Tottenham’s new technical director Johan Lange officially started work on Wednesday, but boss Ange Postecoglou will not be banging on his door demanding a squad full of “24 world-class players” any time soon.
Spurs are next in action on Monday against London rivals Chelsea, who took their spending under Todd Boehly beyond the £1billion mark with several additions this summer, including midfielder Moses Caicedo for £100million.
While Tottenham’s signings have hit the ground running, Chelsea continue to flatter to deceive and have won only three times under Mauricio Pochettino in the Premier League this season.
Postecoglou was asked if he would like a £1billion war chest and insisted: “Not necessarily. I’ve always said I’ve never felt it is about just spending money. That’s been proved time and time again.
“Look if you get it all right then you’ve got a pretty strong case, but there’s always a limit to every team. You can’t have 24 world-class players. That will never work, it doesn’t work, its been proven.
“It’s about having a squad that’s balanced, guys that are committed to a cause, guys that maybe aren’t going to play every game, but every time they play they are going to make a huge impact for you because they buy into what you are trying to build.
“Just spending endless money to get the best players has been proven time and time again is not the answer. The answer is to get the right chemistry in your team, in your squad, to have 24 players committed to one cause.
“I don’t think you can do that if you just get the 24 best players in the world. That’s a headache I definitely don’t want.”
A large degree of the focus off the pitch at Spurs right now will be on preparing for the January transfer window with Lange eager to stamp his authority after three years at Aston Villa, where the likes of Emi Martinez, Matty Cash and Ollie Watkins were signed under his watch.
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Tottenham confirmed Lange’s impending arrival on October 9 and he will be joined in north London by Rob Mackenzie.
Mackenzie, who was previously head of player identification at Spurs during the start of Pochettino’s reign, will be chief scout in N17 after he headed up Villa’s recruitment under Lange.
With the former Villa pair in situ along with chief football officer Scott Munn, the current Premier League leaders look well placed for a strong January transfer window where centre-back and a versatile attacker will be priority positions.
“I’ve caught up with Johan,” Postecoglou revealed.
“Nothing too formal. I don’t have the attention span for long meetings mate, so it tends to be just casual chats with people. It’s the best way to get my point across if I need to say anything.
“The good thing is he is in the building now so he’s interacting with all the right people. The bit with me is the easy bit. It’s about setting up the procedures and the structures to make sure he gets the department working the way he wants to get the right outcomes.
“Rob joining will help that. It is important they come in now. The January window, like for every club, is an important one.
“My view on the January one is that if you can get your business done early in the window it certainly is more helpful.
“That’s sometimes out of your control, so having him in is good. I’m sure we’ll have a lot of discussions between now and then and I’m looking forward to working with him.”
Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario earned praise from captain Son Heung-min following his key role in their latest victory.
Spurs made it four wins in a row after they battled to a 2-1 triumph at Crystal Palace, with Joel Ward’s 53rd-minute own goal and Son’s eighth strike of the campaign enough to earn all three points.
Jordan Ayew netted in stoppage time for the hosts, but Ange Postecoglou’s resurgent team held on and Son subsequently paid tribute to summer signing Vicario.
Vicario made two crucial early saves to deny Ayew and Odsonne Edouard, and while he missed out on a fifth clean sheet since he displaced Hugo Lloris as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper, he continues to grow his reputation.
“Before we score without Vic’s saves we are going behind and when you go behind in this stadium, you know what is going to happen. I think big credit to Vic for making unbelievable saves,” Son told SpursPlay.
“I am enjoying every single moment (with Vicario) because he made a good save, is playing out well and it is fantastic to have him behind the goal.
“Obviously any game we are going to face chances and shots on target, but when you have Vic behind us you are just very comfortable he is going to make unbelievable saves, which he did.
“Big, big credit to Vic today and also the way he play with the feet is fantastic. It brings so much to the team and I am very, very happy to have him in the team.”
Vicario has adapted to life in England immediately and been an unsung hero during Tottenham’s ascent to first place in the Premier League.
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The role of top goalscorer Son has earned more headlines and he netted again on Friday, but only after a brilliant team move. Pape Sarr’s diagonal ball was headed down by Brennan Johnson to James Maddison, who touched back into Johnson’s path and he teed up the Spurs captain for a smart close-range finish.
Former Empoli goalkeeper Vicario said: “I think our second goal was a top masterclass of football from the back. Find the spare man and then he (Son) attacks the right space.
“It is easy for him to come to the back and score this kind of goal. It is a big situation we work on during the week, so we’re happy for that and we have to keep going, keep improving on that because we can do it.
“Of course we enjoy the win, we take the rest of the week and then we go again.”
A largely perfect night for Tottenham was rounded off with Rodrigo Bentancur returning from injury to play for the first time since February 11.
Bentancur suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage to his left knee in a defeat at Leicester, which curtained a fine individual campaign that had seen him score five times.
Captain Son was thrilled to see the midfielder return with a late cameo, he added: “What an unbelievable player. Having him in our squad is kind of like a new signing.
