Ange Postecoglou is clearly not one for half-measures.
As Tottenham began life without Harry Kane at Brentford, another manager might have been tempted to start with some experienced hands — remember Manchester United’s Erik ten Hag beginning last season with Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo — but Postecoglou went all-in.
There were four Spurs debutants — Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie and James Maddison (Van de Ven, 22, and Udogie, 20, played in tandem in the back four) — and only four players in the XI who consistently made Antonio Conte’s preferred team.
The end result was familiar, a 2-2 draw matching last season’s corresponding fixture, but everything about Spurs felt fresh, from the pre-match team huddle in front of the away end — the idea of new captain Heung-min Son — to their high-risk, attacking approach.
Under Postecoglou, Spurs might occasionally die on their feet, but they are not going to live on their knees.
Postecoglou’s side finished with 70 per cent possession and 18 shots; last term, they averaged less than 50 per cent of the ball.
This is a new Spurs, without Kane but with Postecoglou, and Sunday offered plenty to build on. The positives were led by Yves Bissouma and Maddison, who were both outstanding and appear tailor-made for Postecoglou’s approach.
Bissouma was unrecognisable from the passive player who laboured under Conte, anchoring the midfield with a confidence missing since he was at Brighton. The Malian was composed and commanding in the face of Brentford’s press and drove Spurs on with confident use of the ball. He should be like another new signing for the head coach.
Maddison got both assists, a free-kick headed home by Cristian Romero and a fortuitous knock into the path of Emerson Royal, and was comfortably the most likely player to carve a way through Brentford’s five-man block in the second half.
Watching the England playmaker, it was a wonder to think Spurs have not had a player like him since Christian Eriksen, who left the club in January 2020.
Udogie and Van de Ven both look well-suited to English football, the left-back in particular catching the eye with his willingness to carry the ball and engage in the physical battle with Brentford wing-back Aaron Hickey and forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, who both scored.
There were always going to be teething problems, however, Postecoglou saying previously that it could take six months to a year for players to learn his game. But he has been careful to play that down since joining Spurs and, insofar as there are concerns for the manager, it is with his front three.
Tasked with filling Kane’s boots, Richarlison was barely involved save for a couple of flashes in the second half, mostly struggling to make inroads against Brentford’s well-drilled back three. The Brazilian needs and deserves a run of games and patience to adapt to Postecoglou, and in time his ability to press, occupy defenders and finish inside the box could make him an important cog.
Spurs, though, desperately missed Kane’s ability to find space, hold up the ball and link the play, not to mention his goals.
As they did yesterday, Postecoglou’s side will concede plenty of frustrating chances in the next few months, but with Kane that might not have been so costly.
Son and Dejan Kulusevski, too, struggled to make headway and face a huge challenge to transition from Conte’s counter-attacking approach to this new style. Son scored 10 League goals last season and Kulusevski just two, and there are no cast-iron guarantees that they will return to the form they showed at the back end of 2021-22, even if there should be plenty of chances to go around.
In all, given the sheer scale of upheaval, a point in the circumstances was encouraging, particularly with Manchester United lying in wait next weekend.
