Tottenham predictions 2023-24: Ange Postecoglou is the right man for the job
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What is likely to go well?
The hardest preview to write, given the unknowns of Ange Postecoglou and the future of the greatest player in Tottenham Hotspur’s history. So let’s begin with the positive spin:
Postecoglou establishes himself as the perfect manager for this situation, a father figure in the Mauricio Pochettino mould without the emotional baggage and a jump away from the rampant self-preserving sergeant major coaches of the recent past. He instils standards that reconnect the players with each other, the club and the supporters and that produces something special.
Harry Kane stays and scores goals galore because Son Heung-min also rediscovers his form, Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison chip in and James Maddison becomes the creative force from midfield that was so badly lacking. The midfield has greater energy because Spurs are playing with more dynamism. The defence looks less shaky because so much of the work to knock opponents off their stride is being done 30 yards higher up the pitch than before.
The lack of European football allows for fatigue to be avoided and causes momentum to build, particularly around Christmas and February, when the Champions League knockouts begin. Tottenham take advantage of this by finishing in the top four, which persuades Kane to sign a new contract and Postecoglou to rebuild Spurs piece by piece.
What is going to be a challenge?
And now for the opposite take:
The loss of Kane causes two distinct issues: a feeling of deep ennui amongst supporters who wonder what the point of paying increased ticket prices was to watch a club forlornly chasing the past and a loss of belief from attacking players who must learn how to cope without Kane on the fly.
Postecoglou struggles to cope with it all and, for all his good intentions, is out of his depth. Tottenham fall further behind the clubs they once considered to be their inferior: Aston Villa, Newcastle, Brighton. Eighth becomes their natural ceiling. Kane wins the Champions League with Bayern and Pochettino wins a trophy with Chelsea, the final two daggers to the heart.
How has the transfer window gone so far?
Initially slow, but it has picked up recently to please Postecoglou and ease the deepest fears of fans. Maddison offers creativity and arrives in peak age; that potentially allows Kane to stay higher up the pitch and reduce the onus on him to create chances. Micky Van de Ven will need time to acclimatise (Tottenham have a bad recent record when buying central defenders), but he and Cristian Romero could become an excellent partnership. Manor Solomon is a worthwhile gamble, a direct dribbler whose final delivery is raw but could be a difference maker off the bench.
Finally, Alejo Veliz is clearly a teenager with a prodigious talent, but he cannot be the replacement for Kane because the pressure of that could break a seasoned striker, let alone one in his first season in Europe.
Key player
Have you not been listening? Of course it’s Kane, and not just because he has scored 24 or more goals in each of the last nine seasons. Over the last two seasons, Kane has carried Tottenham’s attack because he has become an expert in playing two parts in the same attacking move. Whatever happens this summer, Kane scoring 30 league goals last season in that team, under that manager, while also being the second highest chance creator will be the greatest achievement of his Tottenham career.
More than that, Kane leaving would ruin the rays of milky, half-warm sunshine caused by Postecoglou’s arrival and the desperate grab at a new future. Losing your best player can never be a good thing.
The manager
Postecoglou is clearly a principled man. Speak to any Tottenham supporter and the first thing they will say is “seems like a decent bloke”. Half of them believe that will be enough to repair some of the damage, improve the mood and thus shift the fortunes of the team. Half of them follow the compliment with the word “but…”. Postecoglou has no Premier League experience and this is the biggest task of his club career.
But at least there is a defined style and a style that supporters will enjoy watching. Postecoglou likes attacking, high-intensity football and values that supporters pay good money to be entertained. After the last guy, that earns him an awful lot of goodwill.
Prediction
I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know. So having talked up fourth and eighth as the two extremes, let’s sit on the fence and say… 6th
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