inews

One-nil to the Arsenal was a key identifier for the Gunners back in George Graham’s day.

A win by the same score in the north London derby would not only appeal to ironic impulses among the Spurs diaspora, it would give Ange Postecoglou a much-needed trust injection following a bedevilling start to the season.

Tottenham Hotspur are already five points adrift from Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the table despite playing well enough.

There could be no better way for them to amplify their top-four credentials than with a victory over their haughty neighbours, one that on this occasion would propel them above Arsenal.

Postecoglou has yet to better Mikel Arteta in this fixture. Spurs were scintillating in taking the lead at Leicester City and dominated for long spells at Newcastle United, but won neither. In the peak flow of James Maddison-inspired creativity, Spurs gave full expression to Postecoglou’s attacking philosophy. Frustratingly the talking points were all negative.

Spurs pumped Leicester only to be Jamie Vardy-ed after the break. Newcastle were clinging to parity at St James’s Park before Alexander Isak escaped to claim a wholly undeserved winner. In both games Spurs easily had more of the ball and had twice as many shots as their opponents.

Postecoglou is not in Erik ten Hag country when he paints a healthy picture of how different the table might look had outcomes reflected the play. But he does need a win to substantiate his claims. The international break at least allowed for rational reflection, as much at least as the febrile crucible of Premier League football will permit.

“I’ve never felt like there is an easy way to success,” Postecoglou said.

“I don’t think one thing can change the trajectory to a great effect. It helps, a win in a big game, in a derby, but it’s a game against one of the top sides so that gives you more belief and confidence and potentially that can inject some real momentum into our season.

“The last two years they [Arsenal] have had a real relentlessness about them. They haven’t had to change their team too much. They have this confidence in themselves that they can challenge over the course of a season. That helps build momentum from season to season. They’re going to be a tough nut to crack, but it’s a great opportunity for us.”

To a degree, Postecoglou is still carrying the scars of that home defeat to City last season as the champions powered towards a fourth consecutive title. It was a contest that seemed to expose Postecoglou as a coach no nearer to repairing the “Spursy” fault lines that frame the club as one lacking substance when it matters.

Postecoglou arrived on a ticket of positivism, a full-bore optimist who would reset the thinking at the club and embed a fresh dynamic. He would embrace the attacking traditions with which Spurs have always been associated, but reinforce the approach with no-nonsense, say-it-as-it-is Aussie steel.

All that was stripped away on that day in May, hollowed out by an Erling Haaland double.

If he were not aware of it before, it was a match that revealed to Postecoglou the puzzling psychology of some Spurs fans, who were urging him to throw the game to prevent Arsenal winning the title. That and Haaland triggered in Postecoglou the full force of Aussie diplomacy, admonishing a dissenter with a filthy mouth behind the dugout as he might a drunk in a Melbourne bar.

Postecoglou took pride in his team’s performance but was unsettled by the atmosphere in the ground. He struggled to reconcile the view of fans advocating for a strategic defeat with a life’s work preparing teams to win, or at least to take it to the opposition unconditionally. In his second season he finds himself negotiating familiar Spurs territory, even if results do not reflect progress made.

So a fixture already charged with meaning acquires greater significance for him since he risks giving up the gains made in an upbeat first year with the team. He is notionally helped by the unavailability of Arsenal’s charismatic playmaker Martin Odegaard, sidelined with injury, and the suspended Declan Rice, which rips from the Gunners midfield its principal creative spring and its anchor. Mikel Merino is out too.

Arteta might also be without new centre-back Riccardo Calafiori, who was injured playing for Italy against France. This, coupled with the returns of Spurs’ big summer investment Dominic Solanke up front and defender Micky van de Ven, is the kind of serendipitous twist that impacts results.

“We want to be a club that can challenge everyone,” Postecoglou said.

“That’s what we are trying to become. To do that, you’ve got to perform at a certain level, at a consistent basis. The squad’s strong enough to do that.

“We’ve started the season fairly solidly, from a performance perspective. The results haven’t reflected that, but I think we’re in a good place to push on from last year and improve in all areas. There’s no reason why we can’t.”

Arsenal could be without three key midfielders for Sunday’s North London Derby after Martin Odegaard was substituted with an injury while playing for Norway.

Mikel Arteta already knows he will be without Declan Rice after he picked up a red card against Brighton, making Odegaard’s potential absence all the more concerning.

Meanwhile, Spanish midfielder Mikel Merino is also out with a shoulder injury having not played a minute since signing from Real Sociedad last summer.

