In October 2021, Ange Postecoglou was forced to revel in “adversity”. He insisted “there was nothing wrong with it”, and few even remember it now after his back-to-back titles, but Celtic were on a run of two wins from eight games. Chris Sutton leapt to his defence, dedicating column inches in Scotland’s national newspapers to why Postecoglou should not be sacked.
The Australian’s start in Glasgow was turbulent; his time in north London has been anything but. Last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal felt like a microcosm of his reign: lots of goals at both ends, nobody was entirely sure what the result would be, but it was a lot of fun – and his players were not giving up either way.
Tottenham Hotspur are no longer “Spursy”, as James Maddison put it after his two assists. “Soft, weak, bottle it… all that rubbish.”
Those tags have often been used lazily. But their record against the rest of the “Big Six” on the road has been famously woeful – they have lost 41 of their 65 away matches against the Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea.
If you throw in Newcastle United to turn the Big Six into the “Magnificent Seven”, in Spurs’ 12 encounters with the Premier League‘s elite at home and away last season, they won just twice, beating Chelsea and City. There were just two draws and six defeats, with 14 goals scored and 21 conceded. There was a time when Tottenham believed they could go toe-to-toe with anybody. It seemed to evaporate overnight.
The gap between Spurs and the sides they once found themselves competing with for Champions League qualification was no surprise by the end of last season.
It is too small a sample size to glean much from Postecoglou’s four points from his two Big Six matches so far, particularly in light of Manchester United’s wider form. Yet something has changed stylistically.
Spurs’ expected goals (xG) against the Big Six is up, albeit only marginally, from 1.35 to 1.55 and they are pressing more effectively from the front overall – only Liverpool and Crystal Palace are attempting more challenges in the attacking third, with only United actually gaining possession more often in that area of the pitch.
It is a marked contrast from Antonio Conte‘s approach and has already borne fruit.
Since the Mauricio Pochettino years, last weekend was the first time Spurs had claimed a point at the Emirates – and only once in the last five years have they travelled across north London and enjoyed more of the ball. They maintained their high line until the final whistle.
Liverpool may be the biggest test yet, of the intangibles as well as the cold, hard data.
“There’s the football side of it,” Postecoglou explains, “but there’s also trying to build the spirit and character and resilience within the group.”
While Conte ranted about his players’ lack of fight, this season his former side have already claimed eight points from losing positions. In the whole of 2022-23, they took 15.
Postecoglou’s side have fallen behind to Brentford, Burnley, Sheffield United and Arsenal and won the first three, drawing the last.
In theory, Spurs could fail to shake a tag of “Big Six bottlers” and it would matter little. Nobody can be quite sure what the aim is this season – Postecoglou says he is happy to let fans dream with his side just four points off the summit – but is possible to pick up more than enough points elsewhere and finish in the top six.
Postecoglou’s record against the Big Six is not everything, but it is another pointer to an immense cultural shift. “It looks like we are happy,” says Pedro Porro. “And when you have happy players, it shows differently on the pitch.”
Beat Liverpool and there would be more than just green shoots – Spurs would be proving they are back in the big time.
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