Who’s top of the Premier League table right now? Manchester City again? Arsenal? No, Tottenham. Under their new coach, Spurs are surprisingly blossoming.
It’s only been since last summer that Angelos “Ange” Postecoglou has been Tottenham Hotspur’s coach. But the Australian with Greek roots can say little about Spurs’ last championship to date primarily because he was only born in 1965 – and the last league win was even longer ago.
Not since 1960/61, when Tottenham even won the double, have the Londoners started a season so strongly; the 23 points under Postecoglou after the first nine matchdays are ergo a club-internal Premier League record. Not a bad debut.
Fresh offensive soccer – without Kane
The 58-year-old, who arrived from Celtic, has Spurs, who have sometimes come across as destructive in recent years, playing more and more determined attacking soccer. It’s working – even without key player Harry Kane, who left the island for Munich in the summer.
Postecoglou, as the fourth permanent coach since Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham’s run to the 2019 Champions League final, not only seems to be able to bring consistency back to the coaching position, he’s creating that consistency on the pitch as well. New signing James Maddison from Leicester, who has taken over the number ten shirt from club legend Kane, is coming up trumps with three goals, five assists and plenty of influence so far, while Heung-Min Son is currently finding his old strength with seven league goals already.
The duo scored Spurs’ two goals in Monday night’s 2-0 City clash with Fulham, which keeps them unbeaten and top of the table – now two points ahead of Manchester City and Arsenal. Ahead of the champion and the runner-up. And not after three games, but after nine; and not by chance, but largely in command.
“We want the fans to dream,” Maddison therefore put the brakes on after the latest victory on “BBC Sport” only to a limited extent. The success alienated Spurs supporters should enjoy the moment. “But we remain focused and think from day to day,” added the newcomer what his coach probably wanted to hear.
In any case, Postecoglou does not let himself be carried away by the unexpected euphoria, which has probably been one of his principles of success so far. After his starting record, the coach rather started to rumble: “I was really unhappy with the second half, that was our worst 45 minutes,” he said after the Fulham win. “With the ball, we weren’t even close to the level we’ve shown so far.”
Such self-criticism in a moment of success may well be taken as a warning by the competition – as may Postecoglou’s earnest assessment: “We can definitely be even better. “
