It has been a great start to the 2023/24 Premier League season for Tottenham Hotspur under the guidance of new manager, Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian took over from Ryan Mason, who was acting manager at the end of last season and has made a tremendous start to his time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
🎙️ “We played our football and it was underpinned by our strong work ethic and outstanding character.”Ange discusses our NLD performance 💬 pic.twitter.com/dQBsziPLtB— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 24, 2023
🎙️ “We played our football and it was underpinned by our strong work ethic and outstanding character.”Ange discusses our NLD performance 💬 pic.twitter.com/dQBsziPLtB
Having picked up a point in the opening weekend of the Premier League season at Brentford, Spurs recorded an excellent 2-0 home victory over Manchester United.
Two good away wins followed, including a 5-2 thrashing of Burnley at Turf Moor. The 2-1 home win over Sheffield United was arguably the worst performance of the season to date for Spurs but they managed to take maximum points in added time, which shows the fight in the team.
Then came the 2-2 draw at rivals Arsenal in the North London derby, a match in which Spurs came back from behind twice to take a point.
Spurs are playing as a team and the players have clearly bought into the philosophy of Postecoglou, who joined from Celtic having won the treble with the club in 2022/23. The former Australian international likes to play attacking football and that shows in the number of goals Spurs have scored in the early weeks of the season.
Only Newcastle United, Manchester City, and Brighton have scored more goals, with the former hitting 8 of their 16 goals in one match. However, the willingness to dig deep and fight for the shirt as both individuals and a team has been key to the success so far in this campaign.
The transfer market is where many managers win or lose and Postecoglou has certainly got it right with the addition of James Maddison.
The attacking midfielder joined from Leicester City for €46 million and that is already looking like a bargain as Maddison is forming a partnership with Son Heung-min.
Postecoglou needed to find a way to replace the goal contributions of Harry Kane and Maddison could go some way to filling the void.
There is no way Maddison is going to replicate the 30 goals scored by Kane last season but he already has 6 goal contributions in 6 Premier League fixtures this season, including 4 assists.
Son has benefited from the arrival of Maddison and the South Korean has 5 goals to his name in the Premier League and will aiming to get at least 20 goals this season.
Pedro Porro looks a sound investment at right-back, with both Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario settling in quickly at centre back and goalkeeper respectively.
With goalkeeper being a specialist position, there was a lot of focus on Vicario at the beginning of the season but the Italian has responded well as he fills the gloves of Hugo Lloris.
With no European football this season and Spurs already out of the League Cup, Postecoglou can focus on the Premier League and FA Cup.
Given the early season performances, Spurs will be pushing hard for a top four finish this season, with Maddison and Son being one of the top attacking partnerships in the Premier League.