Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham revolution continues to stun with Spurs sitting clear top of the Premier League table after nine undefeated games, the latest being a 2-0 win over Fulham on Tuesday morning.
Victory for the Australian’s side saw Tottenham leapfrog Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool to be outright leaders by two points.
And Spurs have climbed to the top of the tree in style, too, playing an exciting, high-pressure brand of football that Postecoglou drilled into his side during pre-season.
Star recruit James Maddison lifted the lid on how that was done after the win, revealing how a “ballistic” spray during a friendly against Shakhtar Donetsk sparked the dream run.
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‘Grumpy’ Ange not concerned with history | 01:54
With scores sitting level at halftime, the Australian manager laid down the law regarding his tactics, urging his players to adopt the high press he found success with at Celtic.
“The first day he came in he said pressing high is almost a non-negotiable at any stage of the game,” Maddison said after the Fulham win.
“We had a game in pre-season where we went 1-0 or 2-0 up and we kind of stopped pressing and sat in a little bit, and he went ballistic at halftime. It was Shakhtar Donetsk here.
“He said that’s almost how Tottenham have been in the past, trying to protect a lead. He said it’s non-negotiable to keep going and keep pressing, and we go and score three and four.”
Postecoglou’s pursuit of perfection was on display once again on Tuesday with the manager unhappy with his side’s second-half performance.
He claimed his team stopped pressing and lost their energetic movement, which would’ve let Fulham back into the game late if not for some poor finishing.
Postecoglou was clearly upset with his team’s display — and Premier League legend Jermain Defoe believes the manager was going to “send a message to the dressing room” after the game, just like he did in pre-season.
“That just shows his standards, even though they won, he’s not happy with the performance, the second half he said the movement and the intensity wasn’t the same,” Defoe said.
“It sends a message to the dressing room as well… at the same time the manager is saying don’t get too carried away.”
Fellow Premier League legend Michael Owen added: “It makes people sit up in the dressing room and go ‘ooh, standards’… there’s a lot of reverse psychology is managing.”
Ange makes history! Spurs v Fulham wrap | 03:32
Despite Spurs taking the foot off the accelerator in the second-half, the victory once again raised Postecoglou’s reputation in the UK.
He is now being credited for not only turning Tottenham into regular winners, but for shaking the club’s identity as being ‘Spursy’ — a term used by the club’s detractors for their perceived fragility.
The headline for The Telegraph’s report on the game reads: “Tottenham are no longer ‘Spursy’ under Ange Postecoglou – they are the real deal.”
The report, by the publication’s chief football correspondent Jason Burt, goes on to praise Postecoglou for a having a “rapidly transformative effect” on the squad, which he says no other manager has had in Premier League history.
“The evidence is there. Clear and unequivocal … It remains a relatively small sample size, of course, but Spurs are unrecognisable from the sorry bunch that he inherited,” he wrote.
“Gone is the negativity, the burden, the sourness as Spurs returned to the top of the table with a result that, frankly, was never in doubt.
“Under Postecoglou, Spurs are the most “non-Spursy” side possible. There was an assured inevitability about their victory.”
Maddison traced it back to that clash with Shakhtar, which Tottenham eventually won 5-1, with Harry Kane stealing the show.
Kane would eventually depart the club for German giants Bayern Munich prompting pundits to predict a season of struggles for Spurs.
However, Spurs’ most recent win places Postecoglou atop an esteemed list. He’s now recorded the most points by any new manager in their first nine Premier League matches.
Former England internationals Defoe and Owen praised Postecoglou for getting through the tough period and instilling belief in his squad following the departure of their best player.
“The way he handled the Harry Kane situation in the summer, that’s never going to be easy and he’s someone you can’t replace,” Defoe said.
“To stay that calm and believe in what you have and how you can improve this team has just been amazing, the way Tottenham play, on the front foot and aggressive.”
He added: “We keep saying about the new signings, Maddison has been massive.”
Owen described Postecoglou as being “full of self belief”, and driving the high standards at the club.
“‘You know these are my ideas and this is what we are doing, end of story, you’ve got to buy in to it’,” Owen said of Postecoglou’s style.
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“I think there is clarity all the way through the team, it’s a team going places at the moment as we all know momentum can build.
“Once you start building that, getting the belief of everyone around you, it’s very hard to stop.”
Now clear on the top of the Premier League ladder, questions are beginning to be asked about Spurs’ title credentials.
Interestingly, Tottenham have a huge advantage by only having two competitions to play in after being knocked out of the League Cup by Fulham.
Meanwhile, the three other top four teams all have Champions League fixtures to concentrate on as well as the Premier League and domestic competitions.
Captain Son Heung-min didn’t get carried away after the game when asked about the potential for Tottenham to contend for the title, saying the team needed to “stay humble”.
Defoe, however, said Spurs “can dream”.
“I’m sure all Spurs fans are dreaming at the minute but we said before there’s a lot of football to be played,” Defoe said.
“There is some top teams, look at Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal… all you can do is focus on the next game and have those same performances.”
Owen mentioned how during Leicester’s all-time underdog premiership victory in 2015-16 the team also benefited by not playing in Europe.
He added: “So it wouldn’t be as big of a shock as that of course (for Spurs to win), it does make you think, these big teams have loads and loads of games.
“All of a sudden you are just focusing on the one thing every week and you are fresh and firing.”
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