Ange Postecoglou names two things his team lack as he makes Tottenham project transfer claim

Ange Postecoglou believes his Tottenham team are "struggling in difficult moments" because they "lack some maturity and leadership". A big season for Postecoglou and Spurs as they look to build on finishing fifth last term and hopefully bring some much-needed silverware to the club, the north London side have endured a mixed time of it in the league so far.

From their first nine games of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign, Spurs have won four, lost four and drawn one of their fixtures. Tottenham really should be much higher than eighth in the standings right now after not achieving maximum points in a number of games, notably Leicester City and Brighton & Hove Albion, when the opportunity was there for them to do so.

Spurs were far from their best last Sunday after falling to a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, which was undoubtedly their worst performance of the season. Time is going to be required for Postecoglou to achieve his goals at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and he is well aware that there will be some bumps in the road along the way.

“You need to separate the emotion of what people feel and the way that people respond externally" he explained. "You need to be clear in what your objective is and stick to that process. If anyone can show me where things can turn around in 15 months or in two years, any club, apart from maybe City where it took Pep [Guardiola] a year, which is like an eternity to be fair for Pep. It doesn't exist.

“There is a formula there. If you want to look at recent history, there's Liverpool, there's Arsenal. There are plenty of others who have not stuck to a process, big clubs and small clubs, and haven't got any progress. There's evidence on both sides. It's not easy. It's because invariably scrutiny comes and criticism comes when things don't run smoothly because people want them to run smoothly.

"How you react through that process is really important. All I can do is stay really clear-headed about what my role in that is and the club to stay aligned with that. That's what I feel. We're aligned in what we're trying to achieve here and we know it's not going to be easy. That does not mean, though, that this is going to take five years. I'm not saying that, but you can't fast-track experience. You can't fast-track maturity. All these things need time and you've just got to stay true.

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"Like I said, at the same time, you can't just do that with just cheerleading either. You can't expect that everyone's going to say, I'd say failure lost because you're on this path. That's not healthy either. You need the criticism. You need the scrutiny from outside. How you deal with it is much more important than trying to alleviate it. Maybe it's valid criticism.

"Introspectively, you're looking at is there something there? Whether it's valid or not valid, if you just jump at the first time because you're going, 'oh my God, if we lose again, they're going to come for us’, then there isn't really a process. All you're trying to do is create some sort of utopia that doesn't exist in football.

"This is part of the process. I keep saying I enjoy this bit because this is the hard bit and there has to be a hard bit. Every story has its struggle. How far that struggle is or how much that struggle is, no one knows. I don't know. No one knows. You get through it and then you'll reap the rewards.

"How you deal with this process is critical to getting those rewards because, like I said, there's evidence on both sides pretty clear that you can have sustained success going a certain way or you can chase success going another way. There's pretty clear results about which approach works better."

Postecoglou has achieved success wherever he has been in his career and subsequently left clubs in a much better place than when he first arrived. Very much knowing what he needs to do to help Tottenham achieve their lofty ambitions, there are constants in the background that help the head coach with his masterplan.

In regards to the team struggling in difficult moments at times, Postecoglou believes that developing that maturity and leadership within the group is the "better way" for him rather than going out there and buying it.

“There are. Alignment with key people who know every step of the way. I am not doing this on my own. Every step is discussed. We know where we are at," said the 59-year-old.

"We're struggling in difficult moments because we lack some maturity and leadership. Now, there's two ways of dealing with that. You can either go and buy it, acquire it, or you can wait for it to develop within your own group. We've gone down this way because I think that's the better way for me. But with that process, it takes time and experience.

"You've got to go through tough times. I can't artificially create tough times for the guys to see how the guys respond. They have to come at us. It's not nice and it's not pleasant and no one enjoys it I certainly don't, but it's necessary. How do people react after a loss? How do people react if we haven't had the right reaction? Then you get growth.

“I'm so optimistic about this playing group. I think there's such a high ceiling with this group of players. The more we get exposed to difficult times, the more I believe that ceiling gets higher. We've just got to stay, from my perspective, how I deal with it is I have clear markers that we look forward to charter our progress and focus on that. As I said, don't be afraid of criticism or scrutiny coming your way. It's healthy. It's good because that shows me how people react.”

Last winning a trophy back in 2008, Tottenham face a huge game on Wednesday evening as they host Manchester City in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Pep Guardiola admitted in September that City won't "waste energy" on the competition this season and there is the prospect of the Spaniard handing out playing time to academy players in the encounter against Spurs.

“I don’t know but if you look at Pep in this comp he has always pretty heavily rotated, and they won in four in a row didn’t they?" said Postecoglou.

"He’s not playing his kids. No disrespect to Pep’s kids. These are good players. They’re at City. They have a pretty good programme. Pedro [Porro] was part of that so… if you’re part of the City infrastructure you’re a good player.

"We’re expecting a tough game. But irrespective of who they put out we want to win. We want stay in this competition and put in a strong performance."

As vital as it is that Tottenham end their trophy hoodoo after going to long without lifting a piece of silverware, Postecoglou also wants progress in the league. So which one is more important?

"In my mind they go hand in hand but I still think progress in the league is a better indicator because then you know you’re putting yourself in a position to win every week and compete in every competition," admitted the Australian. "That’s the only thing you can strive for. You can’t guarantee success. No-one can. But you can put yourself in a position.

"If you can put yourself in a position in the league on a consistent basis I think by extension you should be strong in the knockout comps. That’s still where I think our most meaningful progress lies. Winning a comp. Is it a positive? Absolutely. Our supporters will love it. It’s great for the club. Yes you get that winning feeling too. But it’s not a panacea for everything, obviously."

It was then put to Postecoglou if winning a trophy would create a false impression if there's no progress in the league to go along with it.

"I just don’t know in today’s world. We’ve got a manager [Erik ten Hag] here who’s won two in the last two years who’s just got the sack. Everyone tells me, just win a trophy and you’ll be fine. I don’t think so," said the former Celtic boss.

"The measures these days are constantly shifting. There’s always something that people perceive to be better. What’s more important for me is that we’re getting to get to a space where we’re consistently challenging for all honours. If we’re there in that space, where big clubs are, and where we should be, the rest will take care of itself."

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