The Australian has orchestrated a sensational turnaround in north London following a dismal 2022-23 campaign

It seems like a lifetime ago now, but back in the autumn, Tottenham were being hyped up as genuine title contenders. After 10 games, Spurs sat top of the Premier League table, having picked up a spirited point against rivals Arsenal as well as wins over Manchester United and Liverpool.

Though the latter victory did include a monumental assist by VAR, it was still difficult not to be seduced by the transfixing restoration job Ange Postecoglou had done over the course of just a single summer.

This early-season mania has ebbed away gradually as the campaign has dragged on, however, with Tottenham's recent 4-0 hammering at the hands of Newcastle providing the Australian's detractors with the most compelling evidence yet that the project may be veering off track.

The North London derby on Sunday provided Postecoglou with the perfect opportunity to respond and deal the club's bitterest foes a likely fatal blow to their Premier League title charge. But, by the time the whistle was blown for half-time, Spurs found themselves three goals down.

Getty/GOALFamiliar problems

That two of those goals came from set-pieces would have been particularly galling. First, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's botched clearance ended up flying past Guglielmo Vicario. Kai Havertz then rose high at the front post to make it 3-0, 11 minutes after Bukayo Saka had doubled the visitors' advantage by finishing off a counter-attack.

Set-pieces have become a spiralling issue for Tottenham, with only the bottom-four clubs and Aston Villa conceding more from dead-ball situations over the course of the Premier League campaign. It has been suggested to Postecoglou that hiring a specialist coach might improve things, but he firmly dismissed this notion back in March.

He doubled down on his position after the Arsenal game too, telling reporters: "If I thought fixing defensive set-pieces was the answer to us bridging the gap then I would put all of my time and effort into that. But that is not where we’re at."

This was not the only familiar problem that resurfaced during the Arsenal defeat either. Perhaps the most infamous aspect of Postecoglou's tactical approach is the ludicrously high line he encourages his defenders to adopt. It's key to how Spurs press and build up, but it is also their glass chin. If their opponent can get the ball forward quick enough in transition, Tottenham can be in big trouble, as Saka's goal showed.

That strike stemmed from Declan Rice, Saka and Havertz playing through Spurs' counter-press in their own box. This afforded the German with enough space to send Saka on his way, with the England international making light work of Ben Davies before placing the ball into the bottom corner. It's not the first time Spurs have conceded a goal of this ilk this season, and it almost certainly won't be the last either.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesDoesn't tell the whole story

Yet, while the first 45 minutes of the derby did seem to further highlight the pitfalls of Postecoglou's high-risk philosophy, his side's three-goal deficit did not tell the entire story. With the Gunners 1-0 up, Cristian Romero simply had to equalise, but could only hammer a free header into the post. Shortly after, Micky van de Ven was denied an equaliser by the narrowest of offside decisions. Had Gabriel Magalhaes stuck his posterior out a few more centimetres, the goal would have been given.

The third sliding-doors moment came in the build-up to Saka's goal. A matter of seconds before the forward made the net bulge, Dejan Kulusevski went crashing to the floor in the Arsenal box. Replays were inconclusive, but it wouldn't have been a huge surprise to see Leandro Trossard penalised for seemingly clipping the Swede's heels.

Considering all of that, it's astounding that Spurs somehow conspired to find themselves trailing so heavily at the break.

Getty ImagesPromising second half

Tottenham did at least restore some pride with their second-half display. Few scenes sum up the effectiveness of their madness more than centre-back Romero galloping up to press Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya, forcing a mistake and making it 3-1 and they continued to patiently probe at the best defence in the Premier League in the half-hour of action that followed.

Few could argue they didn't deserve their second, with Son Heung-min showing nerves of steel to convert from the spot after Declan Rice recklessly kicked Davies in the penalty area, and the 80 percent possession they enjoyed after the goal speaks to their ability to pen teams in with their high defensive line. In the end, though, the equaliser would not come.

It's a result that clearly hurt Postecoglou, with the Spurs boss being particularly damning about his side's defending in his post-match press conference.

"It's about now over the course of time getting from where we are to where we want to get to," he reflected. "To do that, we're still not absolutely laser focused on the details, the small things that get you from where we are to become a team that contends. Credit to Arsenal, they're there now. They're a team that does deal with the details well and we don't."

(C)Getty ImagesSeason still a success

And while Postecoglou was in no mood to praise himself or the team on Sunday evening, if we pull the lens back and look at Spurs' season as a whole, it's hard to be too critical of their efforts.

The ex-Celtic boss took over a club in crisis last summer, fresh off their lowest Premier League finish in 14 years. To compound matters, they then lost the best striker on the planet a few days before the campaign kicked off.

The fact that Postecoglou and Co remain in with a shot of securing Champions League football – they have two games in hand on fourth-placed Aston Villa, who they trail by seven points – while the manager has had to contend with a painful rebuild job is pretty incredible. Mikel Arteta certainly didn't manage to keep Arsenal this competitive during his first few years in the hot seat, with the Gunners missing out on Europe entirely in 2020 and 2021.

That Tottenham lost a string of first-teamers to injury over the festive and New Year's period only makes their points tally – already equal to what they managed last term with five games still to play – even more impressive.