The Gunners have already dropped points in their hunt to finally topple Manchester City, drawing 1-1 in the match against Fabian Hurzeler’s Seagulls, and head to the Etihad to face Pep Guardiola’s side the Sunday after they visit Tottenham.

What we know about Martin Odegaard’s injury so far

In the 67th minute of Norway’s eventual 2-1 Nations League win over Austria, Odegaard was slide-tackled by RB Leipzig midfielder Christoph Baumgartner.

He instantly appeared in pain, rolling around on the floor while grabbing his ankle.

Two team physios then treated him on the pitch before carrying him off, with the Norway captain clearly limping when walking unaided and appearing to hold back tears.

Post-match, Norway manager Stale Solbakken said: “It looked bad in the changing room. He had no chance of continuing. I’m not sure Arteta will call me tonight and praise me.”

And the Norwegian team doctor Ola Sand explained: “Martin is doing quite well now. He got a small ankle sprain. We will see throughout the evening and tomorrow what happens next and what we will do about it.

“Ankle sprains are difficult to deal with straight away, so we almost have to see how things go forward. We will examine him when we are back at the hotel. Maybe we use ultrasound to look at it. If we are unsure, there will be an MRI tomorrow.”

Will Martin Odegaard miss the North London Derby?

This entirely depends on the severity of the ankle sprain.

In the least severe cases, players can recover from an ankle sprain in anything from two to 10 days, with Arsenal’s crucial match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium coming six days after Odegaard’s injury.

However, if it is a second- or third-degree sprain, players can miss anywhere from a couple of weeks to three months as they wait for the ligaments to heal.

It is worth saying it is unlikely Odegaard’s injury is quite so serious given the situation in which he sustained it, but it would still have to be as minor as possible to give him time to recover and train pre-Spurs.

However, as he was also substituted against Brighton after a “couple of knocks”, it is possible Arteta and Arsenal decide to exercise caution this weekend.

An injury any longer than a week could have a massive impact on Arsenal’s season, as they face three crucial matches in seven days, starting at Spurs before visiting Atalanta in their Champions League opener and heading to the Etihad the following Sunday.

As Sand called it a “small ankle sprain”, it is much more likely he misses one-to-three weeks, especially with the capabilities of Arsenal’s medical department, and there are painkilling injections he may be able to have to play on Sunday.

Arsenal’s doctors were already in contact with their Norwegian counterparts on Monday evening and Odegaard will return to north London to be assessed by the club on Tuesday.

How Arsenal can replace Martin Odegaard

In short, this isn’t easy. Odegaard is a crucial figure for Arsenal and with Rice, Merino and even left-back Riccardo Calafiori now absent for Sunday’s game, the Gunners are thin on the ground.

Arteta’s hopes should be boosted against Spurs by the return of Gabriel Jesus, who could allow Kai Havertz to slip into Odegaard’s midfield role.

Another option would be 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, a highly-rated academy talent who is still the youngest player to play in the Premier League having made his debut aged 15.

This would be a massive step up for Nwaneri in a hugely pressured situation, but with Merino and Rice also injured, Arteta may have little choice.

Every Tottenham Hotspur fan watching their team miss chance after chance to take the lead against Newcastle United knew what was coming.

Such impotent dominance made defeat practically inevitable. No Premier League team does self-sabotage quite as consistently and spectacularly as Tottenham do, except for maybe Everton.

St James’ Park has been a cursed ground for Spurs in recent years, a haunted house of humiliation. They lost 5-1 there in May 2016 to an already relegated team and were demolished 6-1 and 4-0 in their previous two visits before Sunday.

Those beatings were painful for Tottenham supporters but there comes a point during a thrashing when amusement at the level of incompetence kicks in, once the anger and apathy have subsided. Losses are harder to absorb when they are undeserved.

Spurs were largely excellent in defeat on Sunday. Other than the first 15 minutes, Tottenham outplayed their opponents and top four rivals for sustained periods.

Both of Newcastle’s goals came completely against the run of play: from the 20th minute until half-time, Spurs had eight shots to Newcastle’s one but conceded the opening goal to Harvey Barnes; from the 69th minute until the 79th, Spurs had six shots to Newcastle’s two but conceded the winning goal to Alexander Isak.

Despite their dominance, they ended up with nothing. It felt like a Groundhog Day repeat of their first away game of the season against Leicester City when they failed to take advantage of their opportunities and were punished for it.

