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5 players that Ange Postecoglou has improved at Tottenham

Nestor Watach •

Ange Postecoglou has made an instant impact as Tottenham manager. The team look unrecognisable to the miserable mess they were at times last season.

Spurs have taken 26 points from 10 matches and seem to be enjoying playing this more positive, attacking style of play.

Summer additions like Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven and James Maddison have made brilliant starts, but some of the players that Postecoglou has inherited look completely transformed.

We’ve identified five Tottenham players that have already improved considerably under Postecoglou.

Son Heung-min

Okay, we already knew that Son is a brilliant footballer. He’s scored over 100 Premier League goals and been a brilliant club servant.

But he was far from his best amid Spurs’ struggles in 2022-23.

Postecoglou has responded by naming him captain, and he’s thrived in this leadership role, while looking a perfect fit in Harry Kane’s shoes up top. Postecoglou has got the South Korean back to his best – proving that last season was just a blip rather than the start of a decline.

We’re only 10 games into the 2023-24 campaign and he’s already just two goals away from matching last term’s tally.

Yves Bissouma

Big things were expected of Bissouma when he joined for a £25million fee from Brighton last summer. But Antonio Conte struggled to get him performing and he looked an awkward fit in the Italian’s favoured 3-4-2-1 formation.

After a debut season to forget, Bissouma has kicked on under Postecoglou and looks like he could yet become a successful signing for the club.

The 27-year-old has played almost every minute of Spurs’ strong start to the 2023-24 Premier League campaign and has been among their standout players.

Ignoring that daft red card for diving against Luton, Bissouma has barely put a foot wrong.

Pape Matar Sarr

Fabrizio Romano reported that Spurs turned down over four approaches for Sarr, who made just two Premier League starts last season.

The 21-year-old Senegal international vindicated Postecoglou’s faith with his best performance for the club in his first start under the Australian coach. He’s been a midfield mainstay ever since.

Not only did he get on the scoresheet but he produced a man-of-the-match performance with an energetic and positionally intelligent display in the centre of the pitch.

“Yeah, brilliant. He’s been great from the moment I arrived,” Postecoglou told reporters following Sarr’s first Tottenham goal in the 2-0 victory over Manchester United.

“He’s got a great energy about him, but he’s got quality there too.

“He’s one of those midfielders who causes the opposition real problems because whether it’s him running with the ball or without the ball, he runs forward, he runs aggressively and he disrupts the opposition.

“He’s just got a great temperament for a young guy. So really pleased for him.”

Cristian Romero

Nobody who watched Romero for Atalanta or Argentina would question Romero’s quality. The centre-back was outstanding in the World Cup last December.

He’s also had more than his fair share of moments for Spurs, particularly during Conte’s strong start – but he was often rash and ill-disciplined during Spurs’ disappointing 2022-23 season.

There were some question marks over whether he’d be able to control his aggression and be well-suited to Postecoglou’s high line and front-foot attacking approach. But so far he’s been quietly brilliant, particularly during the win over Manchester United.

It’s early days, but Romero has only picked up two cards, already has two goals, and Spurs look incredibly solid with him patrolling the backline. 

Pedro Porro

The Spanish defender arrived in January, prompting hope that he could give them a shot in the arm as they were really beginning to flail. Things didn’t quite work out that way and Porro looked lost and defensively suspect amid Spurs’ dismal latter half of the 2022-23 campaign.

Postecoglou opted for Emerson Royal in the opener against Brentford but has selected Porro in every game since.

Porro had one or two shaky moments against Manchester United, and was questioned by Gary Neville for straying into midfield, but he grew in confidence as the game went on, doing particularly well to win his duels and shut out Marcus Rashford.

He was similarly solid in later games and set-up the winning goal against Liverpool. He looks as though he’s won his place in Postecoglou’s favoured XI, and a key member of what’s arguably been the Premier League’s best back four of the season so far.

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