Coach Anzhi Postekoglou did not repeat the mistakes made by previous coaches Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
Tottenham Hotspur won 2-0 against Fulham in the 9th round of the 2023/24 Premier League season held at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England on the 24th (Korean time), led by the performance of Son Heung-min, who recorded 1 goal and 1 assist. Tottenham, who went undefeated in 9 games (7 wins, 2 draws) since the opening game, took down Manchester City and Arsenal and took the sole lead in the league.
On this day, Tottenham went with 4-2-3-1. Guglielmo Vicario guarded the goal, and Pedro Foro, Christian Romero, Mickey van der Pen and Destiny Udozi made up the back four. Pape Sar and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg worked together in midfield. Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, and Richarlison played in the second line, aiming for the Fulham goal along with frontline striker Son Heung-min. Son Heung-min played in five consecutive games as a lone striker.
Tottenham, who showed good performance by going undefeated at the beginning of the season, continued their momentum against Fulham. In the 36th minute of the first half, Son Heung-min received a pass from Richarlison and opened Fulham's goal with a fantastic right-footed curling shot. It was the moment when Son Heung-min scored his 7th league goal this season. In addition, with a total of 110 Premier League goals, he surpassed Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs and tied for 26th place with Emile Heskey.
Tottenham continued to pressure Fulham. In the 9th minute of the second half, Madison scored an additional goal. Son Heung-min’s help was great. After cutting off Fulham's attack, they quickly launched a counterattack. Son Heung-min, who caught the ball in front of the box, made a pass to Maddison, who was penetrating into the left side of the defense. Madison, who had a one-on-one opportunity, calmly finished with his right foot to increase the score. Son Heung-min recorded his first assist.
Tottenham, who had secured victory early, rotated many players in the middle of the second half. However, strong forward pressure continued until the player was replaced. We did not slow down the reins of attack or play loosely.
It is known that this is thanks to Coach Postekoglou's repeated emphasis to the players.
In his post-match interview, Maddison said: "In 강남룸 the pre-season game against Shakhtar, when we were 1-0 up, Postekoglou got angry when we lowered the pressure. "He reacted strongly. He strongly told us to keep moving forward and not back down."
This remark can be seen as a remark made by Coach Postecoglou, in effect sniping at the soccer style of former coaches Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
In the past, up until the time of Mourinho and Conte last season, Tottenham football showed a tendency to relax when winning. When the game was tied by one goal, the team played to protect the one goal rather than actively trying to score additional points. Because of this, there were many cases where they could not hold on until the end and conceded points, failing to win or losing.
This trend became even more pronounced during the Conte era. Tottenham, who had difficulty gaining points by giving up goals easily last season, was unable to overcome the sluggishness that continued throughout the season and finished the season in 8th place in the league. Fans were greatly disappointed as they finished in a position where they could not even qualify for the Europa League or Europa Conference League, let alone the UEFA (Union European Football Association) Champions League.
Postekoglou could not bear to see this. In the preseason game against Shakhtar, which was not read more long after taking office, Tottenham players showed signs of loosening their pressure and backing down, as was their old habit, and urged them on. He ordered the players to continue applying pressure and instructed them not to step down.
Postekoglou still seems not satisfied. In his post-match interview, Postekoglou said: "You have to respect the game, but I didn't feel like we were in the right direction in terms of the way we played. I think we had a certain amount of freedom during the game, but I wasn't really happy with the way the players showed in the second half. “No,” he said, urging the team to show better performance.