From the first minute until the 56th at the King Power, Tottenham had 13 attempts to Leicester’s one and led 1-0. Jamie Vardy equalised with the Foxes’ second shot and it ended in a draw that felt like a defeat given Leicester’s much-publicised problems post-promotion.

Across those two away fixtures, Spurs had 35 shots, allowed 16 attempts on Guglielmo Vicario’s goal, and enjoyed a 68 per cent average possession share. They scored just twice (including a Dan Burn own goal), conceded three times and took just one point.

Ange Postecoglou described the result as a “sore one” in which Tottenham didn’t get the “rewards for our play”. It was a fair assessment but given it was by no means the first time that Spurs have lost in such a manner, there is a danger of Postecoglou’s words sounding hollow with his side again undone by familiar failings.

There is no doubt that Postecoglou has made Spurs more progressive in their style of play and better to watch compared to his predecessors. Their attacking intent was notable in the North-east, especially in the context of their recent history there. Over 40 per cent of the game was played in Newcastle’s own defensive third, but for the most part it was sterile supremacy.

Wayward finishing, rushed decision-making and static movement in the penalty area cost Spurs. The lack of a natural striker didn’t help with Dominic Solanke and Richarlison both missing. Even Son Heung-min was caught on his heels when Brennan Johnson flashed a low ball across the six-yard box.

A criticism of Postecoglou is that his team is too one-dimensional in the attacking phase. Spurs aim to create one vs one situations out wide and load the box for cutbacks and crosses from the byline. That ploy worked pretty well at Newcastle, particularly after Johnson came on at half-time, with his pace and surging runs causing plenty of problems and leading to the equaliser.

However, when low block defences shut down those avenues out wide, Spurs can look ponderous and pedestrian as they knock the ball around outside the penalty area, hoping a magical gap appears before one of James Maddison or Pedro Porro launches an ambitious shot into a row of bodies.

Tottenham can make it look incredibly difficult to score and incredibly easy to concede. Often it takes just one direct ball through midfield for their defence to get caught out.

Barnes almost scored from a Nick Pope punt upfield before finding the net later on in the first-half, while Isak should have squared to Barnes to score his second after breaching the high line, before benefiting from a mirror-image chance after Jacob Murphy had made the exact same run.

Although most fans remain behind Postecoglou, discontent is growing as the same deficiencies play out on repeat.

Angeball is underpinned by a risk vs reward philosophy, but if the rewards are too infrequent and the risks exposed too regularly inevitably there will be a discussion over whether the payoff is worth it.

At what point does the overall strategy become a problem rather than a solution? Spurs have won just two of their last 12 away games, one of which was against Sheffield United and kept only three clean sheets in their last 24.

The Postecoglou project requires patience, but that is a trait that has long worn thin among a fanbase desperate to see their team win a trophy. The style of play has improved but not by enough to make a marked change in outcome. Since New Year’s Day, Tottenham have only won one more league game than they have lost.

Fingers have been pointed in Daniel Levy’s direction once more over a summer transfer window in which Spurs prioritised up-and-coming potential to ready-made difference-makers, Solanke aside.

There is a sense that Postecoglou hasn’t been given all the tools he needs to succeed. The failure to sign a left-back to compete with Destiny Udogie was negligent. An energetic ball-winner could have helped plug the gaping gaps in midfield and a goalscoring wide forward could have made the difference in the first two away games.

The season has only just begun but doubts over Spurs’ direction of travel have already crept in. More pain could follow soon: Tottenham play Arsenal in their first game after the international break.

Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham (Barnes 37′, Isak 78′ | Burn 56′ og)

ST JAMES’ PARK — Newcastle United may have lost the transfer window but they keep winning games.

A summer of frayed patience and recruitment regression has shaken faith at St James’ Park so this felt like a significant victory to end one of the most difficult weeks of Eddie Howe’s tenure.

“Massive” was the phrase he landed on to describe it afterwards and with club chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and various other representatives of majority owners the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia present, he was not dealing in hyperbole. The manner of the victory sent a message.

Al-Rumayyan was sat between chief executive Darren Eales and director of football Paul Mitchell here, his presence apparently a visible show of support in the club’s power brokers after a testing transfer window that saw Newcastle fail to land a single player capable of lifting the level of their starting XI.

Sources, however, say that for all the noise, the feeling inside the club is “calm”.

The usual post-window review will be held over the next fortnight but it seems as if there will be no blame game in the boardroom.

Still, wins like this have the capacity to change seasons – especially when they arrive with the team still struggling to get out of third gear.

