‘Team we want to be’: Ange’s ‘best in Europe’ call as Spurs impress in pressure-relieving win

Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou has insisted his side are among the best pressing teams “in Europe” after two goals from turnovers helped his side beat Brentford, a result that has released some of the pressure on the Australian.

The former Socceroos boss has come under fire over the opening rounds of the new season for a myriad of reasons, namely their poor results despite playing well, susceptibility to conceding from set-pieces and a perception that Postecoglou lacks a tactical Plan B.

Such heavy criticism, which included suggestions on British radio that he would be sacked by Christmas, were only fuelled by Postecoglou’s defiance following last week’s North London Derby loss to Arsenal, a game decided by a set-piece goal, and his insistence he “always wins things” in his second season in charge of the club.

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For these reasons Spurs needed a result, as opposed to simply a good performance, against Brentford to hush the outside noise and kick their campaign into life.

And while the game couldn’t have started any worse for the Londoners, who conceded a wonderfully hooked volley from Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo after 23 seconds, Spurs showed similar levels of fight and resilience that they did during their comeback midweek League Cup win over Coventry.

Club-record signing Dominic Solanke opened his Premier League account with Spurs after eight minutes, with his goal coming as a result of strong press forcing Brentford’s backline into a misplaced pace.

From there Spurs got a foothold on the contest, scoring next through Brennan Johnson just before the half hour mark, another goal created after Spurs’ press forced a turnover just inside Brentford’s half.

James Maddison’s 85th minute dink over Mark Flekken ensured the three points stayed in London and alleviated some of the pressure clouding the Spurs manager.

Speaking in the tunnel post-game, Postecoglou was delighted more by the fact his side got the result than the fact they played well.

“We played really well today,” he said.

“I mean we’ve played well all season but today we had a real sort of energy about us that was the kind of team we want to be.”

While the 59-year-old felt his side left a few more goals out there, he was proud at how Spurs recovered from their early setback to run away with the win.

“We got off to not the best start, but it’s almost like it never happened, the boys picked up from there,” he said.

“The boys didn’t let it affect them at all.”

Former Spurs captain Michael Dawson labelled the win as a “convincing performance (and) convincing result.”

“(Spurs) reacted brilliantly, they really, really did. From that moment there was only going to be one team on the front foot (who) was going to win his football match,” he said.

One of the most pleasing factors of the win to Postecoglou was the intensity and urgency his side showed with and without the ball against Brentford, whose tactics the Australian felt played in his side’s hands.

“The boys went at it. We knew Brentford were going to be aggressive with and without the ball (and) we love that part of the game,” he said in his post-match press conference.

“We thought if we really brought our own energy and intensity that we know we can with and without the ball we could cause them a lot of problems. And we did.”

It comes one week after a frustrating North London derby loss to Arsenal, a game Postecoglou felt was slowed down by their opponents, much to Spurs’ frustration.

Heading into the Brentford game, he revealed he’d instructed his side to exert themselves on the contest and not let history repeat itself.

“We spoke about it during the week we’re at our best when we play quickly and obviously the opposition are going to try and stop us from doing that,” he said.

“From our perspective the more times when we’re in control of the ball (and) can play at our tempo it’s better.”

A particular part of his side’s performance Postecoglou was pleased with was the effectiveness of their press, which contributed to their two opening goals.

The Australian feels that his side are not only “probably the best in the league” at pressing opponents but also “one of the best in Europe.”

According to data from FBref, Postecoglou’s point mightn’t be too wide of the mark as his side’s 18 tackles in the attacking third rank third among sides in Europe’s top five leagues, behind only Angres and Brest of France.

One flashpoint of the contest which played into Spurs’ favour occurred just before the hour mark when Italian goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario appeared to handle the ball outside of his penalty area, only for referee John Brooks to not blow a foul, or penalty, for Brentford.

According to The Athletic, the video assistant referee did not intervene as the handball did not deny a goal or a goalscoring opportunity.

Asked about the incident post-game, Postecoglou said “I saw exactly what you saw.”

“If it wasn’t an obvious goalscoring opportunity which means even if he’d been penalised it would’ve been a free kick and that’s a big turning point?

“I guess we were lucky to get the result.”

Whenever players, particularly strikers, are signed for as much as Solanke there is always an external expectation that they hit the ground running at breakneck speed, much like Erling Haaland in his opening months at City.

For Solanke, few could doubt the effectiveness of his general play in recent games but the No.9 still required a goal to get the monkey off his back and remove any doubts he can live up his price tag.

Postecoglou believes “people are obligated to take their time” to settle in and revealed the striker is still yet to his 100%.

“Dom’s still working his way to fitness. You could see he was out of gas at the end,” Postecoglou said.

“He’s going to be a great player for us.”

The Australian doubled down on his praise of the No.9 in his post-match press conference, highlighting his importance when Spurs play high-intensity sides like Brentford.

“I thought he led the line well (and was) important for us today as a link up there because we knew they’d go pretty aggressive man to man marking (and) he was going to have to hold the ball up for us, and I thought he did that really well,” Postecoglou said.

Speaking on Optus Sport’s post-game coverage former Premier League striker Clinton Morrison believes Solanke’s strike was the best thing about the Brentford win for Spurs.

“When you pay good money for your centre forward you’re always looking for that first goal,” he said.

“I don’t care how it comes… the taps in are the best goals. He’s in the right place at the right time.”

Spurs now sit 10th on seven points, three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea with a chance to continue rising up the table against a hapless Manchester United side next weekend.