Tottenham Hotspur may have had a mixed start to the season, but their last two results suggest they could now be turning a corner.
Spurs were on course to lose 1-0 against Coventry City in the League Cup, only to strike back late on and run out 2-1 winners in the West Midlands.
Likewise, Tottenham started badly against Brentford at the weekend, but they rallied round to secure a 3-1 win, clocking up some impressive stats along the way.
The weekend also saw Spurs’ arch-rivals Arsenal secure a controversial 2-2 draw with Manchester City, with criticism sent the Gunners’ way for how they went about the game.
Paul Merson has now shared what he noticed about his former side that was the “total opposite” to how Tottenham famously approached a particular game last season.
Paul Merson says Arsenal approach at Man City ‘complete opposite’ to Tottenham approach against Chelsea
Merson, writing on Sky Sports, juxtaposed Arsenal’s draw at the Etihad Stadium with Tottenham’s 4-1 loss to Chelsea back in November 2023.
On that day, Spurs kept a high line against the Blues despite having gone down to nine men, and very nearly claimed an unlikely equaliser late.
Chelsea eventually broke Tottenham’s resistance with two injury-time goals, but despite the heavy defeat, Spurs ended up receiving applause for how they stuck to their approach.
In comparison, Arsenal “just wrote off their attack”, according to Merson, who was stunned by how Man City approached the game.
“I couldn’t believe Man City at times,” wrote Merson. “I was mind-blown by the way Man City approached it, if I’m being honest.
“Arsenal just wrote off their attack. Their mindset was we’re never going to have a shot so we’re just going to sit behind the ball and play that way.
“It was the absolute opposite to what Tottenham did against Chelsea a couple of years ago.
“Spurs played on the halfway line with nine men and said Chelsea are going to score a goal so we might as well have a go.
“Arsenal had that lead at the Etihad and it was like, no, we’re going to sit there.
Man City didn’t have a void of ideas. They didn’t have any ideas. They just played into Arsenal’s hands.”
Ange Postecoglou is creating a monster
Postecoglou didn’t waste any time in moulding his Spurs team to an exciting style of play which, in time, will surely become too difficult for other teams to handle.
Tottenham’s efforts in the loss to Chelsea highlighted just how committed Postecoglou is to his style of play, and they very nearly pulled it off.
Admittedly, Spurs still have work to do, both in terms of mastering the style of play and having the right players and strength in depth for it, but it’s clear what Postecoglou is trying to do.
Indeed, Tottenham boast some impressive metrics so far this season. In the league, they have averaged 63.2 percent possession, 126 crosses, 71 passes into the penalty area, 33 shots on target, and 1,267 touches in the final third.
Against Brentford, they actually had less possession than the visitors, but they registered 23 efforts on goal – 10 of which were on target – and generated an xG of 3.51, their highest of the season.
It’ll be exciting to see how Tottenham continue to develop, because they way things are going, Spurs could become a beast over the course of the season.
Receive a digest of our best Spurs content each week direct to your mailbox
