Without the distractions of European football, Ange Postecoglou has had plenty of time to instil his philosophy at Tottenham Hotspur this season.
Even with the departure of the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, Harry Kane, Spurs are in an excellent position to qualify for the Champions League.
This highlights just how impressive the Australian boss has been since joining, especially in regard to how he’s changed the culture at the club, which had become rather toxic in recent years.
Under Postecoglou, the Lilywhites have been particularly impressive in the final third this campaign, only failing to score once all season, with Heung-min Son at the forefront of that, but there’s a star at the opposite end of the field who’s arguably become Spurs’ best player this term.
Heung-min Son’s 23/24 Premier League season
For years, the partnership of Harry Kane and Son has torn Premier League defences apart for fun, with the South Korean scoring 160 goals in 399 appearances for the Lilywhites.
With Kane leaving for Bayern Munich in the summer, the expectation was that Son’s performance would see a slight drop-off, but that certainly hasn’t been the case for the captain.
This season, Son has alternated between a left-wing role and a false nine, thriving over his 26 appearances, scoring 15 goals and providing eight assists, which is a mightily impressive return.
The number 11 is absolutely instrumental to the way Postecoglou’s side plays, with Son registering ten more goal contributions than the next best in the Spurs squad, Richarlison.
However, there’s one player in the squad who has potentially been Spurs’ best player this campaign, especially for his influence at the heart of the backline, with his performance against Luton Town highlighting that.
Cristian Romero’s performance against Luton Town
Spurs’ Argentine rock, Cristian Romero, has been simply superb this campaign, becoming a leader in the side at just 25 years of age.
The World Cup winner has started 24 matches in the Premier League this season, keeping six clean sheets while also being a threat in the final third, scoring on four occasions.
Romero further underlined his importance in the side against Luton on Saturday, where he was completely dominant, earning a 7/10 rating from the Evening Standard.
With the visitors scoring early, the Hatters became content with holding onto their narrow lead, sitting back and attempting to catch Spurs out on the counter-attack.
Clearances
3
Dribbled past
0
Duels won
5/6
Passes completed
92
Pass accuracy
91%
Touches
106
As you can see in the table above, Romero wasn’t provided with an opportunity to showcase that he’s a defensive "monster", as dubbed by journalist Charlie Eccleshare, with three clearances and six duels being his only defensive actions.
However, it was the former Atalanta defender’s ability on the ball that separated him from the rest, taking 106 touches and 92 passes with a remarkable pass accuracy of 91%.
Amazingly, this has just become the norm for the number 17, as displayed by his average rating of 7.30 this season according to Sofascore, and he may just prove to be Spurs’ best player over the campaign if he continues to perform at this level.