At the same stage as this last season Newcastle played well but carelessly let a lead slip to 10-man Liverpool. Momentum in their chase for the top four was never really regained. Beating Tottenham Hotspur while playing so far below their best might well have the opposite effect this term.

And make no mistake, they had to trawl their reserves of character to prevail here.

Their trademark aggression remains absent and there was little fluency about their work but they found a way even with their brightest attacking sparks continuing to flicker in and out of games.

It summed up this contest that Dan Burn – largely excellent – put through his own net while Alexander Isak – largely anonymous – rolled home the winner.

“It was massive. You need to win at any stage but when there’s difficult moments – and this transfer window has been tough for us – it’s even more important,” Howe said.

“It enables you to see things more clearly and move foward with positive momentum.”

Sometimes playing badly and prevailing is an ominous portent but it doesn’t necessarily feel like that at St James’ Park.

Their transfer failures may yet come back to bite Howe but the overall feel is of a team that will get better as the nights draw in.

The honesty in Howe’s appraisal of this win was encouraging, as was his reassurance afterwards that there has not been a jolt away from the energy and aggression which accompanied their run to the Champions League places in 2023.

“I don’t think we’re playing as we’d like, that’s obvious,” he said.

Howe confessed that Anthony Gordon is undercooked after a stop-start summer with England rather than suffering from a lack of focus after those unsettling links to Liverpool.

“I don’t think we’re playing with enough control or enough composure but what we are showing is the defensive and aggressive qualities you need to win football matches,” was his succinct summary.

It was certainly the case that Newcastle’s defensive players were the better performers.

Joelinton stemmed the tide when Spurs were overrunning the midfield and a word too for unheralded Emil Krafth, playing for only the second time as a centre-back in a back four.

He managed to snuff out Son Heung-min and was a big reason why Brennan Johnson – summoned from the bench at the interval to good effect by Ange Postecoglou – was unable to convert some of his good work into goals.

Of the others Harvey Barnes was lethal in the penalty box, steering home Lloyd Kelly’s cross to hand Newcastle the lead in an edgy first half.

Nick Pope performed heroics but inexplicably parried James Maddison’s effort into Johnson’s path in the run-up to Tottenham’s equaliser.

You feared the worst but Newcastle’s resolve wrestled the game back from the brink.

So where now? Al-Rumayyan’s presence suggests inertia isn’t an option. This version of Newcastle will not be hiding away seems to be the message.

What PIF made of the fractured summer remains the topic on everyone’s lips, even if the team are handily placed heading into the international break.

While Newcastle failed in one regard, Howe suggested money saved would be reinvested to give them a stronger position in the transfer market. What it felt like was a mess, the electricity of a late bid for Anthony Elanga fizzling out almost as soon as the link had emerged.

Newcastle insiders suggest excitable talk of a £50m offer being lodged is inaccurate, a spin being applied to the story to make Nottingham Forest look good for resisting it. He is a player of interest – one that they might return to in January – but there was no blind panic.

Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Rangers have learned their Europa League opponents following a new-look draw.

Much like the Champions League, the tournament’s format has been revamped for the 2024-25 season, with the four-team group stages replaced by a single 36-team league stage.

Each club faces eight different teams once, four at home and four away. The top eight teams from the league progress to the last 16, with the clubs who finish from ninth to 24th then contesting two-legged play-offs.

The draw may have looked familiar to begin with. Balls were drawn out of the hat in the usual way, but their fixtures were then allocated using automated computer software.

Artificial intelligence also dictated which of their matches will be played home and which are away.

Spurs are back in the Europa League for the first time since 2020-21, while Manchester United feared missing out on a European place altogether having finished eighth in the Premier League last season, though they eventually qualified courtesy of their FA Cup final victory over Manchester City.

Qualifying matches concluded on Thursday evening with Ajax, Anderlecht and Besiktas making it through, while Hearts were knocked out.

You can find the draw in full here.

Man Utd fixtures

Rangers (H)

Porto (A)

PAOK (H)

Fenerbahce (A)

Bodo/Glimt (H)

Viktoria Plzen (A)

Twente (H)

Steaua Bucharest (A)

Tottenham fixtures

Rangers (A)

Roma (H)

AZ Alkmaar (H)

Ferencvaros (A)

Qarabag (H)

Galatasaray (A)

Elfsborg (H)

Hoffenheim (A)

Rangers fixtures

Tottenham (H)

Man Utd (A)

Lyon (H)

Olympiacos (A)

Union Saint-Gilloise (H)

Malmo (A)

Steaua Bucharest (H)

Nice (A)

Europa League schedule

Exact dates and kick-off times are to be confirmed.

