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Can Tottenham Make Top 4? Season recap so far.

How fickle football can be?

With 10 games of the 2023/24 Premier League season played, Spurs were unbeaten, with their fans belting out their Robbie Williams inspired tribute to their new manager Ange Postecoglou at every possible opportunity.

However, less than a month later, the outlook at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is a very different one.

Every football fan and indeed, every Tottenham fan is all too aware of the pitfalls that their team can manage to slip into and with three consecutive defeats bringing them back down to earth with a bump, an air of familiarity is starting to form around Spurs.

Yet with only 13 games played, Tottenham do look to be a side on the up and pundits and experts are speculating as to how far Tottenham can go this season?

Looking at things from a different Ange
The last three managers at Tottenham have all operated at the highest level of European football, with Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte all having plenty of big-game experience. However, what they all also have in common is that they all failed to win a trophy when in charge of Tottenham and the managerial hot seat at Spurs did have the look of a poisoned chalice.

However, in recruiting enigmatic Australian Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham were explicit in their change of direction and so far, he has proven to be a breath of fresh air not within the club but across the Premier League as a whole.

With multiple teams and managers being reprimanded for their frequent dissenting of referees and officials, Postecoglou’s ‘old school’ approach has seen him appeal to plenty of fans across the most intense league in the world.

In addition to his sideways views on officiating, Postecoglou has a very strong playing ideology that he has managed to successfully impart on his Tottenham squad. High pressing and energy, combined with a clinical, forward thinking edge in the attacking third has enabled Tottenham to produce some excellent football at the sharp end of the pitch this season.

Furthermore, prior to their previous three defeats, Tottenham had the best defensive record in the division. Statistical proof that Postecoglou’s, best form of defence is attack approach, does have a place in the Premier League.

Plenty of managers have arrived in the Premier League, with a mantra of change and revolution, yet when it comes to the cut and thrust of the players on the pitch, it hasn’t transcended. It is early days at Tottenham, but it would appear the Ange Postecoglou doctrines are having an impact at Spurs, and they could be a force to be reckoned with moving forward.
 

Managing the pain without Kane
Transitional summers have been a thing of frequency at Tottenham over the past few seasons but the departure of Harry Kane from his boyhood football club had the feeling of a seismic move. The England captain has been talismanic for club and country for the best part of a decade and after departing for Bayern Munich, many felt that Tottenham would be embarking on a few difficult seasons ahead.

However, credit must go to both Ange Postecoglou and his side, who have managed to keep progressing. Their presence in the top 6 teams in the league, with a third of the season played, is testament to their improvement this season.

In forward areas, it was always going to be the goals of Kane that were difficult to replace but Son Heung-min appears to have relished the extra responsibility so far this season – playing as a more traditional striker and his goal return has been hugely impressive.

The acquisition of James Maddison from relegated Leicester City looks to be somewhat of a masterstroke, with the England man revelling in his role behind the front men, whilst the likes of Brennan Johnson, Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski have also blossomed with more freedom awarded by the Postecoglou system.
 

Can the trophy drought end?
The trials and tribulations of Tottenham have reached new lows in recent seasons. Having last won any trophy of note back in 2008 and with their last league title in 1961, Tottenham fans would be forgiven for having little to no hope of their side competing at the top of the table this term.

However, they continue to back their side with vim and vigour and the belief that is developing within the ranks at Tottenham, does feel a little bit different this time around. Losing their last three games to Chelsea, Wolves and Aston Villa is hardly a disaster but they know that they have tougher tasks to come, and more defeats would be hugely detrimental if they are to harbour any hopes of challenging for the Premier League title.

A lack of European football this season as well is sure to assist their cause, but with Tottenham already out of the Carabao Cup this term, it leaves just the FA Cup and Premier League to challenge for. Cracking the top 4 and playing Champions League football next season would be a huge return for Ange Postecoglou in his first season. There is a long way to go, but how Spurs would love to prove the army of doubters wrong this year.

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