2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Andy Dunn)
Like every Tottenham supporter, Ange Postecoglou is excited about the development of Mikey Moore. Understandably so. Moore is as exciting an English attacking prospect as we have seen for some time.
After the Europa League win over AZ Alkmaar, in which Moore was outstanding, Postecoglou tempered his praise with a little caution, warning of over-exposing a 17-year-old to excessive physical rigours too quickly. But he could not disguise his thrill at the prospect of Moore taking centre-stage for Spurs. “Sometimes, young players are exciting but you can see pitfalls down the road, but I don’t see that with him,” said the Spurs manager.
“At 17, you think ...
what is he going to be like at 21? And hopefully, I am the manager then!” Considering Spurs had four big-name managers in the five years prior to Postecoglou’s arrival, that is a big hope. But don’t forget, Mauricio Pochettino lasted five and a half years at Tottenham so there is definitely a precedent for the current manager to last that long. Not only that, it is not hard, after a little less than a year and a half of the Aussie being at the club, to have a strong sense that Spurs and Ange is a very good fit.
Ok, their position in the Premier League table - eighth, with four wins from eight games - is unremarkable. But in each of their three losses - all by a single goal - Spurs have dominated possession and had more attempts on goal than their opponents had. It was hardly an eye-catching victory over AZ Alkmaar but the single goal success was, across all competitions, Tottenham’s eighth win of the season.
In 12 matches, they have scored 27 times. Such is our obsession with Manchester United’s struggles, one of THE performances of the season went heavily under-acclaimed when Spurs won 3-0 at Old Trafford. United might have been poor that day but Spurs were outstanding - and that was without Heung-min Son, who will again be missing when Tottenham face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park today.
Postecoglou has a very decent set of attacking options and Moore, despite the manager trying to keep a lid on expectations (and James Maddison likening the youngster to Neymar does not help), is now very much one of them. They are exciting times at Tottenham. The obvious caveat to any prediction of Spurs success this season is that exactly one year ago, Tottenham travelled to Selhurst Park, beat Palace 2-1 and were top of the table with 26 points, having won eight of their opening ten Premier League games.
They then lost three of their next four and drew the other, eventually finishing fifth in the table. But despite that implosion at Brighton, this feels like a Spurs team that is progressing under Postecoglou and it feels like he is growing into the job. There were a lot of sarcastic responses when Postecoglou recently said that he always wins a trophy in his second season at a club.
But there are enough signs from this Spurs team to suggest that trend will continue. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
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