Tottenham 4-0 Everton (Bissouma 14′, Son 25′, 77′, Romero 71′)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — Ange Postecoglou said recently “some trust-building needs to happen” between Yves Bissouma and his Tottenham peers. How much trust does a thunderbastard and near-perfect performance as a lone No 6 earn?

In his first match since his one-game suspension after being filmed inhaling laughing gas, Bissouma proved exactly why he’s worth trusting: 73 of his 79 passes completed – a match high when he was substituted – five long balls, two tackles and his first Spurs goal.

Everton had just one shot on target and less than 30 per cent possession while he was on the pitch, both an indictment of their increasingly obvious flaws and proof of Bissouma’s consummate midfield showing.

Given James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski functioned as twin attacking midfielders in a Pep Guardiola-esque 4-1-4-1, Bissouma was effectively left to handle Abdoulaye Doucoure, Tim Iroegbunam and Idrissa Gueye alone.

A starting lineup including four wingers could have indicated Postecoglou had decided to do away with a midfield altogether, but really Bissouma just played the roles of three men. His goal, struck with searing force from the edge of the area, was a cathartic release of recent frustrations and a shining example of why he’s worth fighting for.

Now, redemption is a long and complex process, but Postecoglou and his wayward charge have a rare opportunity to work together towards a mutually beneficial goal.

Bissouma’s celebration said as much as his performance. Flanked by Heung-min Son, he sprinted to the corner flag and put his index fingers to both temples, signalling his supposed renewed mental toughness and togetherness.

He then apologised to the fans, bowing with his palms joined in a prayer for forgiveness, before displaying a heart and running over to embrace his boss.

Perennially late and forgetful, once caught speeding five times in six weeks by the same camera and recipient of two red cards last season alone, the reasons not to believe Bissouma is capable of tangible change are obvious.

“You know what it’s like when you punish your child and they do everything right for the next two days,” Postecoglou said earlier in the week. Maybe this performance is just the behaviour of someone keen to get off the naughty list.

Or maybe it’s the first showing of the new Yves, the first day of a future in which Spurs eventually find a way to fashion stability out of their individual brand of footballing chaos.

His willingness to interact with the fanbase and take responsibility for his actions suggests the desire to focus on football is there. The challenge is now maintaining that desire, not letting old habits and temptations seep back through.

If he continues at the level he demonstrated against Everton, there’s a fair argument Bissouma could be the perfect Postecoglou No 6.

Signing a true defensive midfielder is always unlikely to suit Angeball, which has no real place for a simple ball recycler. Bissouma’s flaws align with the concessions his manager is willing to make defensively in exchange for rapid ball progression and scintillating attacking play.

Far better at progressing the ball than he is recovering it, Bissouma is dynamic and tenacious enough to provide a hard edge Spurs often lack and his experience should be vital in a young yet prodigious dressing room.

“Biss was good – we know Biss is a good footballer – it’s about him being the best version of himself,” Postecoglou said after the game. “Discipline is a big thing for him and I thought it was a disciplined performance.

“There’s no doubt he has that ability to do something special. But he needs to make sure he endeavours to do everything right on and off the field to give himself the platform to show who he can be as a footballer.

“We certainly believe in him and we’re certainly giving him an opportunity, but that’s not a never-ending thread. It’s really up to him to keep going on.”

Perhaps it has taken Bissouma’s lowest moment to discover the necessary clarity, to comprehend the talent and opportunity he could spurn and and grand possibilities ahead of him.

Step-by-step, day-by-day, 20-yard-screamer by 20-yard screamer, he can construct the foundations of both the career he should have and the success Postecoglou’s innovation and principle increasingly deserves.

It took Tottenham just one game to provide the most meme-able image of the Premier League season so far.

The sight of Ange Postecoglou crouched on his haunches staring intently at the ground as if trying to laser it open so he could vanish from sight after a late Richarlison miss was the defining image of Spurs’ 1-1 draw against Leicester on Monday.

It summed up what was an incredibly frustrating evening for Postecoglou, his players and the club’s supporters, in which two familiar flaws from last season resurfaced.

The first, as Postecoglou alluded to after the game, was a lack of efficiency in the penalty area. Spurs had 12 shots in the box, the joint second-highest total across the opening weekend, and hit the target seven times but only scored once.

