Ange Postecoglou never likes you to think that you've got him or his team figured out and so it proved once again on Saturday after Tottenham beat Luton.
Spurs have struggled to find a way through in the first half of every home game this year. They have not scored a single goal in the first 45 minutes of any match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2024.
Postecoglou may well point out that his team has won all but two of those matches but the point remains. There's something about Tottenham's final third play that is not clinical enough to put them in control of home games at the moment, to give the supporters' heart rates a little bit of an easier time as the time ticks on.
Instead Spurs have had to find the goals later in encounters, often after conceding first, but when Postecoglou was asked whether another first half without a goal was something that he wanted to change, he thought for a moment and then scrunched up his nose.
"I don't know, no, not really. The disappointing thing about the first half is the goal we conceded. Our football was good. We created good chances, one-vs-ones, we hit the post, they blocked quite a few shots and they defended desperately. I think overall there was nothing wrong with our football. The goal we conceded, yeah that was poor and that's something we need to address," said the Australian.
"With a lot of our football it becomes a war of attrition. We need to put pressure on the opposition because we know we're going to run our games really strongly and I thought we made Luton work really hard in the first half and I thought you saw in the last 10 to 15 minutes that they paid the price for that."
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That fits in with those who have seen the Australian's football elsewhere and say the plan is often to pass and play the opposition into a tired heap before capitalising as the game goes on. Postecoglou is not wrong though in that Spurs did create enough chances to make the result safe long before the winner eventually came in the 86th minute, once again in front of the big south stand.
Timo Werner struck a shot just wide after a great run in the opening 45 minutes before captain Son Heung-min managed to hit an effort that somehow struck both posts. In the aftermath of that both Werner and Pape Matar Sarr had shots blocked in front of goal by last-gasp Luton lunges.
In the second half Son had further chances, Pedro Porro fired over from a good position and Brennan Johnson had an effort saved that looked to everyone like it had then rolled over the goaline but the overhead replay showed the sphere of the ball had not entirely crossed the line by a millimetre or so.
In the end Son saved the day, helped by another game-changing appearance from Brennan Johnson.
In all Spurs had 70% of the possession and launched 17 shots at Luton's goal, but only sent four on target. The visitors had seven efforts, with three on target, one the goal from Tahith Chong and two efforts from distance from Ross Barkley and Jordan Clark that Guglielmo Vicario turned away smartly with low saves.
The early sloppy goal, from a Tottenham perspective, for the Hatters was the only thing that really irked Postecoglou and it was the only black mark on the defence's day.
Spurs have not kept a clean sheet at home in the Premier League since October last year and have only had two league clean sheets at home all season. In total they have managed just six in the Premier League, four of them coming in the early months of the campaign.
Saturday's conceded goal was a poor one. It came from a misplaced Dejan Kulusevski pass in a great area for Spurs, sliced behind all of their attackers, and sending Luton away on the break after Son was outmuscled in an attempt to regain control of the loose ball. Andros Townsend skipped past a half-hearted Yves Bissouma attempted challenge with Destiny Udogie up the pitch with the failed attack.
Townsend found Barkley and with Spurs remaining three defenders all having been drawn across the box like a moth to the flame, the midfielder picked out the unmarked Chong. Porro tried to get back across but found Carlton Morris in his way and that left Chong free to fire a low shot through Porro's legs and in off the right-hand post.
"I thought the performance was good. I think we made the game pretty difficult for ourselves," Postecoglou told football.london. "We certainly had enough chances and we controlled the game pretty much from start to finish, but obviously when the scoreline is as it is, disappointing goal we conceded.
"That was the highly disappointing point of the day. I just thought it was preventable, but aside from that I thought the lads handled it really well in the second half.
"There was a bit of anxiety around the place, every game now for every club there will be because there's extra significance, but I thought the lads stayed really calm during that process. Kept playing our football and probing and eventually got their rewards."
Those rewards came after an early and key tactical change from Postecoglou. Managers are often criticised for not changing matches with their substitutions but the Australian routinely does, as evidenced by the second half goals his team scores. This latest switch was a pivotal change.
