It was October 2023 when Ange Postecoglou joked that Tottenham Hotspur would turn his stadium into a ‘disco’, while the cliché is that the floor of a house must be a strength.
Then, Tottenham had won seven of their opening nine league games of 2023-24, were off the back of a 2-0 home victory over Fulham, and topped the Premier League table. Freed From Desire played over the PA system. Tottenham were dancing and Postecoglou had statistically the best-ever start by a permanent manager in the Premier League (23 points from nine games).
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A record starting is a high bar to set, however, Tottenham have not had anything close to that kind of form since. Postecoglou has spent a season and his share of press meetings protecting his team, its principles and its dogmatism, and while he hopes they will replace the style, the truth is that Tottenham want to be more boring.
Start by drawing more. Tottenham have fired just nine of the 59 league games under Postecoglou (W27 L23), the fewest of any team to have played in the Premier League in 2023-24 and 2024-25. Draws are considered lost points, however, in recent seasons Tottenham have won enough but lost too much. That charges them.
Last season, Tottenham finished fifth, two distances behind Aston Villa in fourth (and in last place in the Champions League). They have won the same number of games, 20, but Villa have had two more games and Tottenham two more defeats.
It is a similar story in 2022-23 when Brighton
The high-floor, low-ceiling performances from Tottenham are encapsulated by their goal difference this season. At +11, it’s the fifth-highest in the league and they are second-top scorers (43) behind leaders Liverpool (48), yet are closer to the relegation zone than they are to eighth-placed Bournemouth. All but one of their seven league wins have been by a margin of at least three goals, while all but one of their 11 defeats have been by a margin of one.
Being whether everything or not something is Postcoglou previous, but his taste aggravates it. Tottenham play the same team, whatever the opposition or the score. They restart the fastest matches in the league, even when they win, and collect almost exclusively. Only 4. 6% of their target kicks were entered (they were entered more than 40 metres), the lowest proportion in the top five leagues in Europe. In open play, their goalkeepers release 13. 3% of passes: Barcelona’s goalkeepers (11. 7 shot rate in open play) are the ones who play the most regularly.
Tottenham are one of the least predictable teams around, instead reliant on individual brilliance and perfect execution of patterns to escape the press. That is particularly challenging given the injuries they have in defence and the regular changes Postecoglou makes to his midfield three. Tottenham have played four goalkeepers across all competitions this season (and signed one, in Antonin Kinsky from Slavia Prague) and it is an underutilisation of summer signing Dominic Solanke, who cost £65m from Bournemouth, to play long so rarely.
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Last season, Bournemouth had the highest proportion of breakaway passes to opposing defences and Solanke’s profile is similar to Harry Kane’s: he can physically oppose centre-backs and put his teammates in play. He excelled in Tottenham’s recent defeat in the North London Derby at the Emirates. , where he fell short and tried to cross paths and compete in one of the most urgent groups in Europe. Solanke has only seven passes (two from Kinsky) in 90 minutes.
The striker only has one headed goal this season, a reflection of how on-the-floor Tottenham’s attacking play has been. That was after four minutes at home to Newcastle, an opener in a match that Tottenham lost 2-1. It encapsulated their problems. From the kick-off at 1-0, Newcastle won a corner, which goalkeeper Brandon Austin claimed. He waited 10 seconds, allowed the team to take shape, then rolled it short to centre-back Archie Gray.
Immediately after scoring, they decided to go through the press (against another excellent pressing team). Pape Matar Sarr split Newcastle’s front line with an angled pass to Lucas Bergvall, but he slightly overhit his pass. It forced the teenager to try to poke it beyond Joelinton.
The pivotal point of the match was the ball hitting Joelinton’s hand (Postecoglou later claimed that not everything had been “fair and even”) before Anthony Gordon unleashed to equalize at the break. Anyway, this is a case where Tottenham could have played straight into Solanke and pinned Newcastle down to keep the momentum going, but he was immediately completely on an even keel.
At home, Tottenham’s defensive frailties are undermining them, a strange phenomenon considering how strong they are away (they and Crystal Palace have the joint-best away defences, with 11 conceded).
