Gary Neville has tried to quash claims that Tottenham will challenge for the Premier League title this season, despite a stellar performance and unbeaten run in their first seven games.
New Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou has so far done an excellent job getting the team to play exciting football, in stark contrast to how they operated under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
Postecoglou also conquered fans and the media thanks to his down-to-earth personality and witty answers in interviews.
Tottenham’s last-gasp 2-1 win over Liverpool on Saturday – saw them reach 17 points from seven outings.
Spurs and Arsenal are the only two teams in the Prem who have yet to lose this season, following Manchester City’s shock defeat Wolves.
Spurs sit in second place, one point behind leaders City and ahead of third-placed Arsenal through goals scored.
Tottenham ‘not title contenders’, but ‘spirit’ draws praise
“But what they are is spirited, more resilient than I imagined they would be and I say that more out of the North London Derby last week and what I saw.
“They’re in a good place. There’s a spirit in the stadium, on the pitch and there is a connection with the way the manager is, the players on the pitch and the people in the crowd. We’re not talking too much about the boardroom at Spurs as much as we would have been in the last few years.
“There’s no doubt there’s something happening here for Spurs. It isn’t always as good as it looks and I think there will be challenges down the line, but I think they’ll have a better season than I thought they would.”
Postecoglou and Spurs will aim to prove Neville wrong by launching a serious title attack. However, it is clear where the former Manchester United right-back comes from.
In the match against Liverpool, Postecoglou signed young center forwards Alejo Veliz, Manor Solomon, Oliver Skipp and two players the manager wanted to sell – Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Ben Davies.
Compare these replacements with those Klopp could bring in – Diogo Jota, Ryan Gravenberch, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Wataru Endo and Ibrahima Konate – and it’s clear that Spurs’ squad depth is lacking.
Perhaps this is something Spurs will aim to improve in the January transfer window, to help Postecoglou have an even greater chance of success.