The Johnson and Kulusevski switch
As soon as referee Jarred Gillett put the whistle to his lips and blew for half-time, so Ange Postecoglou turned to Brendan Johnson, pointed and told him to get ready to come on for the second half.
The Australian had seen enough. Dejan Kulusevski's desire to keep running in off the right flank was bunching up the play in the centre of the pitch and it was preventing the very form of attack that Postecoglou gets his coaches Chris Davies and Ryan Mason to drill into his players day after day after day.
The winger or full-back must get down the flank - sometimes combining with another player - before firing the ball hard and low across the six-yard box for the central striker or other winger to slam into the net. The Tottenham players go through those motions hundreds of times a week, using different combinations to achieve the same end result.
Kulusevski's style is often the very antithesis of that drill, a left footer playing on the right wing. Postecoglou loves him though and the feeling is mutual.
That's because before Saturday's game, the Swede had created far more chances for Spurs than any other player in the squad, with 52 opportunities created and, allied to that, he is one of the fittest, hardest-working players in the squad.
Even in the midst of a subpar showing against Luton, Kulusevski, who grabbed assists in back-to-back games for his country during the break, created both of Spurs' big chances of the first half for Son and Werner.
However, the rest of his game did not match those moments. He gave that key ball away three minutes in when a half-decent pass into the box would likely have brought an early goal for the hosts instead.
It was exactly the kind of scenario where Postecoglou wanted him to play it across the six-yard box for the sprinting Udogie or Werner at the back post, or pull it back for Son, but he instead went to his go-to move and cut inside and played a dreadful pass behind everyone.
The Swede had the lowest pass success rate of any starting Spurs player by a long way, with just 66.7% of his efforts reaching their target.
So when the whistle went for the interval, Postecoglou had seen enough. He does not normally single out players for something negative after a match but he seemed keen to make a point to Kulusevski publicly.
"We felt that in the first half Deki was probably coming inside a little bit too much and we felt that Timo was certainly getting some opportunities down the left-hand side and if we got Brennan on the right-hand side that he could equally be a threat," Postecoglou told football.london. "I thought both wingers in the second half were outstanding.
Werner was a constant menace throughout and it's just the finishing touch with the German that is the missing piece of the jigsaw. His movement, skill and dribbling were superb as he turned his defender inside out to put himself in front of the Luton goal in one first half run, only to scuff the ball into the ground at the last moment and send it spinning past the right-hand post rather than inside it.
He played three key passes in the match, including a defence-splitting one to Giovani Lo Celso in the build-up to Johnson's chance that somehow did not cross the line.
For the equaliser, it was Werner challenging at the back post - as Postecoglou asks of his wingers and it's something Kulusevski does not do enough - that pressured Issa Kabore into slamming Johnson's low ball into his own net.
Then the two wingers were involved together again for the winner. Son set Werner away down the left and he found Johnson in the box to prod the ball to the Tottenham captain to fire in off a defender's leg.
For a loan move, Werner continues to be a bargain and a real threat for Spurs - compare it with Arnaut Danjuma's wasted move the same time a year ago - and the Germain is playing his way towards a permanent £15m summer move at this rate.
The biggest strides though are being made by Brennan Johnson. The 22-year-old had plenty of excuses to wallow if he wanted. Wales had missed out on qualification for the Euros in heart-breaking fashion and he had returned to Tottenham to find himself as the only player dropped after that dire team display at Craven Cottage.
"I know you want me to give them all a cuddle, mate. I know you are always concerned about our players, but I just don't have the time," joked Postecoglou. "I don't have the time. There are 25 beautiful souls in my dressing room and I just don't have the time to get around to them. It's football you know. It's a hard business, there's ups, there's downs and you've just got to deal with them sometimes.
"Brennan, obviously like Benny [Davies], felt the pain of missing out on a major competition, but being a professional footballer you use that as motivation to go out there next time. I am sure Brennan has got another couple of tournaments in him and next time he'll try to become the one that gets them there."
Johnson doesn't wallow though. He looks to make his point and this was another game-changing appearance for his collection and it was built on a foundation of energy, pressing and harassing the Luton defence.
