Ange Postecoglou believes an alignment between all the key figures at Tottenham has allowed them to move quickly in the January transfer window.
Postecoglou repeatedly made clear his desire to bring in a centre-back early and Spurs completed the signing of Radu Dragusin from Genoa on Thursday, with Djed Spence heading on loan in the other direction.
It capped a busy week for Tottenham after they secured the loan addition of Timo Werner from RB Leipzig on Tuesday and allowed Eric Dier to depart after 10 seasons to join Bayern Munich.
Spurs’ quick work is a big shift in strategy after previously waiting until the end of the month to secure signings and Postecoglou paid tribute to chairman Daniel Levy, technical director Johan Lange and chief football officer Scott Munn.
“It’s easier said than done because while we might have a desire to do things early, you’ve got to have all parties agreeing to that and it’s not easy to do, especially in January,” Postecoglou said ahead of Sunday’s trip to Manchester United.
“The key thing for us was from the chairman to Johan and his team and Scott, we were all very aligned in what we wanted and we got our targets early.
“It was pretty clear what we wanted to do and if it didn’t happen, then we’ve moved on. But I think the fact that we were all pretty aligned on what our objectives were allowed us to be sitting here now with two players in – not so much for Sunday, but we know we’ve got a two-week break which means we get at least a couple of weeks to get the lads up to speed.
“We had some pretty clear objectives. If there’s an opportunity for us to get better, we’ll take it, but what we were trying to achieve going into it, I’m really pleased we’ve got two players in who I think will play a really important part for us.”
Postecoglou has continued to reshape the squad this month with former captain Hugo Lloris joining Los Angeles FC and Dier ending his nine-and-a-half-years at Tottenham to join Bayern.
“The club made a conscious decision to change the way we went about things and for that to happen you need change in personnel,” the Australian reflected.
“Hugo left and Eric moves on to another chapter in his career, he’s another one who has had a fantastic career here at Tottenham.
“Eric’s left his mark, he was part of a very very good side who made many great memories for our supporters here and he certainly leaves his mark here at Tottenham.
“He moves to another big club and hopefully has success in the rest of his career.
“For us, it’s a constant evolution of traying to inch forward to becoming the team we want to be.”
Postecoglou expects Dragusin to be involved at Old Trafford despite still waiting for his work permit and Micky van de Ven is fit enough to start.
Cristian Romero has also returned to training and could feature against United, but Giovani Lo Celso and Ben Davies are both out.
Lo Celso’s absence could earn Werner his full debut.
Van de Ven out with hamstring injury until after international break, says Postecoglou
Micky van de Ven suffered a hamstring injury and will be out of action for Tottenham until after the international break, head coach Ange Postecoglou has revealed.
Van de Ven left the pitch in tears while clutching the back of his right leg 14 minutes into Tottenham’s EFL Cup victory over Manchester City on Wednesday.
While Postecoglou confirmed the fears of Spurs fans, he was optimistic about the prognosis with the defender not expected to be out for a long stretch.
"Micky has strained a hamstring. It's not too serious, but it will probably be after the international break for him [to return]," the Spurs boss told reporters ahead of his side's clash with Aston Villa on Sunday.
"He was disappointed. Obviously, he was really looking forward to the game, so he was a bit emotional, but it is definitely not a bad one like last time that kept him out for quite a while.
"He will work hard, and the good thing is we've got the international break, which is an extra two weeks. Hopefully, it means he won't miss too much football."
Van de Ven has featured in eight of Tottenham's nine Premier League games this season and has been a reassuring presence in defence.
Indeed, he has made the second most clearances (23) and blocks (four) in the squad, only second to Cristian Romero and Pedro Porro respectively.
There was, however, positive news about skipper Heung-min Son, who was absent during Spurs' defeat at Crystal Palace last weekend.
"Sonny trained [on Friday], so if he gets through training [on Saturday], he should be OK," Postecoglou added.
Man Utd must find a way to keep Van Nistelrooy at Old Trafford, says Meulensteen
Rene Meulensteen believes Manchester United must do everything in their power to keep Ruud van Nistelrooy at the club, amid Ruben Amorim's impending arrival.