“We couldn’t wait to have him back and when he came on I was getting emotional. He is one of my good friends and last year when I suffer with injuries, he was always pushing behind me.
“I am really grateful he came back healthy.”
Palace boss Roy Hodgson was downbeat about the impact of his substitutes and called for patience with Brazilian attacker Matheus Franca after his home debut off the bench.
“They need more time,” Hodgson insisted. “The fact is I feel sorry for Franca. For some reason people have tried to imbue him with qualities that we can’t expect to see from him.
“He’s 19 years of age, he has a handful of games in Brazil behind him and now we’re asking him to play against Tottenham, the team that is running away at the top of the Premier League at the moment.”
Ange Postecoglou was pleased Premier League leaders Tottenham passed their latest exam with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Crystal Palace and was in no mood to stop fans dreaming of a title challenge.
Spurs moved five points clear at the summit after they recovered from a sluggish first half at Selhurst Park to score twice in 13 second-half minutes.
An own-goal from Joel Ward broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute when he deflected James Maddison’s cross beyond Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and it was 2-0 soon after when Tottenham captain Son Heung-min steered home after Brennan Johnson’s assist.
Jordan Ayew reduced the deficit for Palace in the fourth minute of stoppage-time, but Spurs held on to extend their unbeaten top-flight run to 10 matches and move five clear of Manchester City and Arsenal, who play Manchester United and Sheffield United respectively across the weekend.
“Let them dream. That’s what being a football supporter is all about. It’s fair to say this lot have suffered a fair bit, so I’m certainly not going to dampen that,” Postecoglou said.
“Top of the table is great and the results are great but it’s more in the manner we’re doing it. Pretty much from the first game we’ve had all sorts of different challenges we’ve had to overcome.
“Every time there has been a real focus and clear-headedness about the group collectively to deal with that.
“That has been a really pleasing thing and because they’re getting rewards from that, then that gives us the opportunity to accelerate the growth of giving them more tools out there to help them for whatever we need to overcome.
“I thought tonight was going to be a real difficult game for us. Coming here, Palace’s result last week, it’s a tight ground, they’d only conceded three goals in the four games so far and how were the lads going to cope with the fact we weren’t going to create as many chances as we had been?
“I really liked the way we worked through that as a group.”
After returning to the Premier League summit with a 2-0 win over Fulham on Monday, Spurs struggled in the first half at Selhurst Park and were indebted to fine early saves from Guglielmo Vicario to deny Ayew and Odsonne Edouard.
Postecoglou, who had lambasted his side for their second-half showing earlier in the week, introduced Emerson Royal for Ben Davies at the break and watched Ward put into his own net from Maddison’s cross to open the scoring.
It was 2-0 when Son fired home for his eighth goal of the campaign following Johnson’s smart pass, his first assist since a £45million deadline-day transfer from Nottingham Forest.
While Ayew managed to reduce the deficit – in the fourth minute of stoppage time after a lengthy VAR check – Tottenham stood firm to claim a fourth-straight win and show another side with a dogged defensively display, despite enjoying more than 70 per cent possession.
Postecoglou added: “I have always felt that matchdays are about the players. What we try to do on a daily basis is give them the tools to find the solutions.
“We prep them for their exam at the weekend, but we don’t know what the questions are going to be. They’ve got to work them out themselves.
“In an exam you are not asking anybody for help. You have to work it out yourself and hopefully what we’ve given them is the tools.”
Palace boss Roy Hodgson was disappointed to suffer a second-consecutive defeat and admitted his substitutes weakened his team.
“I thought it was an aggressive and quite-controlled first half from our side, but of course the first goal then produces a second,” he said.
“That is when we start putting players on the field, players who have not really played with the first team, Jes (Rak-Sakyi), (Naouirou) Ahamada, (Matheus) Franca and we lost the intensity we were able to do in the first half.
“In the end it became easy for them (Tottenham) to see the game through.”
Premier League leaders Tottenham recovered from a sluggish first half to win 2-1 at Crystal Palace and extend their lead at the summit to five points.
Ange Postecoglou’s side found life tough at Selhurst Park initially, but moved through the gears in the second period and went ahead when Joel Ward put through his own net in the 53rd minute following James Maddison’s centre.
Captain Son Heung-min made the points safe 13 minutes later with a close-range finish for his eighth goal this season to ensure high-flying Spurs extended their unbeaten top-flight start to 10 matches.
Jordan Ayew struck late on for Palace, but victory moved Tottenham five points clear of Manchester City, who visit rivals Manchester United on Sunday, and while that gap is unlikely to remain come the end of the weekend, this latest test passed by Postecoglou’s new-look team will only increase the optimism growing in N17.
The Australian made two changes from Monday night with left-back Destiny Udogie unavailable due to muscle tightness, which resulted in Ben Davies making his first league start this term, while Yves Bissouma returned to the starting line-up following his one-match ban.
Spurs were poor during the opening exchanges against a Palace side eager to respond to their 4-0 thrashing at Newcastle with Guglielmo Vicario twice called into action early on.
