Opinion: Is improving defensively a Postecoglou priority at Tottenham?

Looking at names such as Cristian Romero, Mickey Van de Ven and Radu Dragusin, it is clear to see that Tottenham have the strongest central defensive personnel in their ranks for a good while.

The current Tottenham defence

All three men are currently representing their countries at the Euros and Copa America respectively, pair this with the emergence of Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie and Guglielmo Vicario this season, and there is evidence to suggest that fans should be optimistic that Tottenham could have a bright future in defence.

Romero made more blocks, interceptions, successful tackles, and clearances than Arsenal’s William Saliba in the league last season, despite making six fewer appearances than the Frenchman (Premier League).

Van de Ven boasted the same achievements as Manchester City’s Nathan Ake, also keeping the same number of clean sheets as his compatriot (Premier League). But it was the Arsenal and City stars who were named in the Opta Analyst Premier League Team of the Season. 

At the end of the day, the job of a defender is to prevent the opposition from scoring goals. Last season, Spurs conceded 61 Premier League goals, which is just two less than what Arsenal and Man City both conceded combined (FBref).

Is this high number all down to the fault of the Spurs defence? Not entirely (except for the abysmal set piece defending). Firstly, a few injuries and suspensions meant frequent chopping and changing to the defensive line during the middle of the season. But more importantly, it’s down to the way in which Ange Postecoglou sets out his teams to play.

Does Ange-ball lead to goals conceded?

Ange-ball’s high-pressing, attack-focused methods leave plenty of space in behind, making the team highly susceptible to counterattacks. But as the big man said following Spurs’ 4-1 loss to Chelsea in November; “It’s just who we are mate”.

So, with the style of play certainly not changing anytime soon, can we instead expect Tottenham’s defensive instincts under Postecoglou to improve, or must Spurs fans just accept that keeping the number of conceded goals low simply isn’t a priority for this Tottenham side? 

Let’s do what many Spurs fans do and look at Ange’s time at Celtic for answers. Postecoglou arrived in Glasgow for the 2021/22 season with his team conceding 55 goals that season as Celtic won the League and League Cup double. Although it is worth noting that only 22 of those were conceded in league matches, 19 were conceded during their Europa League campaign (FBref).

The following 2022/23 season, Celtic conceded two fewer goals than they did in the previous campaign but conceded 12 more League goals. With that, Celtic scored 147 goals in that season overall, ten more than the 2021/22 season (FBref).  

While it can be argued that the calibre of players within Tottenham’s ranks may hold more quality than those in Celtic’s, and therefore more of a potential to improve on their faults from last season, it might be fair to say that Ange will have different focusses.

Postecoglou will most likely spend his pre-season developing his style of play further, instilling it even more in his players, in the hopes they will become more clinical with the chances they can create so freely at times. 

As the saying goes; Attack is the best form of defence. 

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