Ange Postecoglou returned to his native Australia in a race against time. He will take charge of his first Premier League game in four weeks and there is no shortage of puzzles for the new Tottenham boss to solve before then.
In his own words, the biggest challenge is changing the psyche of players accustomed to the cautious, counter-attacking styles of its predecessors. Within that all kinds of tactical shifts and changing personnel. At the heart of that was James Maddison, who joined from Leicester for £40 million to address the void of creativity at the heart of the team.
With his vision, imagination and goal threat from long range and set pieces, Maddison brings something Spurs have been missing. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of a pre-season program that begins on Tuesday with a friendly against West Ham in Perth is how Postecoglou is trying to include him.
The new Spurs boss speaks of the 26-year-old as a midfielder, not a striker. His appreciation for others and his range of passing will be more destructive when the game is ahead of him, but will he provide enough effort off the ball to be part of a genuine midfield three?
“Any manager will tell you that part of the key to being a dominant team is having multiple attacking threats and having a midfielder who can score and score goals. They are not easy to find,” Postecoglou said last week.
New £40m signing James Maddison could help release attacking shackles at Tottenham
There are doubts Maddison will provide enough industry off the ball to be part of a genuine midfield three at Spurs
“He has proven himself at that level in recent years as someone who can do that. If you look at Tottenham over the last few years, they have been very dependent on the top three to achieve their goals. I thought it suited us very well.’
Maddison in midfield three worked at Leicester when Wilfried Ndidi performed at his best, dominating the center of the field, taking on the physical burden, covering mileage, winning the ball and shielding the mid-halves.
At Spurs they don’t have anything like Peak-Ndidi in the squad. Will they find someone? They are not close. Can they work around it? Can they send a defender to midfield like Manchester City? Will they opt for two deep in midfield?
It would lead them to a 4-2-3-1 form with Maddison clear as a classic No. 10, but the successful teams in elite modern football play with no one completely free of defensive responsibilities.
Look again at City, where the creative forces off the ball all contribute.
Also note how Tottenham walked him. For all his talent, there was no interest in Maddison from the five richest clubs in the traditional Big Six.
Postecoglou will have his thoughts and go through them in the preseason. There will be more leeway when Rodrigo Bentancur is fit. Versatile and tactically astute, perhaps the Uruguayan can strike a deal with Maddison and another.
However, Bentancur is not on the pre-season tour to Australia and South East Asia. He is one of five left in London to work on fitness and is expected to miss the start of the season as he recovers from a cruciate ligament injury.
Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte preferred to cram firmness into midfield because they feared, probably rightly, that the defensive unit was not strong enough. If Tottenham can bring in defensive reinforcements and add pace at the back, it will help Postecoglou operate with more risk in his midfield.
Alternatively, like Brendan Rodgers last season at Leicester, he could often use Maddison in the front three.
It’s probably his more natural position in the Spurs team as we know it. Drifting in from the right to link up with Harry Kane and wire passes from behind for the dashing Son Heung-min or from the left to threaten goal, shooting with his right foot, and reverse passes for an overlapping full-back.
Postecoglou has options on this side of the team and is determined to tear up the past and impose his own blueprint.
Maddison, wherever he plays, will be key to that. The fact that he is being announced for leadership duties proves that Tottenham will put their trust in him as they try to restore their reputation for flair and flamboyance.
New Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou will consider his options during the pre-season
“He’s at a stage in his career where it feels like he can be a leader,” Postecoglou said. “We need players who want to embrace that responsibility within this group, whether it’s their first year or they’ve been here for a long time.
“We need leadership on the pitch and he feels he can be a player to do that.”
Postecoglou says the same about his new goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario. It’s all about a fresh look as he tries to put all these moving parts together at Spurs. Hugo Lloris is off tour as he explores transfer options, leaving Kane to take on captaincy duties despite uncertainty over his own future.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has traveled, although he is expected to make a move to Atletico Madrid before the end of the transfer window. New leaders, new identity. All the while blazing fast towards the Premier League opener at Brentford.