The four players Ange Postecoglou was looking to sign for Tottenham to compete with Arsenal

Thomas Frank was recently sacked as Tottenham’s manager.

While hindsight is a good thing, it is something that many highlight in the footballing world, especially when it comes to a club like Tottenham, and when Ange Postecoglou speaks, you listen. It is not hard to wonder how different things might have been at Hotspur Way had the chiefs at N17 backed the Australian the way he wanted.

In the days following the sacking of Thomas Frank, the spotlight soon turned to his predecessor, Ange Postecoglou, who, with some impeccable timing, appeared on the Stick to Football podcast, where he spoke candidly about the summer that he had at Spurs in 2024.

He spoke about the moment that he realised that the Lilywhites are not prepared to invest at the level that is required for them to go on and genuinely compete at the top.

Ange reveals the summer he wanted at Tottenham

The former Nottingham Forest head coach went on to name four specific players that he believed would have taken his Tottenham side from nearly there to genuine contenders. Pedro Neto, Bryan Mbeumo, Antoine Semenyo, and Marc Guehi.

But then he reflected on the summer; instead of top names, Tottenham went on to sign Dominic Solanke and three other young players (namely, Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Wilson Odobert).

He said (via. Stick to Football podcast):

“You know, I was looking at Pedro Neto and [Bryan] Mbeumo and [Antoine] Semenyo at the time, and Marc Guehi. I said we need, if we’re going to go from fifth to [challenging at the top], that’s what the other big clubs would do in that moment.

“Those three teenagers [Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Wilson Odobert] are outstanding young players and I think they’ll be great players for Tottenham, but they’re not [the signings] to get you from fifth to fourth and third.”

He went on to point out how Tottenham’s arch rivals Arsenal went on to sign Declan Rice in a £100m move to make a statement while pointing out that it is the kind of statement that he felt Tottenham would never make.

He continued:

“I still felt like, you know, Tottenham as a club was saying ‘we’re one of the big boys’ and the reality is I don’t think they are in terms of my experience over the last two years of how they act.

“When Arsenal need players, they’ll spend a hundred million on Declan Rice. I don’t see Tottenham doing that. Maybe now, I don’t know. But not, not in, not just my history, even predating me.

Author Opinion

These comments from Ange are more of an echo of frustrations that the supporters at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium have felt time and again. It always seems like this club are going on about their operations like a club that is preparing for tomorrow rather than attacking today (i.e., the immediate impact that many fans were frustrated about in the aftermath of the winter transfer window).

And while there is nothing wrong with that sustainable way of bringing in players, as Ange says, there comes a moment when a team that is on the cusp needs to take that decisive leap and take some risks.

You see Arsenal doing it with Rice. Then City does that almost every summer window.

Liverpool as well did it before they went on to win their Champions League and Premier League under Klopp. But Tottenham never did that.

Ange is right. He does make a lot of sense.