Vicario first denied Ayew’s low effort in the sixth-minute before he produced a smart save to thwart the snapshot of Odsonne Edouard, who was leading the line for the hosts.
Hodgson would have been pleased with the response to Palace’s thrashing in the North East after Will Hughes and Joel Ward snapped into tackles with Micky van de Ven and Maddison.
Maddison’s influence had been limited, but he sliced a tough half-volley chance into the Holmesdale Stand before Richarlison dragged wide from outside the area.
The opening half an hour in south London had been stop-start, which suited Palace who forced four corners in a row towards the end of the first 45, but Tottenham survived to walk off at half-time level.
Postecoglou had lambasted the second half showing against Fulham and would have been equally frustrated with this display after Spurs failed to have a shot on target despite more than 70 per cent possession.
He reacted with Emerson Royal introduced for Davies and while the visitors’ wait for a first shot on target continued, they still managed to break the deadlock in the 53rd minute.
Tottenham’s goal came from their right side with Pedro Porro playing in Pape Sarr, who cut back for Maddison and his smashed effort across goal bounced off Ward and into the Palace net.
It was tough on Palace but Hodgson’s side immediately searched for an equaliser and Edouard had a shot deflected over by Cristian Romero.
Marc Guehi headed wide from the resulting corner before Postecoglou made further changes with Brennan Johnson and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg brought on.
Johnson needed barely two minutes to make his mark with a first assist for the club since a £45million deadline day move from Nottingham Forest.
The substitute started the move with a cushioned header into Maddison, who passed back into Johnson and he smartly recycled the ball to Son and the Spurs captain rifled home from close-range in the 66th minute.
After Tottenham switched off at 2-0 up against Fulham, there was little chance of a repeat and Postecoglou sent on Rodrigo Bentancur for his first appearance since he suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage to his left knee in February.
Bentancur’s arrival on the pitch was met with big cheers by the away fans, but the travelling support endured a nervy finale.
Ayew reduced the deficit four minutes into stoppage time when he controlled Joachim Anderson’s cross and fired beyond Vicario, which was eventually awarded after a lengthy VAR check.
Palace pushed for a last-gasp leveller and forced several set-pieces before substitute Matheus Franca sliced wide under pressure from Porro to confirm a fourth consecutive win for leaders Spurs.
Ange Postecoglou has scoffed at talk Tottenham are a better team without Harry Kane, but admitted the departure of the club’s record goalscorer has allowed other individuals to flourish.
Kane left Spurs on the eve of the season to join Bayern Munich in a deal that could rise to £120million in add-ons and which had been expected to derail a club that only managed to finish eighth in the Premier League last term.
The opposite has occurred with Postecoglou able to mastermind an unbeaten start in the top flight that has sent Tottenham to the summit and posed the question are the north London club better without their ex-talisman Kane, who scored 278 times in 430 appearances for his boyhood team.
Postecoglou cited Kane’s final outing in Lilywhite – a four-goal salvo in a friendly against Shakhtar Donetsk on August 6 – as evidence against the aforementioned rhetoric, although acknowledged the sale of the England captain has changed the dynamic of his attack, which is now led by the likes of Son Heung-min, Richarlison, Dejan Kulusevski and new signing Brennan Johnson.
“What I’ve been trying to explain is that individuals change the way you play,” the Spurs boss said ahead of a Friday night clash at Crystal Palace.
“I’m not into this commentary that we’re a better team without Harry because the last game Harry played for us, he did alright in our system when he scored four goals.
“It’s fair to say we would have been able to squeeze him in somewhere – and I’m being sarcastic there – but him not being there just allows us to bring different individuals into the team and they change the dynamic.
“Again, while the way I want my teams to play has a really clear structure, what I try to do is create a balanced squad where individuals can change the dynamics of it.
“Having Sonny as our nine is different from having Harry or even Richy as our nine. Having Deki as a winger or having Brennan Johnson as a winger changes it even if the structure is the same.
“Not having Harry there does change us as a team because we’re using different individuals, but if Harry was still here the structure would be the same and we’d have the same fundamentals of trying to dominate opposition, press the opposition, all those kind of things would still be there.
“Ultimately, I don’t want to suppress the qualities they have, I want to bring out the best of them within the structure we have.”
Tottenham captain Son has shouldered the burden in Kane’s absence with seven goals, while new number 10 James Maddison has immediately hit the ground running in N17.
Maddison scored for the third time on Monday night against Fulham and has also provided five assists to quickly become the team’s fulcrum.
Postecoglou said of the former Leicester playmaker: “He’s very intuitive around the game and at understanding the game.
“For all the players we try to provide a framework of education where we give them information to improve them as individuals, but some of them take them in a more broader concept of the team aspect and Madders is one of those.
“He takes the information but not just from an individual aspect but how it can help the team. The goal he scored the other night came not from his individual ability but just from him working hard.
“He pressed two or three times. That’s a conscious thing he has to do. That’s not just about him being a good footballer, that’s him as an individual saying I need to do this because I think the team will benefit and ultimately, he benefitted from it because he scored the goal.
