Optimistic Tottenham hope for success under Postecoglou

Tottenham Hotspur will kick off their 2023-24 season against Brentford at home on Sunday, with the spotlight undoubtedly on how big an impact new manager Ange Postecoglou can make in North London.

Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane, left, celebrates scoring their first goal with Son Heung-min, center, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg during a friendly against Shakhtar Donetsk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Aug. 6. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Tottenham Hotspur will kick off their 2023-24 season against Brentford at home on Sunday, with the spotlight undoubtedly on how big an impact new manager Ange Postecoglou can make in North London.

Spurs arrive at the start of the new campaign after a fairly quiet preseason, posting some big scores — 5-1 wins against Lion City Sailors and Shakhtar Donetsk — but with most of the work coming either directly from Harry Kane or players that are more likely to spend a good chunk of the season on the bench.

Son Heung-min has passed through the preseason without making any real noise. He sat out a couple of the early games, having joined training late after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia.

Injuries plagued Son’s 2022-23 season, with the 2021-22 Golden Boot winner only managing 10 goals after sustaining an orbital fracture weeks before the World Cup and playing out the end of the season with the hernia.

Those issues are now both resolved and Son is expected to start the new season on good form, even if he did fail to make much of an impact during the preseason.

A bigger question hangs over talismanic front man Kane.

With just one year left on his existing contract and no evidence that the England captain has any plans to sign a new one, Tottenham are now wrestling with whether to let their top scorer go in the next few weeks while he’s still worth some money.

According to reports, the management is still divided on the issue. Club owner Joe Lewis is said to have told executives that if Kane won’t sign an extension they have to let him go, while chairman Daniel Levy seems determined to hold on as long as possible.

Bayern Munich have been in talks with Spurs for weeks, but the London club has now rejected three separate bids for Kane. Bayern still remain interested, although reports this week suggest that Kane himself does not want to move once the season has started.

New manager Postecoglou, meanwhile, is already looking quietly confident.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou reacts during a friendly against Shakhtar Donetsk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Aug. 6. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Celtic over the summer after a hugely successful run in which he led Celtic to win the Premiership in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns and also the League Cup both seasons, adding the Scottish Cup last season as well to lock in the Scottish treble. Over the two seasons he posted a huge 83 wins to just 18 losses and 12 draws.

The Postecoglou effect was on full display earlier this week in Spurs’ last preseason friendly against Barcelona.

Although the London club lost the game 4-2 after slipping up in the final few minutes, the squad — which did not include regular starters like Kane and Son — appeared to be very cohesive, building up from the back with effective short passes that Barcelona struggled to do anything about. The player positioning also looked especially good, leaving many fans already singing the Australian manager’s praises before the season has even begun.

The big test is to see if the Postecoglou effect will carry through to the Premier League. That answer will come on Sunday, when Spurs face Brentford on the road at Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford, England at 2 p.m., or 10 p.m. later that evening in Korea.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]