This ought to be Tottenham’s unabashed ode to Ange Postecoglou.
Never before in the entire history of the Premier League has there been a manager who could wield such a rapidly transformative effect on a squad, a club and a fan base with a wave of his mesmerizing wand like the former Celtics boss Ange Postecoglou.
Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and even Pep Guardiola at Manchester City – none of these luminaries managed to pull off this near magical feat within such a miraculously short period of time almost immediately after joining a new club.
The evidence is glaringly clear. No manager new to the Premier League has gained as many points – 23 – as Ange Postecoglou has earned at Tottenham Hotspur in the first nine games. Although a relatively small sample size, yet Spurs are already now unrecognisable from the lot of self-serving misfits – the harsh indictment of most recent former boss Antonio Conte – that the Aussie has inherited.
The negativity, the burden of reproaches, the finger-pointing, the acidity – they’re all suddenly gone, immediately evaporated into thin air as Spurs n a flash returned to the top of the table.
Under Postecoglou, Spurs are no longer the “Spursy” side they once were, typically riddled with angst and uncertainty. For the match against Fulham, the former Celtic boss even had the bravado to take off his match-winning James Maddison and Son Heung-min axis who, in tandem with Richarlison, left the pitch to standing ovations and still saw the remainder of the match out against a Fulham side that was a persistent threat throughout.
Postecoglou’s slow lap of honor behind his players at the end of the match was most certainly well-deserved.
“We took some liberties with the game which I wasn’t happy with,” the Aussie of Greek extraction later said disapprovingly.
“Really disappointed with the second half,” he added. “Worst 45 minutes we have had with the ball. I am not trying to make a point. That’s what I saw.
“I have said every week that we have a long way to go. Nothing has changed. It would be so much easier for me to sit here and say we are a great team. But we can be better. We really can.”
And the Spurs fans are loving it all immensely – particularly Big Ange as they played Robbie Williams’ Angels belted out Islands in the Stream by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton in unison at the final whistle.
Postecoglou has much to be credited for in so rapidly transforming Spurs into a force that is defying all expectations. He has defied that slouchy excuse “you can only work with what you have got” and thrown convention out of the window. He has singlehandedly brought back that desire to play creative, front-foot, positive soccer into the squad while instilling unshakable confidence in them.
Truly, the team is no totally unrecognizable from that of the previous season. The intelligent acquisition of new players has indeed helped greatly as Spurs actually finished the Fulham match with a central midfield axis of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp.
Spurs under Postecoglou have clearly proven they are in this race to be seriously among the top-four contenders and possibly even more, as they do not have to contend with the exertions of European soccer. Postecoglou’s remodelled squad seem to have undergone a rebirth. Unbeaten in the league – an achievement beyond even what defending champions Manchester City have achieved so far – this is undeniably their best start to a season since 1961.