The similarities between Postecoglou and Pochettino’s second season at Tottenham Hotspur | OneFootball

With just one win, one draw, and two losses in their opening four games of the Premier League so far, Tottenham Hotspur have recorded their worst start to a season since the 2015/16 campaign, and Ange Postecoglou is already coming under increased scrutiny by fans, pundits and the media in his second year at the North London club.

Questions are being asked to whether he can fulfill his job to restore the quality of performances akin to those Spurs experienced under former manager Mauricio Pochettino, and ultimately even take them further in their quest to gain some silverware.

The irony is though, that although the underwhelming start to Postecoglou’s second season does warrant criticism, it bares significant similarities to Pochettino’s second year, and therefore doubts over whether he is the right man for the job should not come so hastily.

For instance, the start to that 15/16 season was also Mauricio Pochettino’s second in charge at the then-named White Hart Lane, and marked the beginning of a year in which Spurs arguably came closer to winning the Premier League as they ever have before – finishing in third place after a disappointing end to the season as Leicester City triumphantly claimed the title.

In fact, The Argentine’s side started that season even worse off than Postecoglou’s have, only losing once but failing to win once as they scored three times and conceded four – versus the latter’s six goals for and four against.

However, it was after those four fixtures that The LilyWhites really clicked into gear under the new USMNT manager, with their next league loss coming 12 games later – albeit only half of those 12 were wins.

It’s important to note that this isn’t necessarily a direct comparison of the two sides, nor does it say that Postecoglou’s men will now go on a remarkable unbeaten streak and challenge for the title. Rather, it is more to highlight how the opening four games to a campaign really can’t be an indicator of how the rest of the season will go, or whether the contemporary issues will remain or be overcome.

The same goes for the adverse situation; in that any potential advantages gained may also dissipate, and are even more likely to be mitigated against by opponents as more games are played, and more tactical analysis is carried out.

There’s not many more pertinent examples of this than Nuno Espírito Santo’s disastrous 10-game spell at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

At first glance, the now-Nottingham Forest head coach started remarkably well, at Spurs, winning 1-0 against Wolves, Watford, and reigning champions Manchester City on the opening day, in three performances not dissimilar to Forest’s at Anfield this weekend.

However, as those narrow scorelines suggest, those results weren’t sustainable, and Spurs proceeded to suffer back-to-back losses away to Crystal Palace and home to Chelsea, before a shameful 3-1 defeat in a North London Derby at the Emirates Stadium.

Unsurprisingly, Nuno was sacked at the end of November. The less said about his successor, Antonio Conte, the better, but the dismal state of affairs the Italian left Spurs in must be considered when analysing their current situation.

This is not just due to the difficulties posed by the mass rebuild Postecoglou has been tasked with, but also because Tottenham have already tried the ‘win now’ approach, and, so, for both Spurs fans and hierarchy, there is no optimal alternative to showing patience and belief in Postecoglou right now.

This is where Pochettino‘s spell becomes relevant again. Not only was the 15/16 campaign impressive in of itself, but it was followed by Spurs’ greatest season in the Premier League to date, as they finished with 86 points as runners-up behind Conte’s Chelsea, before then completing two consecutive top four finishes and memorably reaching a Champions League final in 2019.

To reiterate, this isn’t suggesting that Postecoglou’s side will go on to replicate these performances. After all, the level of consistent, top-quality performances needed to compete in the English top flight now is far superior to those required during Pochettino’s tenure – which predominantly took place just prior to Pep Guardiola’s City becoming the near-unstoppable forces they are today, as well as being before the likes of Liverpool and latterly Arsenal properly started to challenge The Citizens.

As such, the similarities between the two coaches can be used to demonstrate the potential value created for a team by sticking with a manager throughout a rough spell, getting behind them, and trusting them to progress their side in the way they believe they can do.

Of course, this can’t be blind faith, there must be acknowledgment of the issues at hand – in this case, space left on the counter attack and defending set pieces. Whilst there does also need to be some positive signs to indicate performances are moving in the right direction – for example, Spurs attaining the highest possession, second most shots and second most touches in the attacking penalty area on target in the division so far this season.

Both factors are vital, but even more so is the manager’s conviction in their plan and philosophy. Thankfully for Spurs, you’d be hard-pressed to find one with more steadfast self-belief than Postecoglou, who, in his own words, “always” wins a trophy in his second season at a club.

Time will tell whether that statement remains to be true come the end of next May, but one thing for certain is that if Postecoglou wants to take Tottenham one step further than Pochettino did, he’ll need to take a page out of the latter’s book and turn things around for Spurs quickly; before he’s no longer provided the opportunity to do so.

Travis Levison | Get Football