Ange Postecoglou looks a little frazzled these days but may find some comfort in watching one of his old clubs play on Saturday evening (Sunday 5.30 AEST) and contemplating his Japanese legacy. Yokohama F.Marinos meet Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in an Asian Champions League Elite quarter-final with Patrick Kisnorbo is in charge. The 44-year-old is the fourth Australian to occupy the Yokohama hotseat since Postecoglou left for Celtic in 2021 after three years in Japan that must seem happier by the week.
Rose-tinted glasses can be forgiven in light of Tottenham Hotspur’s current woes. For all the talk about second-season trophies, there should be more about how Postecoglou – in his first J.League campaign with Yokohama in 2018, was saved from relegation only by goal difference. Yokohama were, of course, the second-highest scorers in the league, with just one goal fewer than the champions, in what proved to be the platform for the title-winning season that came next.
