Opposition report: Tottenham Hotspur (A)

Can the Blades earn their spurs against the league's happiest team?

Sam Parry

Sam Parry

How happy are Spurs right now? Since they lost Harry Kane in the summer, most pundits had bought into the narrative that Tottenham would be the gloom-struck flounderers of this season’s top-flight. No hope of Europe. No threat of relegation. The 2023/24 equivalent of a 2015/16 Everton.

It’s easy for me to say this after the fact, but I never thought this would be the case. Ange Postecoglu, the Spurs manager, is distressingly likeable. I listened to a lot of his interviews on the Open Goal podcast back when he was the Celtic manager. I can’t remember how I ended up down that particular rabbit hole. What I do remember is texting my pals around the time that Frank Lampard’s ill-fated stint at Everton was coming towards a close, saying:

“…the best manager available to Everton (if Lampard is sacked), is Postecoglu.”

I can’t think of a manager I’d rather listen to (although, I’d put No-Bullshit-Hecky right up there too). I remember the interviewer, Si Ferry, asking Postecoglu about pundits questioning his attacking style of play.

You’ve got to remember where I started (semi-pro)…ever since then, people have told me you can’t play that way in the next level…and the next level…you can’t do it at the next level…but I’ve found that you can.

In short, I think Postecoglu is the perfect tonic for a bad moment. Yes, Spurs have lost their talisman. And yes, Kane is one of the best strikers in the world. But Ange Postecoglu’s relentless pursuit to win games by playing the most attractive, attacking football possible is a natural counterweight to expectation. It allows players to focus on playing, not results. It turns matches into shootouts where his teams don’t fear losing a goal, where they are happy to try and outgun their opponents. And it’s no surprise that Spurs have scored the joint most goals in the top flight so far this season (11) and scored at least two in every game.

“My goal is to have this club playing attacking football that’s going to excite every one of you.” (As Celtic manager)

So, what threats does this rejuvenated Spurs side pose to Sheffield United? Well, it might be better not to count them. Suffice it to say that there are many, and I’m intrigued to see how Paul Heckingbottom sets up.

Riley Roberts wrote about evolution and revolution in our midfield earlier this week. And one of the possibilities he discussed was Oliver Norwood dropping out of the team. Against Spurs, whose attacking threat and full-blooded press might stop Norwood’s strengths, I wonder if this game represents the first revolution: giving up control (Norwood) for a quicker, more direct counter-attacking threat (McAtee)? I’ll let Riley pick up on the tactical analysis below.

Riley Roberts

There’s been a lot of talk about how we set up in the future with our new midfield additions considered. And that makes this one of the harder bits of pre-game analysis that I’ll write this season. Not only because there’s a layer of uncertainty in terms of our line-up and shape, but also because Saturday’s opponents have undergone as big, if not a bigger transition since last season. So that makes them quite tough to analyse.