- Despite playing a neutral-friendly style, Spurs are on a downward trend of late
- Ange Postecoglou has remained committed to his brand of football throughout
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! New formation, some new faces, but the optimism has gone at Old Trafford
Tottenham are a club so torn that the atmosphere risks turning toxic if their next three games – all at home and starting with tomorrow’s visit of Wolves – continue the downward trend they’re on.
You can feel the division in the fanbase, some dialling into radio phone-ins to point the finger at Ange Postecoglou, others calling for Daniel Levy’s head, a dwindling number saying they’re satisfied with the 100mph football on show.
It is no good being seen as the Premier League‘s great entertainers if your play does not also produce results, and right now, the fact is Tottenham are closer to the relegation zone than the top four.
Spurs are hellbent on high pressing with a back four that park themselves on the halfway line to condense the space.
They had 71 per cent possession at Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day, and yet Postecoglou’s plan of attack was undone by Nuno Espirito Santo’s more streetwise strategy as a single counter-attack inflicted a ninth Premier League defeat of the campaign on Spurs.
Now, it’s Vitor Pereira’s Wolves coming to town. They no longer look like a soft touch after back-to-back wins over Leicester and Manchester United, but Tottenham could do with a convincing victory to appease their supporters.
I respect Postecoglou for trying to change the culture of the club and in a way, it is admirable that he is so bullish in backing his high-energy philosophy.
I remember when Arsene Wenger first arrived at Arsenal with an ‘attack, attack, attack’ approach. As a defender, I was saying, “Whoa, hold on, let’s show some restraint and strike a balance here.”
We even had an emergency meeting about it early in 1997-98, a season in which we went on to be crowned champions.
But Tottenham seem a world away from striking that balance for themselves now. Postecoglou should be getting more out of the group he has. Tottenham’s front line looks good enough to extract better results.
Dominic Solanke, Heung-min Son, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson all carry that attacking threat. But as a team, they have not been reading the game well enough to know when to drop off to deal with balls in behind.
All it takes to beat their offside trap is for an opponent to make an intelligent run from deep, as Dominik Szoboszlai did for Liverpool before Christmas.
I sympathise with their injury issues, particularly with Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, who are both sidelined with muscular problems.
I’m certain that is a consequence of the crazy way in which Postecoglou asks his central defenders to hold a false high line as they are constantly forced to turn on their heels and sprint to sweep up the danger.
A study of Tottenham’s squad and that of their last opponents Forest would suggest Spurs are better equipped on paper to finish in the top four.
Indeed, I predicted in pre-season that Spurs would finish fourth this year.
Going into this huge game with Wolves, former Tottenham players-turned-pundits are piling the pressure on Postecoglou by saying he should go. He’s been very single-minded with his particular set of beliefs up to this point.
But he needs to be brave by making adjustments to his philosophy and the team’s overall style for the benefit of short-term survival before returning to his long-term vision once out of this turbulent period.
