The Ange Postecoglou era is well and truly under way at Tottenham Hotspur, with his brand of attacking football proving a huge success so far.
Spurs comfortably dispatched Burnley 5-2 at the weekend to continue their unbeaten start to the Premier League season and move up to second in the table.
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Postecoglou's confident demeanour, charisma and positive approach is paying dividends, with Spurs playing the type of progressive, exciting football supporters have long been hoping for.
Following a disappointing 2022/23 season, in which they finished eighth with 60 points, their lowest league finish since 2008/09, the Australian has proven a breath of fresh air since his summer arrival from Celtic.
Indeed, while Spurs also began last season with three wins from four matches under Antonio Conte, the underlying numbers point to greater optimism under Postecoglou.
The table below shows Spurs, have, on average, posted significantly superior attacking stats under the Australian when compared to last season.
| 2022/23 | Premier League ave/match | 2023/24 |
|---|---|---|
| 1.84 | Goals | 2.75 |
| 1.52 | Expected Goals | 1.84 |
| 13.63 | Shots | 18.00 |
| 5.24 | On target | 7.00 |
| 23.63 | Touches in opp. box | 43.25 |
| 4.37 | Times poss. won in final third | 7.25 |
| 26.24 | Passes into opp. box | 30.50 |
Their average goals per match has risen from 1.84 to 2.75, while their Expected Goals have climbed from 1.52 from 1.84.
Spurs have also taken significantly more touches in the opposition box, 43.25 this season compared to 23.63 in 2022/23, and are averaging 18 shots per match, up from 13.63.
After Harry Kane's departure to Bayern Munich this summer, Postecoglou was keen to establish fresh leadership on the pitch ahead of the new season, naming Son Heung-min as captain, while Cristian Romero and James Maddison were both made vice-captains.
Romero's goal v Burnley
Cristian Romero. Pick that one out.@CutiRomero2 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kOkhb10tRi
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 2, 2023
All three were on the scoresheet against Burnley, with hat-trick hero Son speaking glowingly of Postecoglou.
“I am so grateful that I am working with him. I have learnt so many things as a player, but also as a human being. It has been a fantastic journey until now, but I think in the future we will have more fun working together," Son said.
"I will do everything he asks because he is giving so much good information to us as a human and manager. We are very, very happy working with him. I think players should take more responsibility to make him happy and move this club forward.”
'We're going to achieve great things'
Romero was also full of praise for his new head coach, and believes the club can achieve great things under his guidance.
"He's a coach that works perfectly for Tottenham, he's brought a lot of new hope," Romero said.
"It might take a while, but I think what he's doing is fantastic. I think if the club continues in this direction with this coach we're going to achieve great things."
Postecoglou revealed that he likes what he has seen from his team so far and feels there is much to be positive about.
“From our perspective, while we’re still really early in terms of trying to build this team, there are some real good signs there around the character and belief they have," he told the club's official website.