LONDON (Reuters) – Five points clear in the Premier league and playing the kind of football the club believes is part of its DNA, no wonder Tottenham Hotspur fans feel like Christmas has come early.
Friday’s 2-1 victory at Crystal Palace was Spurs’ eighth win in 10 league games and left them unbeaten on 26 points — their best start to a campaign since they last won the title in 1961.
“What’s important is we’re giving our supporters joy and hope. That’s what football clubs are there for,” Australian Ange Postecoglou told reporters at Selhurst Park.
Postecoglou has made an astonishing impact at Tottenham after seasons of steady decline and often dismal football at the club under first Jose Mourinho and then Antonio Conte.
Gone are the back-foot, timid tactics that tested fans’ patience under the previous big-name coaches. In its place is the pro-active fluent style, laced with non-stop running, that Postecoglou promised when he arrived.
Although not even he could have imagined quite how quickly his squad have bought into his mantras.
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, working for Sky Sports, said Tottenham’s start has been “inconceivable” especially considering that talisman and record goalscorer Harry Kane was sold to Bayern Munich on the eve of the season.
“Those Tottenham fans have had a lot of pain with the way the team has played and results but they are playing great football. These Tottenham fans should enjoy it but there’s a long way to go,” Neville said on Friday.
There will surely be bumps in the road for Spurs and a tough run of fixtures looms starting with a home clash against their former manager Mauricio Pochettino’s improving Chelsea.
But with confidence sky high and no European distractions, the season looks full of possibilities for Tottenham, who last challenged for the title in 2015-16 and then 2016-17 when Argentine Pochettino was in charge.
“I think for us — you know what it’s like when you get a bit of momentum, my role within that is just to keep pushing them,” Postecoglou said. “I just think there’s still so much more growth in this team.
“Provided they’re still coming in every day and working hard that gives me the opportunity to keep pushing them.
“This group are very determined to keep working hard. I see no reason why that won’t continue.”
Captain Son Heung-min, who scored his eighth league goal of the season on Friday, said no one was getting carried away.
“I’m experienced so I can’t just say we are going to win the league. You just want to stay on the ground and stay humble because it is early in the season,” the South Korean said.
“We just want to get three points in every game and then we will see what’s going to happen in the end of the season.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