In Postecoglou’s 30 home league games there have been only 3 clean sheets (and one in the last 26, a 4-0 win over Everton in August), which is the fewest group games the Premier League they have played in the last two seasons. Only 3 groups have conceded goals. 21+ home goals in 2024-25: Wolverhampton Wanderers (23rd, 18th), West Ham (24th, 12th), Southampton (27th, 20th).
Too often, Tottenham go down 1-0 at home, but they almost seem to be enjoying a situation that has the game more productive because it is more productive to adjust their intensity. In some other paradox, they rank third for issues won through losing positions (35) since the start of 2023-24 and have dropped issues from moments into winning conditions (38), those numbers nearly cancel out others.
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Tottenham have been ahead in five of their last six league games and only won once, a 5-0 win away to Southampton. In four of those matches, they have taken the lead inside 30 minutes, including being 2-0 up after 11 minutes versus Chelsea (4-3 loss) and 4-0 up after only 25 minutes away to Southampton.
Being ahead so early goes against Postecoglou’s game plan and means Tottenham can look stuck between styles while expanding the physical demands placed on players. According to SkillCorner, Tottenham ranks first in the Premier League table in overall running distance, as well as high-speed running and running distance.
That’s why he described Tottenham’s loss to Arsenal as “too passive. ” ((We) allowed Arsenal to take the game, to dictate the tempo. That’s not who we are, that’s not the way I built the team. That’s not the way we need to play, to stay there and allow Arsenal play at your own pace. Regardless of everything else, we just didn’t play the identity I was looking for it to be. “
A man-to-man pressing scheme and high defensive line demand repeated recovery sprints without the ball. Not only could this have exacerbated the injury crisis that has left Spurs fielding a makeshift back four, but such intense physical fatigue might also lead to tired decisions on the ball. Only Newcastle have been dispossessed more than Tottenham in the Premier League this season. Part of that owes to a young team, too, with six of Tottenham’s eight starting defenders and midfield against Arsenal aged under 25: Kinsky (21), Djed Spence (24), Gray (18), Radu Dragusin (22), Bergvall (18), Sarr (22).
Postecoglou’s side are at a crossroads. Their plateau in the Premier League coincides with a run to the Carabao Cup semi-finals, which includes beating Manchester City (1-0), Manchester United (4-3) and Liverpool (1-0, in the semi-final first leg) all at home. Likewise, they look set to qualify in the top eight of the Europa League, sitting ninth with 11 points from six matches and favourable fixtures away to struggling Hoffenheim and at home against Elfsborg.
Postecoglou’s whole taste is based on having the ball, getting bodies in central and medium speeds and combinations of passes to create cutting scenarios. However, he has been blessed with plenty of speed on the wings and, whether by design or accident, Tottenham have been successful on counter-attacks. They have the most fastbreak bases in the league (10), but they also rank second in the last third outs per game (5. 7). What Postecoglou needs his team to do, and what they naturally excel at, is now more than similar.
It is worth noting that Postecoglou, who is in verbal exchange with the Fourth Official, really trains little from the side, especially compared to Pep Guardiola. There is a lot of player empowerment to put the game plan into effect.
A little-discussed component of the challenge is how Postecoglou can even make adjustments. Tottenham are playing in four competitions (the north London derby is their 32nd game of the season) and have four more games left to play in January, before six games in 23 days in February. It is a cycle of play and recovery with limited time in the educational field.
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Tottenham need more attacking layers. It is clearly unsustainable, physically and tactically, to try to go through complete games in the ways they have been. There is a fair argument that margins have counted against them, too, with 10 of their 11 league defeats coming by a single goal this season, but points (or a lack of) matter. Tottenham have not been this low (14th) or on this few points (24) after 21 games since 2008-09 under Harry Redknapp (19th on 20 points at this stage, after he had taken over from Juande Ramos in the October).
As proud as Postcoglou is being entertaining and completely attacking: “There is a lot of space for pragmatism, I only be interested in myself,” said the dangers dying in his sword. Tottenham wants to be more boring.
(Top photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)