United confirmed the appointment of Sporting CP boss Amorim on Friday, four days after announcing they had parted ways with Erik ten Hag following a dismal run of form.
The Red Devils currently sit 14th in the Premier League after their first nine games of the season, and welcome Chelsea to Old Trafford this Sunday.
Van Nistelrooy, who joined Ten Hag's coaching staff in July, oversaw his first game as interim boss in midweek, earning a 5-2 win over Leicester City in the EFL Cup.
Amorim will officially take charge on November 11, meaning the Dutchman will remain at the helm for United's fixtures against Chelsea, PAOK and Leicester.
The Portuguese arrives at Old Trafford with an impressive resume, having guided Sporting to their first league title in 19 years, and winning the Primeira Liga again in 2023-24.
His 120 victories in the league give him a 76.92% win ratio, which is the best of any Sporting coach on record.
But former United coach Meulensteen believes it is crucial Van Nistelrooy remains at the club, with his experience vital in helping Amorim understand the pressures of the job.
"I think the club will have to manufacture something. It's very clear that Amorim wants to bring his own staff, which I think is very understandable," Meulensteen told Stats Perform.
"He can look at it and say: 'OK, Ruud has got some experience with the players, and he might be able to help me to tell me this and that and the other'.
"That's the conversation he needs to have. If he doesn't see a place for him in and around the first team, then he has to be clear about that as well.
"Because at the end of the day, if you see a little bit of what happened with Erik, let's assume if Amorim had said: 'listen I'm staying in Sporting, I'm not doing it, forget it', then obviously we wouldn't have these conversations.
"Then, it would have been a little bit more quiet, and I would have said to Ruud: 'listen Ruud, you take over for now, right, and see how we go and see how you get on with it'.
"And if that, for instance, started to come off, Ruud would have given the board and Ineos and all those people enough confidence to say: 'listen, I'll be more than capable of carrying on with it'.
"Now they haven't gone that way, so I can also understand if the manager says: 'no, I don't want anybody that I don't know in that setup, because I really want to do my own thing'.
"Ruud made it clear he wants to stay and be part of it, so at least that's a positive for the incoming manager. If the incoming manager has other plans, then the club has to find something different."
Amorim will be United's youngest boss since 33-year-old Wilf McGuinness took charge of them on Boxing Day 1970 against Derby County.
Since March 2020, when Amorim took charge, Sporting have the highest win percentage of any team across Europe's top 10 leagues (77% - 120 wins out of 156 games).
His first game at the helm comes against Ipswich Town after the international break, but it remains to be seen whether Van Nistelrooy will remain alongside him.
Campion College, Hydel book quarterfinal berths as former champions STGC, Wolmer's Boys, STATHS miss out
Campion College and Hydel High booked their spots in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup quarterfinal round after both registered 1-0 wins over St Jago and Wolmer’s Boys in their respective second round group encounters on Friday.
The win for Campion College saw them finish second in Group One on six points, behind reigning champions Mona High, who blanked many times champion St George’s College 3-0 to finish on maximum nine points.
St George’s placed third on three points and missed out on the quarterfinal along with St Jago, who ended without point. However, both will have a shot at the Walker Cup knockout title.
The same is true for perennial semi-finalist St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) and 10-time winners Wolmer's Boys, who were both eliminated from the Manning Cup.
Wolmer’s Boys’ loss to Hydel saw them finish at the foot of Group Three with a point, while STATHS’ 1-0 win over group winners Kingston College was not enough to see them through. They finished third on four points, as Kingston College and Hydel took the top two spots with six points each.
Kingston College, Campion College, Mona High and Hydel are joined by Group Four leaders St Catherine (six points) and Group Two leaders Excelsior (six points) in the quarterfinal, with Jamaica College, Tivoli Gardens and Eltham on the hunt for the other two spots.
Friday’s results
Campion College 1, St Jago 0
Mona High 3, St George’s College 0
Hydel High 1, Wolmer’s Boys 0
STATHS 1, Kingston College 0
Saturday’s fixtures
St Catherine vs Jamaica College
Calabar vs Charlie Smith
Excelsior vs Jonathan Grant
Tivoli Gardens vs Eltham
*All games are scheduled for 3:00pm
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