“But if he didn’t someone else would have, like we did for Sonny’s goal, so I think he’s one of these players that looks at it from a broader perspective, not just how it can help him as an individual but how it can help the team evolve into the team we want to be.”
Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou is loving his time at the Premier League leaders, but is bullish about what expectations should be despite the club’s lengthy trophy drought.
Spurs have not won silverware since 2008, although fans are dreaming of challenging for the title after winning 23 points from a possible 27 so far this season.
It has taken Tottenham to the top-flight summit and they could move five points clear of Manchester City and Arsenal with victory at Crystal Palace on Friday, ahead of the weekend fixtures.
Postecoglou has relished his dream start to life in England, but eager to point out his new club should be competing for trophies every year.
The former Celtic boss said: “I didn’t come here to not be successful. This club has all the fundamentals to be successful. The expectations should be there.
“Part of the reason why there’s been this real desperation for a trophy is because they feel that’s the space they should be in. That is the expectation, that’s the reality, but what drives me isn’t raising or trying to dampen expectations.
“What drives me is trying to build something that will realise the ambitions that this club has at this particular moment. People’s perceptions don’t concern me too much. This is a big club and should be in a position to challenge for trophies every season in my opinion.
“At Celtic we were on top for a very long time but at the beginning when we weren’t on top, I don’t think people saw anything different in my demeanour. I don’t think they will (here).
“It is one thing I do. It’s not about staying kind of level-headed or getting carried away with either thing. It’s just that, my role in that context is to be the one thing that people can rely upon to be consistent.
“In that I have one objective all the time: how can we be better? When that is your objective, it doesn’t really matter where you are on the table or kind of what the outside noise may or may not be doing.
“It is about the players and the staff and everyone involved with the football club, looking at me. The one thing I do is I come in every day, I am buzzing about doing what I am doing. You know, that’s the kind of demeanour I have consistently.
“It’s just the way I am. I get so much satisfaction from what I do. I really enjoy what I do, on a daily basis. There isn’t a day I don’t get up and I’m not looking forward to the day ahead.
“There’s no other levels of satisfaction in me to get. That’s it. I’m buzzing to do what I do.
“Within that context I also understand that I have a real big responsibility to lead an organisation, players, staff, people to what I hope will be a successful place.
“There’s got to be some reliability there in what they see and what they feel with me so some of it is conscious but the other bits, I’m not skipping about the place but I’m really happy. I love what I do. Just the way I am. I’m very, very happy.”
Postecoglou’s happiness did not extend into the dressing room on Monday night after he criticised his players for a poor second half against Fulham.
It failed to stop the team blaring out Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers’ classic from the 1980s’ of ‘Islands in the Stream’ following the 2-0 win.
But Postecoglou joked: “I stay out of the dressing room partly because of the music choices of the players.
“Most clubs want to turn their grounds into a fortress – ours is becoming a nightclub, mate. I’m all for it, whatever makes people happy that’s my thing.”
Spurs will assess Destiny Udogie ahead of the trip to south London after the left-back struggled with muscle tightness during the victory over Fulham.
Ange Postecoglou has played down the significance of Tottenham potentially moving five points clear at the Premier League summit with victory at Crystal Palace on Friday.
Spurs returned to top spot on Monday with a 2-0 win at home to Fulham and play before Arsenal and Manchester City this weekend.
Postecoglou insisted his primary focus is on improving the team after he was critical of their second-half display against Fulham.
“It doesn’t really add any significance because whatever happens Friday night there’s still a full round of Premier League fixtures to be played and nothing of any real significance comes of that,” he said.
“We’re in a good space at the moment but again we’ve still got plenty of work to do to make sure what we do now is sustainable. That’s the main thing.
“It’s not about making a short-term impact, it’s about building something which hopefully brings sustained opportunities of success for the club.
“There is a really good reason no manager will talk about winning a title in October or November because we know there’s a long way to go.”
Tottenham’s ascent to first position has seen them score 20 goals in nine matches, but Postecoglou feels attack is the area where they can improve the most.
He added: “We still have to grow in every area. There are areas where we are already very good, particularly around the defensive side of the game. I think we’ve been excellent there – really consistent.
“I still think our main growth will come in the attacking side of the game. I still think particularly in the front third, a lot of our movements are still not natural and fluent like we want them to be, which isn’t surprising.
“But what is getting us the goals is that we have great quality up there, which is contributing to that. I still think the biggest growth for us will be in our attacking side of the game.”
Spurs will have to assess Destiny Udogie for the Selhurst Park clash after the left-back was withdrawn in the 56th minute of Monday’s win with muscle tightness.
Pape Sarr (illness) and Ben Davies (knock) are fit and Yves Bissouma is also available after he served a one-match ban for his recent red card at Luton, but Postecoglou was coy over his team after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg impressed against Fulham.
“It’s no different to any other week. They’re not really dilemmas, just choices that people in my position have to make and I’ve always made those decisions pretty simply and cleanly about what I think we need,” the Australian coach explained.
“Tomorrow night we’ll start with a certain group of players and finish with another and it’s about trying to get the job done. When that games done, we’ll look to the next one.
