One-nil to the Arsenal was a key identifier for the Gunners back in George Graham’s day.
A win by the same score in the north London derby would not only appeal to ironic impulses among the Spurs diaspora, it would give Ange Postecoglou a much-needed trust injection following a bedevilling start to the season.
Tottenham Hotspur are already five points adrift from Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the table despite playing well enough.
There could be no better way for them to amplify their top-four credentials than with a victory over their haughty neighbours, one that on this occasion would propel them above Arsenal.
Postecoglou has yet to better Mikel Arteta in this fixture. Spurs were scintillating in taking the lead at Leicester City and dominated for long spells at Newcastle United, but won neither. In the peak flow of James Maddison-inspired creativity, Spurs gave full expression to Postecoglou’s attacking philosophy. Frustratingly the talking points were all negative.
Spurs pumped Leicester only to be Jamie Vardy-ed after the break. Newcastle were clinging to parity at St James’s Park before Alexander Isak escaped to claim a wholly undeserved winner. In both games Spurs easily had more of the ball and had twice as many shots as their opponents.
Postecoglou is not in Erik ten Hag country when he paints a healthy picture of how different the table might look had outcomes reflected the play. But he does need a win to substantiate his claims. The international break at least allowed for rational reflection, as much at least as the febrile crucible of Premier League football will permit.
“I’ve never felt like there is an easy way to success,” Postecoglou said.
“I don’t think one thing can change the trajectory to a great effect. It helps, a win in a big game, in a derby, but it’s a game against one of the top sides so that gives you more belief and confidence and potentially that can inject some real momentum into our season.
“The last two years they [Arsenal] have had a real relentlessness about them. They haven’t had to change their team too much. They have this confidence in themselves that they can challenge over the course of a season. That helps build momentum from season to season. They’re going to be a tough nut to crack, but it’s a great opportunity for us.”
To a degree, Postecoglou is still carrying the scars of that home defeat to City last season as the champions powered towards a fourth consecutive title. It was a contest that seemed to expose Postecoglou as a coach no nearer to repairing the “Spursy” fault lines that frame the club as one lacking substance when it matters.
Postecoglou arrived on a ticket of positivism, a full-bore optimist who would reset the thinking at the club and embed a fresh dynamic. He would embrace the attacking traditions with which Spurs have always been associated, but reinforce the approach with no-nonsense, say-it-as-it-is Aussie steel.
All that was stripped away on that day in May, hollowed out by an Erling Haaland double.
If he were not aware of it before, it was a match that revealed to Postecoglou the puzzling psychology of some Spurs fans, who were urging him to throw the game to prevent Arsenal winning the title. That and Haaland triggered in Postecoglou the full force of Aussie diplomacy, admonishing a dissenter with a filthy mouth behind the dugout as he might a drunk in a Melbourne bar.
Postecoglou took pride in his team’s performance but was unsettled by the atmosphere in the ground. He struggled to reconcile the view of fans advocating for a strategic defeat with a life’s work preparing teams to win, or at least to take it to the opposition unconditionally. In his second season he finds himself negotiating familiar Spurs territory, even if results do not reflect progress made.
So a fixture already charged with meaning acquires greater significance for him since he risks giving up the gains made in an upbeat first year with the team. He is notionally helped by the unavailability of Arsenal’s charismatic playmaker Martin Odegaard, sidelined with injury, and the suspended Declan Rice, which rips from the Gunners midfield its principal creative spring and its anchor. Mikel Merino is out too.
Arteta might also be without new centre-back Riccardo Calafiori, who was injured playing for Italy against France. This, coupled with the returns of Spurs’ big summer investment Dominic Solanke up front and defender Micky van de Ven, is the kind of serendipitous twist that impacts results.
“We want to be a club that can challenge everyone,” Postecoglou said.
“That’s what we are trying to become. To do that, you’ve got to perform at a certain level, at a consistent basis. The squad’s strong enough to do that.
“We’ve started the season fairly solidly, from a performance perspective. The results haven’t reflected that, but I think we’re in a good place to push on from last year and improve in all areas. There’s no reason why we can’t.”
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