Tottenham Hotspur’s culture shift under Ange Postecoglou  

Tottenham were the only team left unbeaten, led by a new manager who had all the odds stacked against him and was doing something that nobody had expected. He was making fans fall back in love with their team, something that seemed impossible after a few years of poor managerial fits and dwindling results. The team was more vibrant and more attacking, and fans could not get enough. Ange Postecoglou had seemingly transformed the ethos of Tottenham, and each week only added to the fairytale that was not expected to last long.  

And it didn’t. On Monday 6 November Chelsea delivered the end of Tottenham’s 10-game unbeaten streak by beating them 4-1. After a chaotic match that saw them lose key players to injury and go down to nine men, the fairytale was over, and it seemed that this new Tottenham was too. But Tottenham walked off the pitch that night to praise and respect. They had lost the game but had won a moral victory that proved Postecoglou had done his job in winning back the fans that had been disillusioned for so many years. There are a few reasons for this, none more important than the other, that have contributed to the culture shift at Tottenham.  

What happened to each Tottenham player in the 4-1 Chelsea defeat? Click on the players on the pitch below to find out!

As the above pitch guide shows, Tottenham's starting 11 against Chelsea went through it that night, losing key players to red cards and injuries.

Rachel Martin: Board Member of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust

"In the past, we've got it completely wrong with people like Mourinho or Conte, appointing someone that doesn't align"

Each manager has their own style of play. Some styles create fast, free-flowing football that places emphasis on getting up the pitch and scoring goals. Some styles dictate a slower, more cautiously tactical game, sitting back and waiting for opportune moments. Both have their merits, but the latter is naturally the less exciting form of the game. 

Fans seemed to agree. Opinion polls from The Athletic taken at the end of manager Antonio Conte’s tenure in early 2023, a tenure characterised by a slower, more defensive-minded game, showed that he was not the manager fans wanted at the club.  

Fans wanted Conte out for a few reasons. He was an unapproachable figure who seemed distant and cold. He was difficult with the media and lacked the charm that fans wanted. The legacy that Conte left behind at Tottenham was one that never aligned with what Tottenham fans wanted to see.  

The same can be said for Jose Mourinho, Tottenham's manager from 2019-2021. All too often both of these men talked down the club, disparaging progress and creating issues with the fans.

It often felt like they saw Tottenham as being too in trouble for them to do anything, which is not something any fan wants to hear from their manager. They seemed unable to adapt to what Tottenham needed them to be, having expectations that were not realistic or appropriate.  

Something that used to rub Tottenham fans the wrong way, particularly with Mourinho and Conte, was the way they used to speak about the club. Both men had experienced European and home success, and there was an element of arrogance that saw both frame themselves as better than the club. 

Any fan base who has a manager talking about the club in a negative way will inevitably lose sight of their team. The manager is your leader, the one who takes you through both good and bad times. Football fans do not want to be lied to, nobody does, but they do want someone who tells them that even if things are bad, they can improve.  

Talking down to the fans is never the right way to go. One of the main reasons for Postecoglou's success so far is his attitude compared to the previous managers.  

Ricky Sacks: Podcast host of Last Word on Spurs

"The narrative under Conte and Mourinho was that Spurs had a certain position they could achieve"

These quotes show how negativity within a football club from the top bleeds down to the fans, too.

The negativity that has surrounded Tottenham in recent years has left fans without something to believe in. Without that, the very soul of a football team is lost, and as Tottenham fans have found out in recent times, without that soul, football becomes less of a game about passion and more of one about pain.  

The culture within a club is not something built overnight. It must be nurtured and sustained over time. Any persistent negativity from the one person who is meant to show the opposite of that is likely to lead a club into bad times that crucially, seem like they never end. 

Postecoglou's attitude has done wonders for a team that for so long seemed without.  

"There will always be an echo of glory in trying to win and the element of failing"

"The fact that the vision aligns with everything that we as Spurs fans have been brought up on is a huge plus"

Knowing what values make a good manager is subjective. Some people will prefer a tough, stoic leader who gives nothing away. Some will prefer a more casual style of leadership, one that blurs the lines of hierarchy.  