Spurs finished sixth in the Premier League’s big chances missed table and were the lowest-scoring team in the top seven in Postecoglou’s debut campaign.

“We have to be stronger in our mindset in the front third,” he said. “To be that wasteful is disappointing. We just weren’t clinical. To get results you need to be a lot more ruthless in the final third. If we don’t, we won’t get the rewards our football should get.”

The second was the concession of an avoidable goal, the ultimate punishment for the profligacy at the other end. Cristian Romero followed the ball like an enthusiastic puppy, leaving Jamie Vardy completely free to nod in the equaliser at the back post.

At 1-0, Spurs are always walking a tightrope having developed a severe allergy to keeping clean sheets. They have only kept two in their last 22 league matches. They let in 61 goals in total in 2023-24, more than double Arsenal’s total.

The lack of cutting edge is undoubtedly an issue but it is one that Postecoglou hopes can be alleviated by Dominic Solanke, who scored 19 goals for Bournemouth last season. He fared well on his debut, although missed a couple of big chances.

The defensive problems are arguably more glaring, though, and amplified given the individual quality of the back five.

Guglielmo Vicario has proven to be a more than capable replacement for the long-serving Hugo Lloris. Pedro Porro is one of the best attacking full-backs in the league and Destiny Udogie is equally influential on the other side. Romero has been a pillar of Argentina’s recent trophy successes. Micky van de Ven’s pace makes him a counter-attack cheat code. Radu Dragusin was one of the best centre-backs of Euro 2024.

And yet Spurs look in danger of conceding a goal anytime the opposition ventures into their half, let alone inside their own box. There will always be a fine balance between Postecoglou’s risk vs reward approach that requires the back four to squeeze up to the halfway line, leaving oceans of space behind them.

The issue is not so much the skyscraper high line, but the ease with which teams can bypass their midfield and advance on the defence. Poor individual decision-making in defence, like Romero’s against Leicester, will cost Spurs, but structural faults higher up are leading to the back five being overworked. They really struggle in defensive transitions.

While offering protection is not just the job of one player – Postecoglou expects all of his front six to press with intensity and aggression – it is obvious that the defensive midfield position has been a problem during the Angeball era.

Yves Bissouma is too inconsistent, a world-beater one moment and a liability the next. Rodrigo Bentancur, who started at the base on Monday before going off with a horror head injury, is better suited to a box-to-box role. Both are excellent players but neither have fully convinced under Postecoglou. They have both made serious lapses in judgement in recent months too.

The squad spaces vacated by Oliver Skipp and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s moves to Leicester and Marseille respectively have been partly filled by the additions of Archie Gray from Leeds and Lucas Bergvall from Djurgardens, but they are both are 18 and untested at the highest level. Superstars of the future perhaps, but not yet the present.

They need an established No 6 to push on from last season and links to Wolves’ Brazilian ball-winner Joao Gomes this week appear to make a great deal of sense.

At 23-years-old and with a season-and-a-half of Premier League football under his belt, Gomes hits the Spurs sweet spot of being both young enough to develop and experienced enough to slot into the starting XI right away.

He is a tenacious, energetic midfielder, who you’d think would be the ideal candidate to take Angeball up a gear.

Joao Palhinha, formerly of Fulham and now of Bayern Munich, was the only player to attempt more tackles than Gomes in the Premier League last season. He also ranked fifth in the league for tackles and interceptions combined.

His ability to sniff out danger and disrupt opposition attacks is precisely what Spurs need. Too often Romero and Van de Ven are required to backpedal furiously cartoon style as a swarm of attackers descend on Vicario’s goal. It is too easy to play through the Spurs midfield.

“Ange Postecoglou has taken Tottenham back to what we always associated with Tottenham and a lot of that is good – attacking play, great on the eye,” Jamie Carragher said on Monday Night Football. “But you always feel like they can let you down and concede a goal.”

The accusation that Spurs are a soft touch is a long-established one, rolled out fairly and otherwise, whenever they cede a winning position. But the defensive numbers since Postecoglou took charge do not lie. Unless Spurs can fortify their midfield, they risk another season of frustration.

When Ange Postecoglou guided Brisbane Roar to a second successive A-League title in 2012, Nick Montgomery was packing his bags and heading down under.

His 15 years at Sheffield United had ended and he joined the Central Coast Mariners, helping them to Grand Final glory in his first season as a player before repeating the feat as their manager in 2022-23.

Montgomery’s title success – with the youngest team and smallest budget in the competition – saw him headhunted by Hibernian last September after turning down offers elsewhere.

