Postecoglou acknowledged that defeat to the Netherlands, 5-1 conquerers of reigning champions Spain last week, would probably mean the end of the World Cup for Australia.
But he said his transitional side, whose hopes are hanging by a thread after opening with a 3-1 loss to Chile, would not try to defend their way to safety.
"We know we have to be strong defensively, the Dutch are dangerous going forward as they showed against Spain," he told media ahead of Wednesday's game.
"We know that van Persie and Robben will be a challenge but we knew that coming into the tournament.
"In saying that we also need to be attack-minded, we can't just defend for 90 minutes."
A youthful Australia side were always up against it in a tough Group B but defeat to Chile left them with a mountain to climb.
Meanwhile Manchester United's van Persie and Robben, of Bayern Munich, both scored twice as the Netherlands destroyed Spain.
Postecoglou, who will lead Australia in the Asian Cup on home soil early next year, said Wednesday's game would be a good measure of their progress.
"We just have to believe in what we do and tomorrow we will get a chance to find out where we are at," he said.
"There's a lot at stake for both teams. For us if we don't get a result it's the end of our tournament."
The manager added that he expected to make "one or two changes, or maybe more" to his line-up.
He is already missing defender Ivan Franjic, who has departed with a hamstring injury.
"We will keep our options open and will try a couple of things at training today," Postecoglou said.
"We've made a decision on which way we'll go but obviously we've got to get through today's session."
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