As the white shirts stroked the ball between Bournemouth's beleaguered players, boisterous chants of "We've got out Tottenham back" rang around the Vitality Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
For the third time in as many matches to start the new campaign, Tottenham Hotspur found the back of the net at least twice after a 2-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday. Following so many years watching sides coached by individuals that could charitably be called pragmatic, the travelling Spurs support were understandably revelling in the prolific start to life under Ange Postecoglou.
Tottenham have only ever begun a season with two or more goals in three successive matches in two previous Premier League campaigns.
Harry Redknapp was at the helm when Spurs cantered into the 2009/10 season. By defeating Liverpool (2-1), Hull City (5-1) and West Ham United (2-1), Tottenham started a new campaign with three successive victories for the first time since the legendary double-winning team of 1960/61.
While Spurs were riding high at the Premier League's summit 14 years ago, Postecoglou was getting relegated with semi-professional Australian outfit Whittlesea Zebras.
Tottenham's new coach takes great pride in his unorthodox managerial journey, which may have included that failure in Victoria's National Premier League but has also brought top-flight titles in three different continents.
Along the way, Postecoglou has honed a playing philosophy in which goals are not the most important currency. "There are certain things that are non-negotiable, and the first one is [that] I want my teams to have the ball," Postecoglou explained during Hudl’s High Performance Insights in 2020. "So, our attacking philosophy, our defensive philosophy is all sort of measured around that."
Last season, seven different Premier League clubs averaged more possession than Tottenham, who held onto the ball as often as their opponents. In each of Tottenham's matches against Brentford, Manchester United and Bournemouth this term, Spurs have had the lion's share of possession.
Dictating play through manipulation of the ball was never a priority for Tottenham's recent run of managers. Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte all favoured punishing approaches that have a history of earning results but afford them little wiggle room when points begin to dry up.
Postecoglou's unerringly affable nature - which is a stark contrast to his predecessors - has only added to the goodwill engendered by Tottenham's goal-laden opening.
The last Spurs boss that received such universal approval from the fanbase was Mauricio Pochettino. The cuddly Argentine was also the most recent incumbent to oversee such a prolific start to a new campaign; watching on as Spurs racked up eight goals over three wins against Newcastle United, Fulham and Manchester United in 2018.
James Maddison has either scored or created half of Tottenham's six goals this season. As he received some unflattering reviews from the sharp-tongued members of Bournemouth's crowd trying to drown out Tottenham's celebratory chants, Maddison cheekily pointed to the scoreboard. Once again this season, it made for good reading.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Attacking stat shows Tottenham's notable change under Ange Postecoglou.