Although his Hibs tenure turned sour, Postecoglou appointed the 42-year-old Yorkshireman as an assistant coach at Tottenham Hotspur in June after Chris Davies left to take over at Birmingham City.

It rekindled a long-standing acquaintance as Montgomery tells i: “In my first year in Australia, I won the league with the Mariners as a player, but Ange’s Brisbane Roar had been champions in the previous two seasons.

“That was Ange’s first big job and I always enjoyed watching how his teams played and their attacking philosophy.

“He had a lot of success and from there he moved to Melbourne Victory before taking charge of Australia and then succeeding in Japan and at Celtic prior to joining Tottenham last season.

“After I retired and moved into coaching with the Mariners, Ange was one of the first people to congratulate me when we won the A-League Grand Final last year.

“He had kept an eye on the competition because he’s Australian and started out there, so I know how much he valued what I had achieved.

“Ange is a great guy, a big family man, and has an aura and discipline about him.

“He’s very clear how he wants to play and it’s down to us as coaches to plan and create training sessions which allow the team to develop how he wants to play in his attacking, possession-based style.

“Ange is a world-class manager, he gives confidence to his players and staff and has delivered success everywhere he’s been.

“You can see the culture he’s building here at Tottenham; there’s a real collective desire with all the players and staff pulling in the same direction which is so important.

“Ange is very big on that, he puts a lot of trust in his staff, and I’m learning every day.

“He doesn’t speak a lot but when he does, everyone listens. That’s a very powerful thing for a manager.”

Montgomery was on the books of his hometown club Leeds United before breaking through at Bramall Lane and helping Neil Warnock’s side to reach the Premier League in 2006.

“I always believed I could get there as a player and be on Match of the Day,” Montgomery adds.

“I remember watching it and thinking ‘that’s exactly what I’ve been working for’.

“I was never the most talented player, but with hard work, honesty and staying humble you can achieve anything in life.

“When we won the A-League with the Mariners in 2023, Neil Warnock rang to congratulate me.

“I learnt a lot from playing under him for many years at Sheffield United as well as many other managers I worked under.

“I loved my time playing and then managing in Australia. My wife and our three daughters had built a whole new life there.”

Montgomery’s work on the sun-kissed New South Wales coast certainly earned him plenty of admiring glances.

He rebuilt the Mariners’ academy, nurturing plenty of talents who were routinely sold to clubs throughout Europe and Asia and developed into internationals at youth and senior level.

After thriving in the top job, Montgomery, who won two Scotland Under-21 caps, was appointed by Hibernian last autumn on a three-year deal.

He took over at a time of crisis with the club winless and in the SPFL relegation zone having sacked Lee Johnson.

“When I accepted the Hibs job, Ange once again messaged me, saying ‘good luck’ because he had only recently left Celtic to take over at Tottenham,” Montgomery explains.

“He knew what a tough challenge it was and respected me for that because Hibs had endured a dreadful start to the season and been through several managers.

“Having rejected several offers from elsewhere, I was brave enough to take on the job knowing the issues that Hibs had.”

Montgomery was sacked in May after just eight months in charge, continuing a revolving door at which left Hibs searching for their sixth manager in four years.

“The project was supposed to be centred on rebuilding the following summer with a clear direction moving forward,” Montgomery says.

“I’d had the youngest team in the A-League with the Mariners but Hibs had the oldest squad in the SPFL.

“They promised they would allow me to rebuild the team in the summer and reduce the average age of the team.

“I gave 16-year-old Rory Whittaker his debut, took them to a League Cup semi-final, Scottish Cup quarter-final and just missed out on the top six.

“I lost players to the Africa Cup of Nations and the Asia Cup in January and, whereas the previous manager spent heavily, I only brought in a few loans but I signed Myziane Maolida and he scored 11 goals in 18 games.

“The club’s recruitment strategy didn’t align with mine and what we had spoken about when I accepted the job, so we parted ways.

“Nevertheless, we came very close to achieving all the targets despite facing so many challenges. I remain very proud of my time at Hibernian and wish the club well.”

Montgomery is loving life under Postecoglou after joining Spurs with Sergio Raimundo, his assistant at the Mariners and Hibs.

“I was getting offered other jobs when I left Hibs, but when Ange contacted me it was perfect timing,” Montgomery explains.

Postecoglou’s team toured South Korea and Japan in pre-season as they bid to improve on last term’s fifth-placed finish and win a first trophy since 2008.

