Everybody Loves Ange

By Stephen Kountourou

It has been 18 months since Tottenham Hotspur appointed Ange Postecoglou and it certainly has been a wild ride for Spurs supporters. The best start in the club's history was followed by a poor second half of the 23/24 season which saw the North London club finish in 5th-place finish and qualify to the Europa League.

During this current campaign, and at the time of writing, the Greek Australian’s team finds themselves in midtable, having both claimed some huge victories and suffered embarrassing defeats. This is all while playing an exciting, yet unsustainable brand of football. 

Some supporters wish to stick with Ange until at least the end of the season, while others have already begun to sharpen their pitchforks and cry for him to be sacked. 

But why does the manager and the players find themselves in this position and what could be done to fix this inconsistent cycle before the wheels fully come off?

The highs 

People forget now, but Ange’s start to life with the Lilywhites yielded the best start to a Premier League campaign in the club's history. Tottenham collected 23 points in their first nine games, with wins against Manchester United and Liverpool and a credible draw over title challengers Arsenal. 

They also finished the season on 66 points, six points better than they did in 2022/23 and crucially qualified for the UEFA Europa League.

Even this season, in 2024/25, while their league position on the surface isn’t impressive, wins over Manchester City and Manchester United in both the League Cup and league, Aston Villa and West Ham, show that Ange’s style of play is capable of when the machine has all the right parts at his disposal.

At the time of writing, Postecoglou’s side has scored the second most goals in the league, behind title favourites Liverpool, and, according to FootyStats.org, based on expected points Spurs should be in 5th which is six places higher and with nine points more than they currently find themselves. 

This would suggest then that Spurs under Ange are underperforming based on where statistically they could or should be at the halfway point of the season, which fans of the North London side will hope evens out before the end of this current campaign.

The big thing that supporters wish rival fans would get off their backs about is winning a trophy, which Spurs are currently giving themselves the best opportunity to do. They are in the last four of the League Cup, albeit against an in-form Liverpool where they are 1-0 up on aggregate, and they are one of the projected teams who could potentially win the Europa League. 

Meanwhile, in the FA Cup 3rd Round, Spurs have a seemingly straightforward game against non-league side Tamworth, where they will hope to progress further in a competition where they historically have been very successful.

Despite their league form, Tottenham are still in three competitions where they have the opportunity to claim silverware, something that Ange, the players and the fans would see as a success and a step in the right direction if they win at least one this season.

The lows

Now for the caveats. Even with the underlying stats being a good gauge of how Tottenham are performing, the actual league table does not lie. 

After 20 Premier League games, Ange’s team is in 12th place, 12 points off the top four, and that position is even worse when looking at how other teams around them are performing.

In a season where both Manchester clubs have disappointed, and the likes of Fulham, Bournemouth, Newcastle and even Nottingham Forest in 3rd place, are all pushing for a spot in Europe next season, some would argue that Spurs should also be in that mix of clubs. 

But this is not the case midway through the season. 

The impressive victories have also come hand in hand with some disastrous defeats. Spurs gave first wins of the season to both Ipswich and Crystal Palace, while also losing to fellow sides competing for Europe including Bournemouth, Newcastle twice, Brighton and Nottingham Forest. 

Capitulation in a 4-3 loss to Chelsea and a 6-3 drubbing to Liverpool, both of which were at home, also highlights the issues Ange is currently trying to navigate to find a way to play good football and get results. 

This inconsistent form, which carried over from the second half of last season, has meant that in 2024, the Spurs only won 15 games out of a possible 37, drawing six and losing 16.

It has not helped that Tottenham has one of the worst injury-hit squads this season, with nine first-team players unavailable and the vast majority of them in defence. 

This means Postecoglou has had to call on backup goalkeeper Fraiser Forster to replace the injured Guglielmo Vicario, who has been a big factor in the number of goals conceded in recent matches and Ben Davis and Archie Gray, both of whom aren’t centre-backs playing in defence and unable to replace the sidelined Micky van de Ven and Christian Romero.

Of course, some responsibility does need to fall at Ange's feet. His stubbornness in committing to playing his way without any alteration, even when players are out injured, has led him and the Spurs to be found out on numerous occasions. 

Once opposing teams figured out how to beat the high press, and take advantage of Tottenham’s set-up for set pieces, it was all too easy. 

So while many have given credit to Ange for making Spurs one of the most entertaining teams in the league, especially when compared to his predecessors, Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho, how they've played over 18 months since he arrived is not sustainable at this current time.

But once again fans feel they have a manager who is not being backed by Daniel Levy and the club to bring in players of the quality who can play the style that Ange is trying to implement. 

But this problem runs deep at Spurs and has been the case even before the days of Mauricio Pochettino and his exciting team of nearly men who, had it been for sufficient reinforcement, perhaps delivered on their talent and not been left empty-handed.

Some supporters have started to call for Greek-Australian dismissal, but the majority still believe in what he is trying to achieve.

Replacing Postecoglou, will not change the problems at the top of the club and another manager would come in, have as little success in the same amount of time, leave, and the cycle would continue. 

With proper investment, in all parts of the squad, it would at least give him the chance to show if his style can work in the Premier League and if it does the club and the fans will reap the rewards.

Is winning a trophy more important than the top four?

A question that gets banded about the Tottenham supporters and the short answer, for the seemly vast majority, is yes. 

Fans of the North London club have been starved of major honours ever since the club last lifted the League Cup in 2008 and the constant media and opposing fan rhetoric is Spurs' lack of recent success at ending that drought. 

With the Lillywhites still in the two domestic cup competitions and the Europa League halfway through the season, there is still a chance to claim silverware. Consistently qualifying for the UEFA Champions League is always good for finances and club profile but that can give fans only so much satisfaction. 

Ange claimed he always wins a trophy in his second season and now he has to show that on the pitch with a club known for falling at the final hurdle.

How much time should be given?

Lastly, the conversation around how long Ange Postecoglou will be given at Tottenham has intensified in recent weeks, despite the club coming out and saying they back him 100%. Even that is not a guarantee and everyone, including Ange, knows that. 

If he can salvage a European place, win a trophy, or both, despite the difficulties of this season, there will be room to build on that for the following campaign. If he does none of the above then it would be hard to see him staying in North London beyond Summer 2025. 

Ange Postecoglou is a good manager, and his style of play is entertaining when it works with proof in spells that it can work at the elite level. 

As the first Greek coach to ever manage in the Premier League, he still has time to prove the doubters wrong and take Spurs out of this long slump of mediocrity. But he also risks being added to the pile of managers who have left the club under a cloud with supporters feeling like it's Groundhog Day all over again.

@SteveKountourou

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