Tottenham are typically a club which recesses when losing a star player, history tells. The start to this season has been particularly encouraging for the club, with the style of football dazzling the league.
Ange Postecoglou via Getty Images
Having started on the front foot this Premier League season and coming out on top in fixtures that are notoriously challenging, the mood in the Spurs camp is sky-high. After losing star striker Harry Kane, questions were asked about the clubs ability to rebound, but the feeling under new coach ‘Big Ange’ has been far greater than any of the previous years.
After Gareth Bale departed to Real Madrid in 2013, the club had two particularly underwhelming seasons before Mauricio Pochettino’s influence grew, and Tottenham became not just top four challengers, but title contenders. That sort of slump is just the norm at any club after losing such a prominent figure.
Harry Kane’s departure was extremely painful. The influence and impact the England captain had been mesmerising, and his ruthless goal-scoring and creative artistry was simply a joy to watch. The hole that was left was two positions worth due to his talent, but Spurs have adopted a new play style that replaces the impact of the club’s greatest ever scorer.
Tottenham now have a ridiculously young squad. The likes of Micky van de Ven, Brennan Johnson, Pape Sarr and Destiny Udogie are ridiculously youthful to be playing at a high level in the Premier League, and they are not just achieving but excelling and growing.
The philosophy is all from Ange Postecoglou. The Australian’s tactics have been a breath of fresh air in North London, as the quick, risky counter-attacking football has been absent for far too many years with a club that holds the moto of ‘To Dare is to Do’.
Ange has clearly targeted an exuberant, youthful side who do not lack bravery. That may come with errors, but Spurs fans will prefer an ‘all or nothing’ approach rather than grinding for results each week and failing miserably to achieve anything.
Spurs fans are beginning to understand the project and journey, and that six fixtures are only a pinch of games on the rollercoaster to success. However, Sunday’s North London Derby was an extremely encouraging result against a side which is heading towards the fourth year of development, and at a stadium where Spurs find it infinitely difficult to grab a result from.
It was evident in the game while the two clubs were jousting that one team was more comfortable with the style of play than the other. Arsenal has the more experienced players in their armoury which gave them the ability to control the ball and structure an attack more fluently, but that did not stop Spurs from putting them into worrying situations.
The two goals that were scored were nothing short of deserving, and if chances were taken that could have been added to. Spurs particularly grew into the game in the second half, as they were not just going toe-to-toe with last year’s league runner up but were controlling the game at times.
Tottenham are at a very raw, early start to a project which is guaranteed to take years. Success is a perception, and the fans obviously dream of silverware but for the club to be constantly challenging is where it should be. Ange Postecoglou is the perfect human being for that, and the fact that is obvious already is truly exciting.
Comments