Tom Smithies: Arrival of Ange Postecoglou to Socceroos post returns optimism to national team THAT'S the beautiful thing about changing a coach. On Day One there is only optimism and belief, and a sense that everything will be different now. Ange Postecoglou walked into a press conference Wednesday like he was answering a calling in taking over the Socceroos. For all that he actually wears two hats for 48 hours, with a valedictory game to oversee at Melbourne Victory on Friday night, the sense that this was a job he felt born to came from more than just his words. For a man quietly spoken and disinclined to use hyperbole, there was emotive language - Postecoglou spoke of "putting the pride back in the jersey," and of "uniting the players and uniting the nation ... I want the national team to be exciting to watch. But hidden in there were hints of the substantive decisions to come - the word "unite," in respect of the team, a clear nod to perceptions that it is not currently a coherent unit. Not given to bombast in public, Postecoglou is still a formidable personality according to those who have negotiated with him. If there was blood on the carpet at Brisbane at the end of his first season, as a succession of senior pros were shown the door, that certainty is part of the attraction now for FFA. Postecoglou is a modern coach but also a driven one, confident enough in his own self-belief not to need statements of status but absolutely unafraid to make necessary decisions. He also has a wide eye for the organisation that surrounds the team - having asserted that there "is no excuse not to have a world class environment off the pitch," he made an unapologetic pitch for the role he has taken on to have a broader remit across the national youth teams he once coached. "We need to be closely linked at all levels of the organisation ... even including the way the youth teams play," he argued. Ange Postecoglou is introduced as Socceroos coach by David Gallop and Frank Lowy. Not many people accept a job from Frank Lowy and then on day one seek to define the mandate in the broadest terms. But equally Lowy and David Gallop appreciate that assurance. The word "statesmanlike" has been heard in the corridors of FFA, and even Postecoglou could only smile at the difference in circumstance from when he left the governing body's pay roll six years ago. In many ways, Postecoglou's rise from that particularly bloody exit in 2007 has mirrored the resurgence of the game itself. The patchy results of the young international teams that he coached then meant there was always a likelihood he would be moved on. But undoubtedly the process was expedited by the mauling he received from SBS pundit Craig Foster on live TV in an interview that became cult viewing. But impressively, his response was to overhaul his own coaching style - visiting numerous clubs and associations around the world, absorbing ideas and cultures, and coaching for a short spell in Greece. That was how he brought not just energy but a modern playing style to Brisbane Roar. He and Graham Arnold were responsible for rewriting the tactics book for the league, dragging up others in their wake. But his ambition also goes wider than just results, the currency that Pim Verbeek and Osieck traded in most of all. At Brisbane and Melbourne he spoke of creating dynasties, building clubs rather than teams. According to one figure from the Roar days, he leads by example and sets a tone he expects others to follow. "I hope I'm here as the best man for the job," he said at one point Wednesday. I certainly believe I am. So do Lowy and Gallop, and on a bright Sydney afternoon that optimism and belief were duly unfettered. The challenges ahead might be immense, but for now Postecoglou's self-assurance is contagious.