UK football experts are backing Ange Postecoglou to lead Tottenham back to the Champions League promise land — but not all are convinced with backfire fears raised over his stunning, public swipe of the club’s fans last season.
Postecolgou’s second Premier League season in charge kicks off at newly promoted Leicester City on Monday (Tuesday morning AEST) and many experts are confident that it will be the beginning of a top-four campaign.
But The Daily Mail’s Nathan Salt believes Postecoglou may come to regret his comments following his side’s 2-0 loss at home to champions Manchester City in the penultimate game of last season.
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The former Celtic boss is well versed in passionate derbies but he expressed his disappointment with some Spurs fans wanting their team to lose to City to prevent rivals Arsenal from winning the league.
Salt wrote that Postecoglou has now added more pressure onto his own shoulders which could heavily impact the upcoming campaign.
“Something feels off, 7th,” Salt said.
“Ange Postecoglou publicly called out Tottenham and their supporters for a ‘fragile’ mentality at the back end of last season and the need to win a trophy only becomes of greater importance after such a barb from the boss.”
The Australian was heaped with praise for implementing an attacking style last season but his side ran out of steam late to finish fifth and miss out on a Champions League berth by two points.
Postecoglou demanded the signing of a proven Premier League goalscorer and his command was fulfilled when they signed Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth for an initial £55 million ($106.5 million).
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Solanke scored 21 goals last season, including 19 in the Premier League, and will join Son Heung-min, Richarlison and Timo Werner in attack – who all attempted to fill the void left by Harry Kane up front at times but Son in particular is arguably more suited to playing on a flank.
Postecoglou’s attacking style ensures that Spurs create plenty of chances and having another accomplished finisher inside the box has filled many pundits with confidence that they will pile on the goals.
Manchester United and England legend Gary Neville tips Tottenham to be the beneficiaries of a potential Liverpool slide following Jurgen Klopp’s departure from Anfield and join Manchester City, Arsenal and his former club in the Champions League spots.
“I think that Tottenham fell away badly (last year) but they’ve got something,” Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast. “I think they’ve got something and I’m going for Tottenham (above Liverpool).”
The Guardian’s football writers agreed that Tottenham will finish fourth with deputy football editor Sachin Nakrani praising Postecoglou’s tactics as the reason why Spurs can improve.
“Tactically Tottenham are, to use that most modern of football phrase, in a good place,” Nakrani said.
“There is collective buy-in to the bold, positive approach Ange Postecoglou established in his debut campaign, providing as it did a much-needed contrast to the negative drudgery of the Mourinho and Conte years and almost proving enough to secure a top four finish.”
A focus of Spurs’ off-season squad management has been cleaning out players that do not suit Postecoglou’s style of play.
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In addition to Solanke, highly-touted 18-year-olds Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall have been signed while Werner’s loan deal has been extended for another season and South Korean winger Yang Min-hyuk will join Tottenham in January after the K League 1 season.
Meanwhile midfielders Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Marseille) and Eric Dier (Bayern Munich), as well defender Emerson Royal (AC Milan) and winger Ivan Perisic (Hajduk Split) are among 15 players to have been loaned, sold or released to find new homes where they are more suited.
The formation of the squad to Postecoglou’s liking led to the Telegraph’s Matt Law – two of the Telegraph’s six experts predicted Tottenham to be in the top four – to suggest that more players will be out the door in the coming weeks.
“The plan is for more exits before the transfer window shuts and just who leaves may dictate any remaining incoming business,” Law said.
The addition of European football – the Europa League – to Tottenham’s schedule this season has raised concerns about clearing out too many players and their squad depth however.
Spurs battled to cover their injuries in the second half of last season – particularly in defence where at times they played without a recognised centre back – and Europa League games on a Thursday night demands greater squad flexibility.
The Guardian’s Sachin Nakrani believes they need to add in “most notably a high-class winger, with a left-back and centre-back also required to bolster resources”.
The need for further defensive signings combined with Postecolgou’s aggressive playing style sometimes leaving them exposed at the back are the main reasons the detractors are not tipping improvement from Spurs.
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Defending set pieces continues to be a struggle and Bayern Munich exposed it once again in their pre-season friendlies.
“Spurs conceded 16 times from set pieces last season, which put them level with Burnley and Aston Villa,” The Athletic’s Jay Harris said.
“Only Luton Town, Sheffield United (both 19) and Nottingham Forest conceded more (23). Bayern exposed this weakness twice on Saturday. It is a problem that refuses to go away.”
The Independent’s writers were split 50/50 on whether Tottenham would improve this season and assistant sports editor Karl Matchett has his concerns about Spurs’ defending despite predicting them to be in the top four.
“I’m leaning (towards) Tottenham, as they have really good attacking depth, but Newcastle will also be back in the hunt this year if they land Marc Guehi and another attacker,” Matchett said.
“They maybe aren’t as good overall as Spurs, but can be defensively more resolute and importantly have no European midweek football, which given their injury issues last year will be a huge differentiator for that squad. Spurs are ‘better’ but that doesn’t always mean they’ll finish ahead. Villa will drop off a bit with Champions League to deal with, United and Chelsea are nowhere near it right now.”
Source Agencies
