If Tottenham fans needed any evidence of how Australian manager Ange Postecoglou is set to shake up their world, a 30-second clip from a pre-season loss to Barcelona showed it all.
The Australian’s team wrapped up its pre-season with a 4-2 loss to the Spanish giants in the Joan Gamper Trophy, but once again showed that the dour style of play seen under the likes of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte is well and truly a thing of the past.
Despite fielding a second-string side with the likes of skipper Harry Kane and star winger Son Heung-min rested, Spurs led a mostly full-strength Barcelona side for the majority of the night before late goals to Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati and Abde Ezzalzouli sealed the win for the Spanish side.
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It has already been evident in the pre-season that the unwatchable Spurs sides from previous seasons are a distant memory, with Postecoglou getting the team playing a much more expansive style of football despite the end outcome of matches.
The play in question began with Spurs holding a 2-1 lead five minutes into the second half.
Davinson Sanchez, goalscorer Oliver Skipp and Erik Dier were penned into their own box as four Barcelona players surrounded them with an aggressive press, only for the Spurs trio to form a triangle as they whipped passes around would-be tacklers before getting out of danger.
However, just getting out of danger wasn’t enough for Postecoglou’s men, who caught Barcelona high up the pitch and turned defence into attack in a matter of seconds.
Although it didn’t result in a direct goal, the play showed a glimpse of what the Aussie manager will bring to the English Premier League this season.
Spurs ended the match with 14 shots on goal, equal to Barcelona, and had 44 per cent of the ball. Many teams this season will struggle to come away with those kinds of numbers against the Catalan giants on their home patch.
“The first half was excellent. They got the goal but our response to that was excellent,” Postecoglou said post-game, per football.london.
“The whole first half we played some really good football, pressed them and you could see they were uncomfortable. I thought the lads were outstanding. We just ran out of legs in the second half. We had a lot of guys out there who this was their first 90 minutes at this intensity.
“It was my decision not to make too many substitutions today and to leave guys at home because I feel with pre-season the way it has been we are a couple of games short. It cost us in the end but in terms of the effort the players gave maximum and that is all you can ask for.”
Spurs’ performance in the loss also caught the eye of local newspapers in Barcelona.
https://twitter.com/ChrisCowlin/status/1689005218812268544https://twitter.com/InvertTheWing/status/1688986188902752256https://twitter.com/Ramon_Vega71/status/1689031382373216261https://twitter.com/mitch_fretton/status/1688997366777454592https://twitter.com/Sachk0/status/1689016829505835012
“Barcelona found an aggressive Tottenham,” wrote Joan Poqui in the Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona’s biggest sports newspaper.
“They dominated the game after Lewandowski’s early goal and were very consistent despite playing without many first choice players.”
Postecoglou will make his managerial debut in the Premier League on Saturday 11pm AEST when his Spurs take on Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Spurs have a chance to get off to a fast start in the first month with a home clash against Manchester United on August 20 the only match featuring an opponent that finished inside the top six last season.
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