“That’s how we need to play — our season starts now.”
Dejan Kulusevski perfectly summed up how the mood has been transformed among Tottenham Hotspur’s players, staff and supporters after they beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford.
Two weeks ago, fans were restless after Spurs lost at home to Arsenal in the north London derby. They had won only one of their first four games of the season and it looked like the problems that plagued them towards the end of the 2023-24 campaign had not been addressed. Tottenham were dominating the ball but struggling to create quality chances.
When they were losing 1-0 to Coventry City in the 87th minute of their third-round Carabao Cup tie, things threatened to become toxic. Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson led a remarkable comeback and since then, this team has looked in sync.
Sunday’s victory against Erik ten Hag’s side was the first time Tottenham have beaten a member of the Premier League’s traditional ‘Big Six’ away from home under Postecoglou and the result should kick their season into gear. The performance has to be the benchmark going forward.
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Spurs were magnificent in the first half. Postecoglou’s philosophy is about bravely playing out from the back and relentlessly pressing opponents high up the pitch. There was evidence throughout this game that Tottenham’s squad are becoming more comfortable with their head coach’s demands and are unafraid to persist when things go wrong.
In the 19th minute, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven baited United’s press. Van de Ven passed the ball around Alejandro Garnacho, Timo Werner nudged it past Matthijs de Ligt and Destiny Udogie had acres of space to drive into. Udogie found Kulusevski in the box and the move ended with Johnson striking the post.
Manuel Ugarte was making his first top-flight start for United and was never allowed to settle on the ball. Dominic Solanke pressed him from behind while James Maddison and Kulusevski charged at him from the front. Noussair Mazraoui was being overwhelmed by Werner and Udogie on the left wing. Tottenham suffocated their opponents and left them feeling dizzy.
They recorded an expected goals (xG, which measures the quality of a team’s chances) figure of 4.7. Tottenham were tearing United apart even before Bruno Fernandes’ red card for a foul on Maddison in the 42nd minute. Fernandes’ dismissal was not the catalyst for their implosion but just another symptom of it.
Van de Ven is an exceptional defender and his ability to drive up the pitch gives Postecoglou an extra weapon. Fernandes, Ugarte and Mazraoui looked scared to challenge the Netherlands international as he bulldozed his way into the box and set up Johnson to open the scoring.
The star of the show was Kulusevski. It is bizarre to think the Sweden international had spent the majority of his time on the right wing at Tottenham since he joined them on an initial 18-month loan deal from Juventus in January 2022. Postecoglou used him in central midfield last year and has continued with it this season. Kulusevski’s relationship with Maddison is blossoming and they possess the talent to carve teams apart.
“They are both really good intelligent footballers,” Postecoglou said in his post-match press conference. “The way we play suits their characteristics because Maddison does so much damage with the ball and Kulusevski does so much damage with his running. It’s a good balance for us in that attacking third.
“They also had to show good discipline today because we knew that the main threat Manchester United have is in the transition. They’re pretty lethal with the front guys they’ve got so we really wanted to make sure we locked them in today and that was the full-backs and for Maddison and Kulusevski to be really disciplined in their football. They’re both going really well and working really hard and improving.”
Kulusevski created nine chances, more than any other visiting player in a top-flight game at Old Trafford since Opta’s records began in 2003. He should have recorded at least two assists for perfectly timed through balls that sent Werner through on goal but his team-mate shot straight at Andre Onana on both occasions. Kulusevski called it a “dream to play at Old Trafford like this”.
“I’m growing as a player and I can play to my strengths,” he told The Athletic. “I’m the best in the middle, I can score goals, I can find good passes, then I play with Maddison, who’s unbelievable with the ball. We have Rodrigo Bentancur, who is an unbelievable player when he plays like this. It looks offensive on paper but it’s working really well.
“Our pressure in the first half was unbelievable. They couldn’t get the ball out. We won it every time. We won 3-0 but if we were clinical we would have won by more.”
What makes this result more impressive is that Tottenham found a way to cope without their captain Son Heung-min. The South Korea international felt fatigue in his hamstring during Thursday’s 3-0 win against Qarabag in the Europa League. It is the first time Son has missed a game through injury since November 2022 when he suffered a fractured eye socket. There are doubts about the finishing ability of Werner, who replaced Son in the starting line-up, but he kept running past Mazraoui and one clever pass in the first half created a good opportunity for Udogie.
There were lots of other positives, including Johnson scoring for the fourth game in a row. Lucas Bergvall, who looked heartbroken when he was substituted against Qarabag following Radu Dragusin’s red card, played a major role in Solanke’s goal with a crisp corner delivery. Dragusin replaced Van de Ven for the final few minutes and had the opportunity to quickly move on from his reckless moment on Thursday. Spence came on for Udogie, who felt pain in his right quad, at half-time and performed well in and out of possession.
Postecoglou has been repeatedly saying since the opening weekend that this team is improving and on Sunday, the signs were there for all to see.
(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)