“It’s good to have Biss available, he’s been a big part of what we’re doing. The team did well the other night so that should make us stronger.”
Postecoglou also heaped praise on opposite number Roy Hodgson ahead of their second meeting.
The Spurs boss faced Hodgson back in 2016 when they were in charge of Australia and England respectively in a friendly at the Stadium of Light.
Asked if he still expects to manage at 76, Postecoglou replied: “Who knows. That’s not the plan. Seventy-six? Somewhere on a Greek island, lying back watching football from around the world, maybe doing some punditry and becoming an expert overnight. That’s the plan but you never know in life, mate.
“I coached against Roy up in Sunderland so I have had the pleasure of coaching him at international level.
“He is an outstanding manager, he’s an absolute gentleman and whenever I have come across him people always talk about the kind of person he is and I love his career, for someone like me with a different journey I have so much admiration for the career he has had.”
Harry Redknapp was appointed Tottenham manager following the sacking of Juande Ramos, on this day in 2008.
Ramos, who had lifted the League Cup just eight months previously, was dismissed following a dismal start to the season, with Spurs rock bottom of the Premier League table with just two points from eight games.
Chairman Daniel Levy paid £5million in compensation to Portsmouth to secure the release of Redknapp, who had won the FA Cup with Pompey the previous season.
Sporting director Damien Comolli was also sacked along with Ramos as Levy oversaw an overhaul of player recruitment.
Redknapp’s tenure began with a 2-0 victory over Bolton – the team’s first win in the league that season – on the day he was appointed.
When discussing his motivation for the move, Redknapp said: “I just thought maybe it was time to move on and Tottenham are a big, big club.
“I thought, ‘Let’s just give it a go before it is too late’.”
Tottenham are enjoying their best start to an English top-flight season since 1960-61, following Monday’s 2-0 win over Fulham.
Ange Postecoglou’s side are unbeaten in nine matches and sit two points clear of Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the data behind Spurs’ strong start.
Dare to dream
Tottenham’s return of 23 points from their opening nine matches is the second highest in their top-flight history (all records calculated with three points being awarded for a win).
Only the 1960-61 double-winning side had a superior record at the same stage, having taken maximum points on their way to 11 victories from their first 11 games under Bill Nicholson.
Three other Spurs teams have gone unbeaten over the same period, with each of the 1959-60, 1990-91 and 2016-17 sides recording five wins and four draws in their first nine fixtures.
Tottenham ended as runners-up in the latter campaign – their highest Premier League finish to date – but they never topped the table ahead of champions Leicester.
Having already reached the summit during the recent international break, a win against Crystal Palace on Friday would see Postecoglou’s men set a new club record for most days spent at the top of the Premier League in a single season, which currently stands at 23 in 2020-21.
Ange-ball
As well as putting together a promising set of early results, Postecoglou has overseen a remarkable transformation in Tottenham’s playing style.
Spurs rank top of the Premier League for shots fired at their opponents’ goal this season, having racked up a total of 168 at an average of 18.7 per game.
They were seventh according to the same metric in 2022-23, with an average of 13.6 efforts per match.
Tottenham have also improved defensively after conceding 63 goals last season – their highest tally in a 38-game Premier League campaign.
Postecoglou’s side have faced an average of 12.4 shots per game compared with 13.6 last term.
Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario has outperformed his predecessor Hugo Lloris, with a save rate of 84.2 per cent – the best in the Premier League – compared with the Frenchman’s 67.5 per cent in 2022-23.
Son steps up
Tottenham’s unbeaten run is all the more impressive given the departure of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich on the eve of the campaign.
The club’s all-time record scorer netted 30 Premier League goals last season, which accounted for 42.9 per cent of the team’s total (70).
This was the highest percentage of any player in the division, ahead of Erling Haaland who scored 38.3 per cent of Manchester City’s tally (36 out of 94).
Tottenham’s over-reliance on Kane in 2022-23 coincided with a dip in the form of Son Heung-min, who endured his worst scoring campaign in a Spurs shirt.
However, the South Korean has rediscovered his best under Postecoglou, with seven goals in nine appearances so far at an average of 0.89 per 90 minutes.
That is up from 0.31 per 90 last season and 0.69 in 2021-22 – the season in which he scored 23 goals and shared the Golden Boot with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
Dejan Kulusevski has acknowledged Tottenham have an advantage over their rivals with no European football this year and feels it could make the difference come the end of the season.
Spurs returned to the Premier League summit on Monday night with a 2-0 win over Fulham courtesy of goals from Son Heung-min and James Maddison.
Ange Postecoglou’s resurgent side are next in action on Friday at Crystal Palace, where they could go five points clear at the top with a victory and while Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool have European fixtures to contend with this week, Tottenham can focus purely on league action.
“Honestly, it helps a lot. Physically, I remember last season was very hard playing three games a week,” Kulusevski said.
“You feel very tired in the warm-ups. Also, mentally not having to travel to Spain or Italy to play games helps. You are at home, with your family. You have a good rest mentally, so it is a huge thing that we have and we have to take advantage of that this year.
