Ange Postecoglou returned to his native Australia in a race against time. In four weeks, he will take charge of his first Premier League game and there is no shortage of puzzles for the new Tottenham boss to solve before then.
By his own admission, the greatest challenge is to alter the psyche of players accustomed to the cautious, counter-attacking styles of his predecessors. Within that, all manner of tactical shifts and changing personnel. At the heart of those, James Maddison, signed from Leicester for £40million to address the void of creativity at the team’s heart.
With his vision, imagination and goal threat from long range and set-pieces, Maddison brings something Spurs have been missing. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of a pre-season programme that starts with a friendly against West Ham in Perth on Tuesday is how Postecoglou tries to incorporate him.
The new Spurs boss speaks of the 26-year-old as a midfielder, not a forward. His appreciation of others and range of passing will be more destructive if the game is in front of him, but will he offer enough industry off the ball to be part of a genuine midfield three?
‘Any manager will tell you that part of the key to being a dominant team is having multiple attacking threats and having a midfielder who can score and create goals. They’re not easy to come by,’ said Postecoglou last week.
New £40m signing James Maddison can help release the attacking shackles at Tottenham
There are doubts over whether Maddison will offer enough industry off the ball to be part of a genuine midfield three at Spurs
‘He’s proven himself at that level in the last few years, as somebody who can do that. When you look at Tottenham the last few years, they’ve been really reliant on the front three to get their goals. I thought it was a really good fit for us.’
Maddison in a midfield three worked at Leicester when Wilfried Ndidi was performing at his best, dominating the centre of the pitch, shouldering the physical burden, covering the miles, winning the ball and screening the centre-halves.
At Spurs, they don’t have anything like peak-Ndidi in the squad. Will they look for someone? They are not close. Can they work around it? Can they flex a defender into midfield like Manchester City? Do they opt for two holding deep in midfield?
It would tilt them towards a 4-2-3-1 shape with Maddison free as a classic No 10, but the successful teams in elite modern football do not play with anyone entirely free of defensive responsibilities.
Look again at City, where the creative forces all contribute off the ball. Note, also, how Tottenham had a free run at him. For all his talent, there was no interest in Maddison from the five wealthiest clubs in the traditional Big Six.
Postecoglou will have his thoughts and be looking through them in pre-season. There will be more scope when Rodrigo Bentancur is fit. Versatile and tactically astute, perhaps the Uruguayan can forge an understanding with Maddison and one other.
Bentancur, however, is not on the pre-season tour to Australia and South-East Asia. He is one of five who stayed behind in London to work on fitness and is expected to miss the start of the season as he continues recovery from a cruciate knee injury.
Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte preferred to cram solidity into midfield because they feared, probably rightly, the defensive unit was not strong enough. If Tottenham can land defensive reinforcements and add pace at the back, it will help Postecoglou operate with more risk in his midfield.
Alternatively, he could end up, like Brendan Rodgers at Leicester last season, often using Maddison in the front three.
It is probably his more natural position in the Spurs team as we know it. Drifting inside from the right to link up with Harry Kane and thread passes in behind for the dashing Son Heung-min or in from the left to threaten goal, shooting with his right foot, and reverse passes for an overlapping full-back.
Postecoglou has options at this end of the team and a determination to tear up the past and impose his own blueprint.
Maddison, wherever he plays, will be key to it. The fact that he is being heralded for leadership duties proves Tottenham will put their faith in him as they search to restore their reputation for flair and flamboyance.
New Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou will consider his options during pre-season
‘He’s in a stage of his career where it feels like he can be a leader,’ said Postecoglou. ‘We need players who want to embrace that responsibility within this group, whether it’s their first year in or they’ve been here for ages.
‘We’re going to need leadership on the field and he feels like he can be a player who does that.’
Postecoglou says the same of his new goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario. It is all about a fresh outlook as he tries to bring all these moving parts together at Spurs. Hugo Lloris is not on tour as he explores transfer options, leaving Kane to assume captaincy duties despite the uncertainty around his own future.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has travelled, although expected to complete a move to Atletico Madrid before the end of the transfer window. New leaders, new identity. All the time hurtling towards the Premier League opener at Brentford.
