Johan Lange has now been at Tottenham Hotspur for almost three years, and it’s been an eventful time to say the least.
Obviously the high was beating Manchester United in the Europa League final, and there’s been multiple lows including flirting with relegation. During that time he’s worked with Ange Postecoglou, Thomas Frank, Igor Tudor and now Roberto De Zerbi.
Spurs managed to climb out of the relegation zone at the weekend, with their first win of the season. The campaign hasn’t started the way which had been envisaged after big spending in the summer, however, Lange doesn’t appear to be too concerned.
He’s invited Danish magazine Borsen Pleasure over to Tottenham’s training ground for a long chat, and part of that was about changes he’s made at Hotspur Way during the summer.
The club’s luxury on-site hotel has had a rebrand to make it more Tottenham focused: “Before, you couldn’t tell whether you had entered a football club or a random reception at a hotel or in a company. Now the players can see the history they are a part of.”
Lange went on to explain that the images in the hotel’s reception can be changed to reflect events during the season. For example, if there’s a memorable moment on a Saturday, it can on display by the Monday.
The slogan ‘Winning starts with what we do here’ is displayed prominently, and a new auditorium has been added.
There’s a coffee shop for staff and players to share, the floor in the weights room has been replaced following advice from experts: “I don’t know what kind of floor is best for lifting weights on, but we have experts who do that, so when they recommend that it be replaced, I listen to them. The same goes for if an analyst comes with a recommendation to change our data structure in scouting to be better at finding players outside the major leagues.”
Johan Lange’s recruitment at Spurs
What is Johan Lange’s leadership style at Tottenham?
The Danish sporting director presents himself as something of a generalist. A collaborator with people who hold more expertise than he does.
Taking advice and letting skilled people do their roles with a certain amount of freedom is the plan, rather than micro-managing: “The best in their field shouldn’t be managed in detail. I’m a big believer in hiring the best people in your management team without compromise. They hire the best specialists in their teams, and slowly but surely you develop a fantastic organisation and culture.”
Lange’s calmness somehow manages to shout through. The interview was conducted ahead of the Everton match. Tottenham, De Zerbi and Lange were under pressure, but there’s no panic and no stress.
Pressure built, or should have, after Spurs spending big in the summer. Lange’s isn’t too concerned about that.
“Well, the prices. To a certain extent, you get used to them,” he explained. “After all, these are the same amounts that competitors pay. All clubs’ scouting networks are so good these days that finding a player that others have overlooked, in a league that no one has heard of, for a tenth of the price – that race is over.
“It certainly raises expectations (the money spent). But it’s not because I think about it every day. I think all clubs think it’s hard to find good players. For people who aren’t into football, it might sound completely insane that there aren’t a lot of players to choose from when you have £80m. But how many players have the quality to justify such an investment?
“For every player you buy, you might have three or five clubs you talk to. If we need a right winger, we might be talking about five different players, five clubs, five agents. That’s a lot of balls to keep in the air at the same time.”
Agent presence and meetings
Johan Lange took the Danish magazine to the Tottenham stadium for the match against Everton. Some interesting snippets come from that.
CAA Base, a UK agency, have a permanent box at the stadium. Ahead of the Toffees game they invited sporting directors from club in the Spanish and Italian leagues, with Lange set to talk to them.
That shows just how involved the agency is with Tottenham, and gives a clear hint of transfer direction for future windows.
No fear for own position
Towards the end of last season, with the prospect of relegation looming, Johan Lange’s position was in question. The man himself didn’t see it that way, and took a typically calm approach.
Asked whether he feared for his job, Lange said: “I actually didn’t. Our CEO, the owners and the board could see that Tottenham had ended up here because of something that had happened over many years. And they agreed with the strategy and could see that we were on the right track in several areas. So no, I never felt insecure in my job.”
And that sums up Lange’s approach. In a storm, he will remain calm. Whether that will produce the results Tottenham require is yet to become apparent.