“You can feel the difference and hopefully you will see even more at the end of the season.
“It is early because we will see what happens. Everything can change every day so we don’t need to talk about (title), but we must live for the day with a smile, train hard and not forget who we are. We must try to get better every day.
“It is not important what people say. The important thing is to work hard, be humble, listen to the coach and keep the smiles on faces. Then at the end of the season we will see where we are.”
Tottenham’s young side produced a mature display against Fulham, creating early chances before Son broke the deadlock in the 36th minute.
Calvin Bassey’s misplaced pass under pressure from Spurs’ press was latched onto by Micky van de Ven, touched into Richarlison where he recycled the ball for Son, who dribbled past Tim Ream and curled superbly into the top corner for his seventh goal of the campaign.
Son turned provider nine minutes after half-time when Bassey again gave away the ball and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg fizzed possession into Son, who played in Maddison for his first home goal as a Tottenham player.
The hosts took their foot off the gas during the final exchanges with Fulham wasteful late on, which led to Postecoglou lambasting his team for taking “liberties” post-match.
Kulusevski added: “Number one, we have to keep playing football and that is why we are winning. We have to get back to playing the way we can and be ready for Friday.”
Spurs were without the suspended Yves Bissouma for the visit of Fulham, but Hojbjerg slotted in to good effect on his first league start of the season.
The Danish midfielder expressed his delight at starting and urged his team-mates to “live with the pressure” amid talk of a potential title challenge.
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“Honestly it felt amazing to play. It was really nice to play. It felt really good,” Hojbjerg said.
“First half I thought we played some good football. I think we had to score more than the one and second half we lost a bit of intensity. We let Fulham back into it but especially first half I thought was strong.
“It is up to the coach to analyse (second half) now and to show us a bit what we needed. Personally, I felt the quality on the ball dropped a bit, but again we always know the first game back from the internationals is always a challenge.
“I think it is game by game and it is important to try to improve. Improve every single week and try to see where we can take it. I think you have to live with the pressure, assume the pressure but again it is about improving and looking at yourself week in, week out.”
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou credited his side’s 2-0 win over Fulham to their “outstanding” pressing after they returned to the top of the Premier League.
Goals from Son Heung-min and James Maddison confirmed the three points for the hosts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Postecoglou also praised the contribution of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who started in place of the suspended Yves Bissouma.
“I thought our pressing was outstanding the whole game and maybe in the first half we could have got one or two more to put the game to bed,” Postecoglou said.
“I thought Pierre was good and he’s been good in every game he’s played for us and he’s been put in some difficult situations and handled them well, he’s very experienced.
“I thought in the first half in particular we stayed calm on the ball and had some good tempo. Like I said I thought our pressing was outstanding all game and I thought he was a big part of that.
“He made interceptions for both goals and yeah it was important to have him in there, his experience coming in because Bissouma has been very important for us and in such a crucial role but I thought he was excellent.”
Spurs took their foot off the gas after their second goal, which invited pressure from Fulham, who had their chances to score late on.
And the former Australia manager was “disappointed” with his side’s second-half efforts.
He added: “I’m really disappointed with the second half, we were nowhere near the levels we have been all year and we have got to make sure we stay disciplined in our approach because the keeper made a couple of great saves to keep the clean sheet and within the context we should have had a much better control of the game.
“I’m not trying to make a point, it’s just what I saw. I thought we were really wasteful with the ball in the second half. We took some liberties with taking extra touches.
“I’ve been around long enough to know if you try to take liberties, you’ll get dragged down pretty quickly.
“I’m not going to let the fact that we’ve won the game disguise the opportunity there for us to improve.
“In the second half, with the ball we weren’t anywhere near the levels we’ve already shown this year and there was no real reason for it. It wasn’t as if the opposition did anything different. It was more self-inflicted.
“My role in that was to give feedback to the players. That’s what they want. They want to get better, they want to improve, I’ve got some stuff there to show them.”
Centre-back Calvin Bassey gave the ball away in the 54th minute and Tottenham punished the mistake through Maddison, doubling his side’s lead.
And Marco Silva admitted he was disappointed with the manner in which Fulham conceded the second goal.
He said: “We were punished by the mistakes that we made.
“What disappointed me was the second goal. At half-time we spoke and we conceded a similar goal in the second half. We were punished again with the same type of goal.”
Goals from key duo Son Heung-min and James Maddison sent Tottenham back to the Premier League summit with a professional 2-0 win over Fulham.
Spurs had claimed top spot before the international break, but watched rivals Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool all leapfrog them across the weekend to raise the stakes of Monday’s London derby.
Fulham proved no match for Ange Postecoglou’s resurgent team and after Son grabbed his seventh goal of an impressive season in the 36th minute, he turned provider after half-time with an assist for partner in crime Maddison.
It was the latest example of the pair combining and a further nod to the present with Son’s once-famed partnership with Harry Kane, now of Bayern Munich, fast becoming a distant memory.
Next up for Postecoglou’s pace-setters is a trip to Crystal Palace on Friday where they could extend their lead at the top to five points with another win.
