Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglu better than Guardiola, Ferguson and Mourinho in the Premier League

It’s been quite a turnaround for Tottenham Hotspur under new manager Ange Postecoglu. The North London side have only finished in the Champions League places once in the last four seasons and missed out on Europe altogether this year after ending 2022-23 all the way down in eighth spot. However, they now find themselves top of the Premier League table after nine games and playing an exciting brand of soccer that is a far cry from what we saw under Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho in recent years. Who needs Harry Kane…?

Ange Postecoglu’s best-ever Premier League start

Goals from Son Heung-min and James Maddison saw them defeat Fulham with relatively minimum fuss on Monday, Spurs’ third victory in a row and their seventh in nine league games so far this season. They’ve already beaten Manchester United and Liverpool, as well as picking up a point away to bitter rivals Arsenal. Their superb start to the season has seen them take a two-point lead over Manchester City and the Gunners at the top of the standings…and earn Postecoglu a Premier League record.

Granted, it’s not one that will mean all that much to the Australian, although it is a testament to the work he has done to turn around what had been an underperforming team in such a short space of time.

Spurs have won seven and drawn two of their opening nine league fixtures, amassing 23 points from a possible 27. Not since the Premier League started has a manager earned as many in his first nine matches in charge.

Points after nine games: Guardiola, Mourinho, Ferguson, Wenger, Klopp

Pep Guardiola won his first six matches with City in 2016-17 but then lost to Spurs and drew back-to-back games, collecting 20 points, the same figure Jose Mourinho hit at the start of his first spell as Chelsea boss in 2004-05.

The great Sir Alex Ferguson, who had already managed Manchester United for almost six years before the Premier League started in 1992, picked up 18 points from his first nine games in the “new league”, as did Arsène Wenger after taking over at Arsenal in October 1996. Jürgen Klopp, meanwhile, saw his Liverpool team collect only 12 after joining the Reds in October 2015.

Those five managers have won 26 of the 31 Premier League titles on offer since 1992. Postecoglu is a long, long way from winning just one, but he couldn’t have got off to a better start.