Feature

Can Postecoglou navigate through series of tough matches?

By Alex Keble 18 Jun 2023

Alex Keble analyses Spurs head coach's difficult start and says he may have to deliver results immediately

Alex Keble looks at key matches following Fixture Release Day on Thursday.

Will Postecoglou learn to swim quickly?

Ange Postecoglou knows he needs to start well. Many Tottenham Hotspur fans are pleased that a charismatic manager, who coaches entertaining football, has been put in charge following years of reactive tactics and cold relationships with supporters.

However, fears over Postecoglou’s top-level inexperience will bubble to the surface should Spurs fail to hit the ground running.

Like Nuno Esperito Santo, Postecoglou was seemingly not Spurs' first choice and, like Nuno, his reputation is considerably smaller than his predecessor's.

With Spurs enduring a poor 2022/23 and Postecoglou facing a huge coaching challenge to reverse the teachings of the past few years, the last thing the new manager needed was a difficult set of opening matches.

But that’s what he’s got.

Brentford away and Manchester United at home provide a tricky first two, and although it gets slightly easier from here, Spurs do play Arsenal at Emirates Stadium and Liverpool at home before September is out.

In the corresponding fixtures last season - excluding Burnley and Sheffield United – Spurs took only two points from this set of matches, both home and away.

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That’s not the end of the bad news. Should Spurs be challenging for a European place towards the season finale, they might come unstuck when up against Newcastle United, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool in a gruelling four-match run between 13 April and 4 May.