Tottenham Hotspur lost ground in the race for a top-four finish this weekend with a surprise 2-1 defeat at home to Wolves.
Spurs suffered their first Premier League loss of 2024 but such a result had been on the cards for a few weeks with a series of deeply flawed performances.
Now that Tottenham have finally received their comeuppance, Ange Postecoglou is facing scrutiny over his style and he now has the task of finding a solution to this recent rut.
“We’ve got to keep working hard, it’s not a quick fix, it’s where we are as a team at the moment,” Postecoglou said post-match on Saturday. “We’re a good side who work hard every week but we’re not anywhere near the level we want to be. It’s up to me to get us up to that level.”
So how does Postecoglou go about retooling Tottenham before their next match on March 2?

When ‘Ange-ball’ is in full flow, it’s amazing to watch. During the first stretch of the season when Tottenham went unbeaten for three months, Yves Bissouma’s control and composure made Postecoglou’s vision a reality, breaking up play effortlessly and angelically gliding through midfield battles.
However, the Mali international has not been the same since picking up a rather daft red card away at Luton Town in early October, picking up a second yellow card for a needless dive. Since then, Bissouma has lost that intelligent edge and become more of a liability when in possession, while he also picked up another red card at Nottingham Forest in December.
Rodrigo Bentancur’s two returns from differing injuries have coincided with at least an understandable lack of sharpness – the club did warn he would not be fully sharp until the 2024/25 season after an ACL rupture – but even his concentration has been called into question of late. The ball just isn’t moving through midfield as quickly or as much care as it once was.
You can’t be a possession-based team if you aren’t driven to keep the ball in midfield.
…but more risk is needed in the final third

Postecoglou’s ideal system features two tricky wingers who are capable of driving to the byline – usually via the chalk of the touchline – to deliver crosses and reach the last line in order to get on the end of them. He doesn’t really have those profiles yet in his Tottenham squad, though 90minunderstands signing is one of their top priorities for the summer window.
There are various talented wide players on Spurs’ books at the moment, but they’ve found it tough to break down deep blocks due to their lack of willingness to take a man on.
The best example is Dejan Kulusevski, who has put up a respectable six goals and two assists in 23 Premier League games this term. But most of his best performances have come when playing in a central role as opposed to on the wing.
In each of Tottenham’s last two matches, Kulusevski showed little desire to stretch play before half-time, only to twice come out from the break and create openings that led to goals.
In this sticky spell, Spurs have become a second-half team that need to claw back control rather than a first-half one who set the tone. They can’t afford to let sides settle – particularly at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – and more support is needed from wide in order to open space up.
You only need to look at that Conte team of 2021/22. Spurs were convinced this was going to accelerate their rebuild at the expense of Arsenal, but instead is just reversed those roles and the Gunners have benefitted of carefully planning for the long-term.
That’s not to say this Tottenham won’t progress by playing in next season’s Champions League, but it won’t be the divine solution to Postecoglou’s process, repeatedly insisting he’s trying to build a sustainable culture of winning rather than the quick-fix hopes of his predecessors.
Tottenham are still moving in the right direction this season and this blip will only undermine progress if they don’t learn from their mistakes. An experienced and self-appointed problem-solver like Postecoglou isn’t ignorant to the challenge ahead.
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