is developing, and at the forefront are the Australian coaches. That’s a fantastic thing, and hopefully an encouraging thing.
Q. Since you learned you would be coaching the Foxtel All-Stars team, how much time have you spent thinking about the game?
A. Well, coaching is funny old game. It’s the kind of business where you’ve got so many things to deal with, you have to make different compartments in your head. It’s definitely been in the background during the whole off-season, and pre-season, but it’s certainly come to the forefront in the last few weeks. Team selection, squad selection, and knowing the game is getting closer, it’s taken up a fair bit of my thoughts. I’m excited by that. It’s one of those things you can’t plan for, they just come along in your career, the opportunity, the timing, and I’m just going to grab it with both hands.
Q. Obviously the Foxtel All-Stars will be underdogs. Is that exactly the sort of challenge which inspires you, excites you?
A. Underdogs? I guess it’s an opportunity to measure against the best. It’s got all those things I look for in my job. It’s a challenge. I love that. I coach best when it’s like that, I get more excited. If it becomes mundane or mediocre, I lose that little bit extra. So it’s great. It’s the first one (All-Stars game), but I’ve got no doubt it will be an annual event, a massive event, on our calendar. But the first one in anything you do is always the most challenging.
The Foxtel A-League All Stars will debut against Manchester United at ANZ Stadium, Sydney, on 20 July with the match to be broadcast live and exclusive on the Seven Network nationally.