This was Spurs’ first home match since the Israel-Hamas conflict started and a moment’s silence occurred before kick-off for the innocent civilians killed, during which several Israeli flags were held up by supporters in different areas of the stadium.
Tottenham were without the suspended Yves Bissouma, which meant Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg earned his second start of the season.
Hojbjerg’s other start was the Carabao Cup shoot-out defeat to Fulham in August, but the hosts quickly set about correcting the only blot on Postecoglou’s near-perfect copybook in N17.
Visiting goalkeeper Bernd Leno was alert in the second minute to deny Son after a trademark Maddison through ball before Micky van de Ven hooked over from a free-kick soon after.
While Spurs’ ascent to first had seen them score 18 times in eight matches, they had also tightened up defensively and summer recruit Guglielmo Vicario demonstrated his class with a crucial stop in the 11th minute.
A corner from Andreas Pereira picked out Joao Palhinha, but his towering header was brilliantly tipped away by Vicario’s left glove.
One-time Tottenham loanee Carlos Vinicius sent a header wide not long after before Postecoglou’s men started to turn the screw.
Richarlison curled wide from 20 yards following a lightning-quick counter-attack, but the breakthrough did arrive in the 36th minute through Son’s seventh goal of the season.
Van de Ven was first to the loose ball after a poor Calvin Bassey pass and touched into Richarlison, who recycled into Son’s path and Spurs’ number seven turned away from Tim Ream before he produced a sumptuous finish into the top corner.
It was a deserved opener and it could have been 2-0 moments later with Bassey first heading away with Son ready to pounce before the Tottenham captain back-heeled to Destiny Udogie, but his shot was blocked.
There was still time for another opening when Cristian Romero played in Dejan Kulusevski, although the Swedish attacker tried to tee up Richarlison when the goal was at his mercy and Fulham survived.
Fulham boss Marco Silva made a double substitution at the break with Raul Jimenez and Alex Iwobi introduced, but the second for Spurs arrived in the 54th minute.
It was a carbon copy of the opener with Bassey’s pass out from the back intercepted by the excellent Hojbjerg and Son played through to Maddison, who coolly angled beyond Leno for his third goal of the term.
With the result almost already assured, Udogie and Pape Sarr did limp off in a concern for Postecoglou before Maddison almost made it 3-0.
Maddison led the press brilliantly and forced another error from Bassey by winning back possession, but Ream came across to block his effort.
And another strong stop by Vicario from Jimenez late on secured a fourth clean sheet this season for the early leaders.
Ange Postecoglou has talked up the professionalism of Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg ahead of his anticipated first Premier League start of the season.
Hojbjerg is expected to be drafted into the Spurs line-up for the visit of Fulham on Monday due to Yves Bissouma’s one-match ban for his red card at Luton.
Denmark international Hojbjerg was heavily linked with a move away from Tottenham this summer and Fulham registered an interest in the 28-year-old on transfer deadline day, but no switch to the London club or Atletico Madrid materialised.
While Hojbjerg has only started once this season in the Carabao Cup, he has been introduced in seven of Spurs’ eight league fixtures and become a key figure off the bench for his new head coach.
“I don’t think there was any time during the transfer window where I thought Pierre would move,” Postecoglou insisted.
“The discussions I had with him were that he was here and wanted to contribute, he wanted to be part of what we were building.
“It is obvious someone that has played regularly would have wanted to play more but ultimately our performances have been strong and he has had to bide his time.
“He has also been very important in a lot of the games that we’ve won late or had to shore up late. He has been one of the people who has helped us and it is not like he hasn’t contributed at all. He’s been a really important part for us.
“We wouldn’t be in this position if we were just reliant on our starting XI.
“It is something we impress on all of the guys that as disappointed as you are at not starting, it doesn’t mean you are not playing. You are still playing at some point and what you do with those minutes will help us be successful and push your own cause.
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“With Pierre, he is a professional and very determined to win a spot in the team. He presents himself well every day and over a 38-game season all of these guys will get an opportunity at some point. What they do with that is up to them.
“In the meantime, what is important is if they want to keep getting opportunities, they have to train well and when they do play, whether they start or not, they contribute to the team.”
Hojbjerg continues to be linked with a move away from Tottenham, but could earn further opportunities in the coming months.
Spurs will lose Pape Sarr of Senegal and Mali international Bissouma at the start of 2024 for the Africa Cup of Nations, which runs between January 13 and February 11.
That is a problem for Postecoglou to worry about in the future, but his immediate concern is facing Marco Silva’s Fulham without Bissouma, one of Tottenham’s players of the season.
He added: “(I’m) realistic enough to know you’re not going to run with the same XI and every week you wrestle with what the best sort of line up is going to be for you; fitness, form, the way they’re training, the opposition.
“With Bissouma missing out this game, we had to adjust without him at Luton which I thought we did awfully well with 10-men.
“We’ve got some options. Certainly Pierre is a ready-made replacement.
“He’s been training really hard, he’s obviously probably wanted to be playing more because he’s pretty much been a constant for the last two to three years, but when he has come on for us he’s done really well.
