So much for the adjustment period. So much for Ange Postecoglou’s tough spot at the start of Tottenham’s season, where his players struggled to follow his high-octane plan, the faith of the fans was said to be tested and the people who employed him began to question whether they supported the wrong man .
If you offered any Tottenham Hotspur fan 14 points out of a possible 18 this season, they would spend your entire hand after six games without a second thought. And that’s without giving them all the intangibles that make what this team is doing now even more special: team spirit and cohesion, a striking and effective style of football and their unassuming hero as a manager who always seems to know just the right thing to do thing say or do to forever enrich everyone involved.experience.
Postecoglou’s first real Premier League test came at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday (Monday morning AEST) after another week in which he was showered with plaudits in the British press. His team came away brilliantly, but not with all three points – they had to settle for a 2-2 draw against their fiercest rivals Arsenal.
They should be happy.
The result was fair, but it is the performance that pleases Postecoglou the most and reassures Spurs supporters that they are on the right track. Apart from the first 20-30 minutes, we had a lot more confidence on the ball, created better chances and played better football.
Twice they were late. Both of Arsenal’s goals came directly from mistakes by Tottenham defender Cristian Romero – an own goal in the 26th minute and then a handball from the penalty spot by Bukayo Saka in the 54th minute.
But twice they came back, both times through captain Son Heung-min, both goals representing this team’s new identity in different ways. The first came on the stroke of half-time and only because James Maddison refused to let a promising attack die, creating space with a clever turn before breaking down on the edge of the box and somehow finding Son with a pass as Arsenal’s defenders closed in. the goal a game from three different directions. The end result was sublime.
The second goal was the signature of “Angeball”. Postecoglou has always encouraged his teams to hit back as quickly as possible after conceding goals while their opponents are still mentally celebrating and thus vulnerable. Here they did it in just 98 seconds. Arsenal had yet to get back into the game after Saka’s spot-kick and didn’t know what hit them until it was too late. Maddison took the ball away from Jorginho, he slipped the ball to Filo and Filo did the rest. Postecoglou walked away pumping the air with one fist. Its equipment was the best of the competition from that point on. Postecoglou needed a whole year to implement his ideas at Yokohama F. Marino; convince the players to trust his methods, who can keep possession and believe in himself and his abilities on the ball in those moments.
It took Celtic a few months to get over that hump.
It didn’t last nearly as long at Tottenham Hotspur. It makes sense – in the Premier League he is now working with the highest quality players in the world who shouldn’t need violence to play like this, and at 58 he has had enough practice to rebuild inferior teams. bring this process to works of art. But that doesn’t make this seminal Australian act any less amazing.
They’re certainly not the finished product – far from it – but Spurs have the ominous look and feel of a team that knows it’s only a matter of time before things click and the goals start flowing properly. If you think the love for Postecoglou in the UK is already strong, wait for it.