Montgomery says: “It’s a strong squad and Son Heung-min, our captain, is one of the most humble and genuine guys you’ll ever meet.

“Around him are some really good characters and leaders, plus we’ve signed some fantastic young players and developing them is something I’ve always been passionate about.

“Ange has already blooded teenagers like Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall into the first team, which shows how brave he is as a manager.”

Ambition pulses loudly at Spurs heading into the new season and Montgomery says: “The fanbase, the training ground and the stadium are unbelievable.

“Ange wants to win everything and that mentality is something I’m embracing.”

Does Montgomery harbour a desire to become a manager again?

“Right now, that’s not even on my mind as I’m loving being back in the Premier League and working under Ange in a good environment – I’ll embrace every moment,” he adds with a smile.

Tottenham Hotspur remain locked in negotiations with Bournemouth over Dominic Solanke – but want to do a deal below his £65m release clause.

i understands talks are continuing over a move that would see Solanke join Spurs even in the wake of Richarlison turning down a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia.

Solanke has been identified as Tottenham’s preferred striker option but the prospect of a swift deal for the 26-year-old seems unlikely at this point.

It is understood the two sides remain apart on a valuation after talks this week.

Bournemouth are understandably reluctant to part with Solanke but the forward is keen on the move and the club could cash in if the price was right.

Solanke has three years left on his contract so his value is high and this would likely be the best time for the Cherries – who lost one of their prime assets Lloyd Kelly to Newcastle United for no fee after his contract expired earlier this summer – to cash out.

He scored 21 goals across all competitions last season, the best return of his Premier League career, and has aspirations of breaking into the England set-up before the World Cup in 2026.

Bournemouth’s situation is complicated by the need to source a replacement for their top scorer in a remarkably flat transfer market.

The almost universal feeling among Premier League executives and agents is that clubs are reluctant or unable to spend as freely as previous summers.

The market for Brentford’s Ivan Toney – valued close to £100m last summer and having enhanced his reputation with telling contributions at Euro 2024 for England – remains fairly flat with no bids having been tabled yet.

He has been linked with Spurs too but it appears as if Solanke is the preferred option for a position that Ange Postecoglou is desperate to strengthen.

Tottenham will be active before the transfer deadline but want to extract value from the market, which means that negotiations with Bournemouth have been difficult.

They will not have money from a Richarlison sale to play with either after he decided not to make a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia, with one club having tabled a bid for him.

“There has been an offer but my dream of playing for the Brazilian Selecao and in the Premier League speaks louder,” Richarlison told ESPN Brazil on Thursday.

Ipswich Town are preparing a bid to sign the Sunderland winger Jack Clarke.

The 23-year-old is valued in the region of £18m and continues Kieran McKenna’s policy of targeting young, English-bred footballers following Ipswich’s promotion to the Premier League.

Thus far, the Ipswich manager has signed winger Omari Hutchinson, centre-back Jason Greaves and forward Liam Delap. All are between 20-23 years old and learned their football at Chelsea, Hull City and Manchester City. Goalkeeper Arijanet Muric, signed from Burnley for £8m, is slightly older at 25 but is a graduate of the City academy.

Since joining from Tottenham Hotspur in 2022 for an undisclosed fee, Clarke has become the jewel in a Sunderland side that threatened to break into the play-off positions until the dismissal of Tony Mowbray as manager in December.

However, Sunderland will not see the full value of the transfer as Tottenham negotiated a 40 per cent sell-on fee when they sold Clarke in 2022.

If a deal for Clarke goes through, it will take Ipswich’s summer spending to around £70m, comfortably more than either of the other promoted clubs, Leicester City and Southampton.

Ipswich’s owners, American investment firm ORG, have been prepared to underwrite heavy spending in pursuit of success. When Ipswich won promotion from League One in 2023 they recorded an £18.2m loss.

In March this year, Bright Path Sports Partners, an American private equity firm, invested £105m in the club, funds which are now being aggressively and imaginatively to try to ensure Ipswich survive in the Premier League after a 22-year absence.

McKenna had been hoping to sign the Hull forward, Jaden Philogene, for around £18m, only to see the 22-year-old rejoin his former club Aston Villa with the promise he would be part of their Champions League squad. It was then that Ipswich’s attention turned to the North East.

Clarke, a product of the Leeds United academy who can play on either flank or as a forward, flourished under Marcelo Bielsa, whose protege Mauricio Pochettino paid £10m to take him to Spurs in 2019.