The Regista - Postecoglou tactical review: How the Aussie transformed Tottenham - thanks to 3 key men

Tribalfootball.com's tactical expert Connor Holden reviews Ange Postecoglou's first weeks in charge of Tottenham and breaks down how he has successfully transformed the team's style of play.

In a summer where Tottenham had lost their best player and club captain Harry Kane, they also brought in a new head coach in the shape of Ange Postecoglou.

Since his arrival, Tottenham have won 3 of their first 4 Premier League fixtures, drawing the other game against Brentford on the opening day. They have scored 11 goals, which is the most in the league over the first 4 games, joint with Manchester City.

But what does Postecoglou bring to Tottenham? What is his style/philosophy and what has he done to get Spurs firing to start this season, even without their old star man Kane?

POSTECOGLOU'S 2-5-3 SHAPE AND BUILD-UP:

Image 1 - Spurs starting formation

Image 2 - Spurs in possession

These two images show how Tottenham's lineup from the start of the game (image 1) and the way it looks in build up/possession (image 2).

Postecoglou looks to invert both of his fullbacks, and push both of his 8s higher on, to create that 2-3-5 shape you can see in image 2. This gives his side a numerical advantage in central areas, with shorter distances between the players, to make quicker interchanges in the first build up phase.

However unlike some teams who play more rigid positionally, Postecoglou doesn't mind his players rotating to occupy different spaces, within the same tactical format. An example of this is when James Maddison drops deeper to receive the ball, Destiny Udogie will vacate the space allowing Maddison to drop in, this then allows Udogie to drift forwards into the half space which is now vacated.

The above two images show