When you ask fans what they value about a manager, and to a wider extent their club, they will tell you about openness and teamwork. These kinds of answers in a high-pressure football season may seem unrealistic or unobtainable, but Postecoglou has so far done his best to align with these values, and the effect is clearly rubbing off in how fans praise the man they have fallen in love with in only a few months.

It all boils down to manager transparency. It might sound simple, but what Postecoglou has proven is that to shift a team’s culture is knowing what the fans want and giving it to them. There is no genius answer, so far Postecoglou has shown himself to be a personable, charismatic person first, and a respectable leader who is keen to take Tottenham back to basics. He wants to play good football above all else and is putting the experience of the fans much higher on his list than previous managers did.  

In a time where football is evolving faster than fans can keep track, with technology changing the very way we understand its fundamentals, there seems to be a hunger to return to the basics of building a team that will go out and give 110%. It might sound cheesy, and that is because it is. Postecoglou’s team-orientated values have Tottenham fans inspired again after years of their managers seeing the game in a calculated way. 

It should bode well for fans that Postecoglou has built a career by finding victory in the most unlikely of places. His CV does not read like a conventional manager, and he has never positioned himself as a leader who wants to fit in with the status quo. This has bled through to Tottenham already, but it is key to understand a bit about Postecoglou’s background to see how his experience has catapulted such a quick culture shift at his current club.  

What sets managers apart is the variety of their experience, and how they can adapt to different circumstances.  

Postecoglou’s experience has never seen him as too important to manage a club. There has not been a time when he has been elevated. In these cases, it can create a disconnect between fans and the club that removes fan identity and passion.  

Postecoglou's history means that he is in a suitable position to blend into Tottenham’s identity as a big club, and one that has been stuck with an underdog status amongst their closest rivals. Too unreliable in big games, and lacking killer instinct. With Postecoglou’s appointment, it feels like for the first time in many years, Tottenham has a manager who shares a similar identity and status.  

This is an often-undervalued element of the culture shift. It goes back to transparency.  

When fans have a manager that they feel like they can understand, along with a manager that lets himself be understood, there is no confusion. Fans need to feel like they can trust their manager to make the right calls, but also know that they will never be bigger than the team. Managers need to understand who the team is and where they stand but also never be afraid to push those boundaries, because that is where the magic happens.  

Postecoglou is a man known for defying odds in multiple continents, across multiple competitions. His history has placed him in a position that interestingly reflects Tottenham's. 

Underestimated. 

"Upon his appointment, there was an air of fear, trepidation but I think we've been really pleasantly surprised"

“I think everyone has already been aware that the first team is brilliant, but the squad is shallow … Ange is making it very clear that we need to get early signings in January” 

Go back to the final whistle. Tottenham have just been beaten by Chelsea, one of their biggest rivals, which has ended their unbeaten streak. The fairytale had ended, and it could not have been in more frustrating circumstances. Several referee decisions went awry and losing two players to red cards, as well as key players to injury, at the final whistle reality momentarily flooded back for Tottenham.

 Then something happened.  

Reality had hit, yet the spirit that Tottenham started the 90 minutes with was still there. It had changed, but it was still there. Tottenham were praised for their resilience in an incredibly difficult situation. They had given it their all, and even though they had come up short, their determination had been laid out on the pitch for all to see. 

Nobody was blind to the fact that the players were playing for the fans, for the manager, for the club itself. They had given the fans a performance to be proud of, and at the end of the day, that is all they have been asking for.  

And it had been Postecoglou who had given it to them. He had wielded the trust of fans and shown them that they were right to put their faith in him. It marked both the end of their streak, but also the beginning of a new attitude that Postecoglou had created. 

Tottenham Hotspur’s seasonal trajectory is far from clear. Just as the start to their new life had been unclear, so is where they go from here.  With a long injury list that is only growing and a lack of players they can call on from the bench, Postecoglou does not have an easy path ahead of him.

They face challenges just as every other football team does. If they are going to be successful, they need to temper their expectations. Despite their exceptional start, nothing is set. Any sort of culture shift takes time to fully implement. The tenants of what Postecoglou has established thus far need to be maintained, whilst remembering the simplicity of what Tottenham fans want 

A performance, and a team, they can be proud to support.  

And one they can believe in again.  

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