Ange Postecoglou’s appointment as first-team manager by Daniel Levy has given Tottenham Hotspur a spirit that was not evident last season. High-profile names like Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte have struggled recently, and the team’s disappointing eighth-place finish last season called for change or else they would drift further away from those at the top of the Premier League. Harry Kane’s sale to Bayern Munich in August was a bitter pill to swallow, but it was one that was expected, with the Three Lions captain about to enter the

Harry Kane’s sale to Bayern Munich in August was a bitter pill to swallow but one that was expected, with the Three Lions captain about to enter the final year of his contract and understandably seeking pastures new at 30 years old, with no European football and no silverware throughout a record-breaking career down N17.

Still, Son Heung-min and Richarlison are hardly struggling to find the back of the net, and signings such as James Maddison, Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner have compensated, with Tottenham fighting for the top four with fresh life under Postecoglou’s management.

However, the real success of this early-stage Spurs system lies in the backline’s revival, fortified with steel after a woeful 2022/23 campaign that saw an inpour of goals ravage any hopes of achieving their objectives.

How Van de Ven and Romero are performing this season

Last season, things fell apart down at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the crux of this issue was indeed the leaky defence, rectified and then some with the summer acquisitions of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and athletic centre-half Micky van de Ven to slot into Postecoglou’s system.