It is easy to get wrapped up in Tottenham Hotspur manager discourse. The last two seasons at Spurs have been dominated by endless questions about whether Ange Postecoglou is good or not, whether his ideas hold together, his methods work, whether he is responsible for Spurs’ struggles or even for their successes. These debates — which have worn out everyone involved — will reach a climax as Daniel Levy decides whether to keep Postecoglou on for next season or not.
But there are bigger issues at Tottenham than who the manager will be in 2025-26. And regardless whether the man in the dugout in August is Postecoglou or someone else, he will face many of the same challenges. Namely: is the Spurs squad in its current form adequate for what they will face next season?
The story of this season was ultimately the story of Postecoglou carefully allocating his limited resources in pursuit of his goals. He knew that the squad, stricken by an injury crisis, was not good enough to compete on multiple fronts. So he consciously put all of his eggs in the European basket. Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero were preserved almost exclusively for the Thursday night games. So, to varying extents, were Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson and Guglielmo Vicario. And it worked, the means emphatically justified by the trophy Spurs won last week in Bilbao.
It was the perfect strategy to get through the 2024-25 season, ending it in a better way than anyone could have imagined. But it is clearly not an approach that will work for Spurs in 2025-26. When the Premier League starts on 15 August they will have to be at full strength from the start. And when the Champions League league phase begins one month later, Tottenham will have to throw everything at that too.
But if Tottenham did not have a strong enough squad to compete on two fronts this season, then how can they be expected to fare better next season with these players, especially given that their midweek games will be harder than they were this season? For Spurs’ league phase games at the start of this season, Postecoglou would routinely change more than half the team to rest his key players. He will not be able to play the second-string — or at least, that second-string, next time around.
What Tottenham need — more than they need a change in manager — is new players. A stronger squad. To give them the power and depth to go twice a week every week next season.
No one knows better than Postecoglou himself. Not least because he knows how hard it was at times this season because of the recruitment choices made last summer. Postecoglou has always been very loyal about the decisions taken last year, namely to bring in teenagers to replace the departing experienced players. Postecoglou, it should be remembered, signed off on all those calls too.
In his press conference after Sunday’s defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion — in what could yet be his last public act as Spurs manager — Postecoglou pointed to the three teenagers (Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray, Wilson Odobert) signed last summer. And the fact that experienced players (Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Giovani Lo Celso, Emerson Royal) left to make room for them. “Whenever you do that,” he said, “there’s always going to be a little gap in the development.”
Postecoglou does believe that introducing those youngsters this season will put Spurs in good stead for next year. “We will be in a much better position,” he said, “from the point of view of the three young boys we signed. Lucas is not a young boy anymore, he’s going to be a massive contributor at the start of the year.”
But given the demands of next season, Postecoglou knows that Spurs cannot stand still. “If we do some good business in the transfer market, bring some experience in — and I’m not talking about age, I’m talking about players who have played at this level and can help the team — then I’ve got no doubt we can make the impact we want.”
“Not just us but any club that gets into the Champions League understands that,” Postecoglou explained. “It’s the most elite competition in Europe and it’s a great demand. Every club that gets into the Champions League sees it as an opportunity to strengthen. Experience is the right word, but players who have played at that level, who are going to be comfortable at that level. Not players who are stepping up to that level. That’s the difference.”
It made you think back to the window last summer. For all of Spurs’ business, the only ready-made established player they signed was Dominic Solanke (they also brought Timo Werner back for a second loan spell). In the January window they added two more young players in Antonin Kinsky and Mathys Tel, and the more-experienced Kevin Danso.
But last summer Spurs struggled to land other established players they were interested in. They pushed hard to get Jacob Ramsey at the start of the window but could not complete a deal. Postecoglou always liked Conor Gallagher but he went to Atletico Madrid instead. Pedro Neto left Wolves for Chelsea. Eberechi Eze stayed at Crystal Palace.
This summer they cannot afford to miss out on more established names. If they are to hold their own next summer they will need new players who are already proven in the Champions League. At centre-back, in central midfield and up front too. Postecoglou has said it already: “players who have played at that level, who are going to be comfortable at that level”. And that is just as true regardless of whether Postecoglou or someone else is in charge for the start of the next campaign.
(Top photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)