“For me he’s the logical one to come in but we’ve got some sessions left.”
Ange Postecoglou has hinted opportunities for his fringe players could be on the horizon ahead of a busy week for Tottenham.
Spurs return to action after the international break with a Monday night clash at home to Fulham and face a quick turnaround with a trip to Crystal Palace four days later.
Yves Bissouma is suspended for the visit of Fulham, which should see Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg earn a first Premier League start this season, and Postecoglou has also urged fit-again Giovani Lo Celso, Bryan Gil and Brennan Johnson to be ready if called upon.
“We’ve got a Monday night game and then we back it up with a Friday night game, so we’ll probably need a good deal of the squad to do those two games,” the Spurs boss explained.
“As good as we’ve been, there are still a few players like Brennan, (Rodrigo) Bentancur, Gil and Lo Celso who haven’t really played at all for us yet.
“Having them back, even in terms of training and raising the level, they are the things that will give us the focus to maintain and keep improving the performances.
“When there is competitiveness around the squad in training and playing, that guards against any complacency or anyone feeling comfortable about things.”
Bentancur is still “weeks” away from returning to first-team action after his anterior cruciate ligament injury in February, but Lo Celso will aim to make an impact over the next week.
Lo Celso was linked with a move away from Tottenham at the start of the summer before Postecoglou made clear his desire to keep the Argentinian, who then sustained a muscle issue in his only start of the campaign at Fulham in the Carabao Cup in August.
The midfielder is fit again now and made substitute appearances for Argentina against Paraguay and Peru during the international break.
Postecoglou said: “He is obviously very highly regarded within the Argentinian set-up because they always call him up and he played in both games.
“He didn’t play significant minutes but he played in both and played 15 to 20 in the second game. It is great for him and his confidence.
“Unfortunately he had a disrupted early part of the season but again another player we haven’t had a contribution from and that’s a pleasing thing for us.”
Postecoglou will hope to see Gil begin to contribute too following his return to full fitness after surgery on his groin in August.
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The Australian admitted Gil’s influence is even more critical with Ivan Perisic (ACL) and Manor Solomon (knee) out until 2024.
“Bryan can be really important for us,” Postecoglou insisted.
“It has been great to have him just working really hard at training. He’s missed all of this season so far and it’s well chronicled that we lost Ivan and Manor, who play in that left-wing position.
“Having Bryan fit and available again is great for us. He’s, I guess, in the same boat as everyone else because at some point he’ll be afforded an opportunity and then it’s up to him.
“He certainly has all the criteria and credentials to play in that position for us and, like I said, his training is getting stronger now, he’s part of the group and I’m sure he’ll get an opportunity.”
Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has returned to full training but is still weeks away from being in contention to play first-team football.
Bentancur saw his fine 2022-23 campaign cut short in February when he suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage to his left knee during a 4-1 defeat to Leicester.
The ex-Juventus midfielder had been one of Spurs’ best performers, scoring six times in 26 appearances last season and after eight months out he is close to a return, but will not be in the squad for Monday’s visit of Fulham.
“No, he won’t be in the squad,” Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou confirmed.
“We’ll be careful with him. Now he’s sort of fully training, so that means he’s into the whole session. We’ve drip-fed him into training the last month and he’s coped pretty well with that.
“Now he’s into full training. We’ve got to be mindful that he’s missed a fair bit of football, but I think the more he trains with the first team over the next few weeks, we’ll sort of pick our moment.
“He’s looking good at training and it was great to have him for the last couple of weeks fully integrated with the guys who are here and we’re looking forward to having him back.”
Joint-leaders Spurs will have vice-captain Cristian Romero and skipper Son Heung-min available for the London derby.
Romero suffered a whack to his ankle in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Peru earlier this week, while Son was visibly in discomfort during South Korea’s 6-0 victory against Vietnam, although did play the whole match and score in the friendly.
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No issues have been reported since the duo returned to Hotspur Way this week.
Postecoglou added: “It has been a pretty positive international break. In terms of availability I’ll start with the internationals first and everybody is back.
“The medical reports seem good so no real issue around the guys from a fitness perspective.
“Playing on a Monday night helps and all the international players should be fine but Brennan (Johnson) we will need to see.”
Johnson has not played for Tottenham since the north London derby at Arsenal on September 24 after he sustained a minor hamstring strain.
The Wales international is training again and set to be in the squad against Fulham, but Spurs will be without Yves Bissouma after he was sent off for two bookable offences at Luton a fortnight ago.
Postecoglou also revealed Dejan Kulusevski is fine after speaking with the winger who was involved in Sweden’s Euro 2024 qualifier at Belgium on Monday, which was abandoned at half-time following confirmation that two Swedish supporters had been killed in a shooting three miles from the stadium in Brussels.
“No, he is fine. I had a chat with him,” Postecoglou explained.
“Like everyone else we shake our heads at these things where you go to a football game and these kind of things happen.
“It is sad and kind of confronting how close it comes to your own world, but Deki is fine. He trained yesterday with the team and is ready to go.”
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