Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou handed familiar problem after another statement Man City win

For Spurs, going from losing astatine location to recently promoted Ipswich to inflicting City's heaviest decision astatine the Etihad felt wholly on-brand, and accordant with their Jekyll-and-Hyde signifier nether Ange Postecoglou this season.

The triumph astatine the Etihad was comfortably Spurs' astir implicit and mature show nether the Australian, but it was not their archetypal large effect of the campaign.

They had already won 3-0 successful Manchester, beating Erik 10 Hag's crumbling United, eliminated a much-changed City from the Carabao Cup and thumped Aston Villa 4-1.

The triumph implicit United, though, was followed up successful the league by their singular illness astatine Brighton and, aft Villa, Spurs mislaid back-to-back games against Galatasaray and the Tractor Boys.

Postecoglou's broadside were besides beaten by previously-winless Crystal Palace successful different irredeemable performance, instantly aft thrashing West Ham 4-1.

These chaotic swings successful signifier are the communicative of Spurs' play truthful far, and it is hard to retrieve different squad with specified a gaping chasm betwixt their champion and their worst – making it hard to measure the advancement of Postecoglou's project.

Saturday's effect undeniably felt similar a landmark for Spurs, a glimpse of their imaginable nether Postecoglou and possibly a connection to the league's different apical clubs.

It volition number for nothing, however, if Spurs bash not bushed Fulham astatine location adjacent weekend, a constituent made forcefully astatine the Etihad by Dejan Kulusevski, who dismissed the proposition that beating City could beryllium 'a turning point' for Spurs.

"No, nary due to the fact that we person to beryllium overmuch much consistent," Kulusevski said. "It’s not a turning point.

"We person to beryllium amended successful different games. This crippled suits america perfectly, but we person a batch of betterment to marque successful the different games, particularly wherever we play the lower-ranked teams.

It’s not a turning point, we person to beryllium amended successful different games

Dejan Kulusevski

"It’s up to america each to instrumentality work due to the fact that we’re precise bully players, and present we conscionable person to bash it each day.

“It’s ever large to play large teams due to the fact that they ever privation to play football. When you play little teams, sometimes it’s not. There’s not overmuch shot played due to the fact that determination are a batch of fouls, a batch of injuries and it’s dilatory going."

Explaining Spurs' lurches from outstanding to atrocious is not casual but, arsenic Kulusevski pointed out, 1 crushed is that Postecoglou's front-foot broadside are amended suited to fast-paced occasions against the much established clubs.

They were devastating successful modulation against City, who near acres of abstraction for Kulusevski, Heung-min Son, James Maddison and, latterly, substitutes Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson to attack.

Spurs were besides afforded the state of Old Trafford by Ten Hag's infamous 'doughnut', portion Villa's precocious antiaircraft enactment volition usually contiguous opportunities.

Marco Silva's Fulham, however, volition purpose to enactment compact and disciplined successful northbound London, peculiarly aft they were beaten 4-1 astatine location by Wolves connected Saturday.

The Cottagers volition contiguous an wholly antithetic situation to City and the question is whether Spurs tin support the aforesaid levels of verve and strength successful what is apt to beryllium a little unfastened and much stop-start match?

There is an unwelcome precedent of sorts for Spurs. Last season, they bushed top-four rivals Villa 4-0 distant from location successful March successful what felt similar a important effect astatine the time, a imaginable turning constituent aft an injury-disrupted winter.

Instead, they followed it up by losing 3-0 astatine location to Fulham successful 1 of their worst displays nether Postecoglou, earlier limping implicit the decorativeness enactment successful a hard extremity to the caput coach's maiden play successful charge.

Amid each the deserved post-City positivity, it is inactive casual to ideate different dismal effect against Fulham is coming, fixed the mode Spurs' play has unfolded.

The situation for Postecoglou and his players is to guarantee the show astatine the Etihad was a springboard, paving the mode for a play of greater consistency, alternatively than portion of a acquainted signifier of roar and bust.