Ange Postecoglu has made Tottenham tough to beat amidst developing winning mentality
It’s beautiful what Tottenham Hotspur are doing at the moment. The North London outfit have endured miserable spells in the past, with last season being disappointing.
However, since Ange Postecoglu arrived this summer, Spurs have been a different beast despite their top scorer Harry Kane departing to Bayern Munich. They’re dominating games, showing character and have generally become quite tough to beat.
It’s been 10 games in the Premier League this season, and Tottenham are yet to taste defeat. Their latest impressive performance came at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace.
Spurs beat Roy Hodgson’s side 2-1 on Friday to maintain their lead atop the summit and seem to be only getting better with each passing week.
Spurs down Crystal Palace
What makes this Tottenham team special is that it doesn’t matter the level or quality of the opposition. Spurs approach every game with the same intensity and character.
Against Crystal Palace, Spurs didn’t have a good start and were frustrated by the Eagles’ low block during the first half. However, Postecoglu’s side never gave up. They kept on probing and were finally rewarded when Joel Ward turned the ball into his own net following some sustained pressure.
Spurs teams of the past would’ve relaxed and tried to protect their 1-0 lead, but the current version went for more and pushed till they got the second goal, courtesy of captain Heung-Min Son.
With a whopping 76% possession, Tottenham controlled the game for large swathes. Although Jordan Ayew controversially pulled one back for Palace late on, Spurs had done enough to take all three points.
Tottenham building winning mentality
In the past, Tottenham were known to be fragile and without cojones, but under Postecoglu, Spurs are faring better under pressure.
That’s largely due to a growing winning mentality within the squad. This is a team that's confident and tries new things on the pitch. It goes without saying that they’re also relishing their unbeaten run in the Premier League.
"Let them dream. That's what being a football supporter is all about. It's fair to say this lot have suffered a bit, so I'm certainly not going to put a dampener on that,” Postecoglu said after the win over Crystal Palace, as quoted by Liverscore.
“I'm really happy today. This is a tough place to come, and we had to work hard for our victory. I thought we had real discipline and focus, so I'm really pleased with the effort the boys put in. I knew it would be a difficult game for us."
The bottom line is that Tottenham have become tough to beat, and that's down to the winning mentality that's gradually developing in the squad under Postecoglou's tutelage.