Ange Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham Hotspur to attempt to carry on the brilliant success he enjoyed with Celtic in Scotland.
Postecoglou won five trophies at Celtic including a treble in the 2022/23 season, something that obviously wasn’t going to be possible at Tottenham immediately.
However, after such a fast start to his time in N17, Spurs were even being tipped for a title-challenge in the early months of last season.
Fast-forward to now and Tottenham are 11th in the Premier League and have lost more games than they have won.
Spurs are brilliant to watch, a team neutrals will now always tune in to see, but that wasn’t the entire brief for Postecoglou at the club, he was meant to also bring consistent success.
Ange Postecoglou was keen on Tottenham not conceding many goals
That being said, it’s now very interesting to read Postecoglou’s comments in his first interview as Tottenham manager back in July 2023.
At the time, Harry Kane was still Spurs captain and England international teammate James Maddison had just joined him at the club.
Postecoglou was very clear that he wanted to entertain the Tottenham fans, but was well aware that winning was the main priority.
He said: “I like to win, that’s the main thing, and I’ve done that wherever I’ve been.”
“The football is designed to bring success. Alongside that it’s really important to me that there is an element of what I think most fans and players want to be associated with, and that’s football that’s exciting, that people talk about, not just the end result but also the manner in which you played your football.
“That’s really important to me, because I think it’s a way to be successful and also secondly, because it allows people to grab onto those things that are most special about our game, those memorable moments.
“People want to see their team scoring goals, being exciting, not conceding goals, being aggressive in their approach, all these kinds of things that everyone seeks in their own football team.
“That’s what I want to try to provide. The basis of it will be that we want to be a team that wins things and, ultimately, entertains our fans.”
Should Tottenham sack Ange Postecoglou?
Although his Tottenham side are struggling for identity and confidence right now, it still seems far too soon to get rid of Postecoglou.
The 59-year-old seems to have an incredibly high ceiling as a manager, but perhaps he just doesn’t have the players to properly pedal his message at Spurs right now.
Tottenham are eyeing one replacement manager according to reports, but that will depend on how things improve or not for their current incumbent.
After losing to Chelsea, Postecoglou seems very aware of just how important the January transfer window will be.
However, Tottenham will need to pick up their form and some wins beforehand in order to provide the necessary confidence that Postecoglou is the man to spend more funds at the club.