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.
More Australian coaches have followed, mostly due to their philosophy, rather than passports, matching Postecoglou’s. Kevin Muscat, Postecoglou’s successful successor at Melbourne Victory, was also next in line at Yokohama. His view that Postecoglou was both mentor and inspiration, closely reflected the Marinos mood. The 2022 title won under Muscat was another goal-heavy ride full of entertainment. Muscat left for Shanghai in December 2023 and was replaced by a third Australian. After a string of jobs in the lower leagues of England, Harry Kewell’s own coaching career had, at best, stagnated until he was handed a lifeline by Postecoglou with a job on Celtic’s coaching staff.
In Yokohama, the former Socceroos winger lasted just seven months. He did continue with the same attacking philosophy but, despite an Asian Champions League final appearance, results at home were not good enough and Kewell got his marching orders in July 2024. Former Postecoglou assistant, John Hutchinson, a Sydney-born midfielder, was caretaker until the end of the season and steered Yokohama a mid-table finish.
Finally, in December last year, the keys were handed to a coach who was not Australian, as the aims of part-owner City Football Group (CFG) were proven to outrank any perceived coaching traits of a certain nationality. A candidate that can bring success in Japan, but also with the potential to add value elsewhere in the 13-club global network, is ideal. The group felt that Steve Holland, assistant to Gareth Southgate with England and carrying experience of working with a string of big-name coaches at Chelsea, had a bright future.
It was a gamble, especially for a with virtually no head coaching experience and whose more pragmatic playing style seemed to be a departure from the club’s recent philosophy. Holland lasted just four months, though there was some bad luck. Competing in Asia and Japan meant many games and little time for a new coach to embed his ideas and deal with a host of injuries especially at the back. Giving up a 2-0 half-time lead to lose 3-2 to Shimizu S-Pulse at home was the last straw . With the club 18th on the J.League table, Holland was fired on Good Friday, and then after a bad Sunday, Yokohama hit 20th and rock bottom.
Assistant Kisnorbo – who has already coached two CFG clubs – has stepped up. In Japan, he will need all his experience from both ends of the table – successive premierships with Melbourne City in 2021 and 2022, and then a year in France when leading Troyes to relegation. The ex-Leeds and Leicester defender returned to Australia in June 2024 to take over Melbourne Victory. When he left six months later for Japan, the club understandably expressed their shock at their highly-rated head coach choosing to leave to be an assistant to a serial No 2.
Kisnorbo now has his chance. His interim coaching tenure may have begun with former Arsenal winger Ryo Miyaichi carried off in the opening minutes of what ended in a 3-1 defeat to Urawa Reds, but things can only get better, perhaps starting in Saudi Arabia.
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The odds are against Kisnorbo’s side, with star striker Anderson Lopes warning of humiliation by the Red Sea if Yokohama do not improve. There is not just Ronaldo, who was rested in Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Damac, but $150m forward Jhon Duran, former Liverpool and Bayern Munich star Sadio Mane, and Spanish international Aymeric Laporte at the back.
Kisnorbo’s task is not helped by all games at the Champions League quarter-final stage being held far away in Saudi Arabia – a huge, and arguably unfair, advantage to the three clubs from that country that are in the last eight. But with expectations low, Yokohama can play without fear and might need only to score to turn all the pressure onto the well-funded Al-Nassr.
Postecoglou knows about finding ways to lift a side from the wrong end of the table, just as he did in Japan in 2019 and will be hoping to have the opportunity to do at Spurs. But if Kisnorbo can now pull off a surprise by the Red Sea, it could be the first critical step to turning Yokohama’s fortunes around and starting another exciting, Australian-led, journey.