The Postecoglou way suits the Wales international down to the ground and it's why the Australian was so excited about signing him in the summer. He knew he could mould the young attacker into a star because he had all the attributes with his pace and delivery to carry out those attacking drills to the letter and also the forward's instinct to get into goalscoring areas.
So it proved to be once again on Saturday. Johnson knew his instructions were simply to do the opposite of what Kulusevski did and instead stay wide and race at Alfie Doughty every time he got the ball.
That's exactly what he produced, firing in three dangerous balls across the face of goal within the first 15 minutes after coming on, one of them forcing the equaliser. The odd nature of recording assists means you cannot get one for assisting an own goal, so it will not find its way on to Johnson's growing official tally.
He teed up Porro for a chance that the Spaniard should have done better with. He still did end up with an assist though, running the length of the pitch before using anticipation to reach Werner's low ball before the Luton defence and he knew exactly where Son was, prodding it towards his captain to score the winner.
On one occasion, when Johnson came inside and Son moved to the right, Postecoglou soon shouted towards the Wales international and pointed for him to return back to the wing. He had his place and it was where he could wreak most havoc.
Johnson now has seven assists and four goals, meaning 11 goal involvements in 26 Premier League appearances this season. He was a milimetre away from scoring with that saved effort that almost still crossed the line.
His recent form shows it's eight goal involvements in his past 12 league games with his development clear to see under Postecoglou. The Spurs boss said in his club interview that the key for Johnson now is to bring consistency to his performances to ensure he is making an impact in every game from the start.
The Spurs boss was asked whether he wanted his wingers like Kulusevski and Johnson to play in different ways in keeping with their skillsets but the answer was clear.
"Our wingers should play the same way. I think Deki was trying to get maybe too involved in the game a little bit. He went looking for the ball, he's that kind of player - wants to be on the ball all the time," he said.
"I just thought we had a different structure in the second half. It's not about the individual players, it's about the overall structure that they have to follow.
"I thought it was really important and I could see that Timo was getting two or three really good opportunities, and we weren't getting the same kind of joy on the other side because Deki was coming inside looking for the ball. With Brennan's pace and he has really good quality delivery, and gets in the box, I thought the game was going to be good for him."
On that idea of getting the two wingers high and wide, he added: "That's part of the attacking template - it's not everything - but yeah if you're looking for trends or consistencies, that's one area where we haven't really nailed yet.
"But I can see green shoots of growth where we've also scored quite a few goals like that now. We got a lot of crosses in from that area today, scored one, forced a couple of good saves, don't know how one didn't go in. So I think there's something there."
For Kulusevski the key will be to increase his unpredictability, using his right foot to drive those balls across the face of goal as much as he cuts inside on his left, or even playing on the left wing at times to use his more comfortable left foot. His future may even eventually lie in a deeper number eight role. He once told football.london that his favourite position was centrally as a number 10 and he has impressed at times when filling in for Maddison.
As for his replacement on Saturday, Postecoglou called Johnson "excellent" after the match in his club interview.
"I thought Brennan was excellent. We felt at half-time, bringing him on, with him and Timo really wide, we could stretch them, and I thought both wingers were outstanding in the second half," he said. "It was great for Brennan. He’s made quite a few impacts now off the bench, and it’s another chance for him to maintain that consistency. We know what a good player he can be and to try to make an impact whenever he plays.
"It’s still an area we’re working hard on, an area we can improve, but today was better. We got a lot of balls into that area we want to get in to, we were unlucky with a couple, I don’t know how one stayed out, couple of good saves and blocks, but we got the balls into the right areas. It’s not quite there yet in it becoming natural for the lads but you can see them buying into it and it gets the rewards."
It's worth noting that the Wales international now has the same number of assists as Phil Foden - as well as team-mates James Maddison and Pedro Porro - and more than the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Martin Odegaard and Kevin De Bruyne. Only Son with eight has more for Tottenham.
Brennan Johnson is putting himself in decent company and this is only the beginning.
A captain's display
For a man who was starting his third match in just over a week and had just flown back across the world, Son Heung-min, in the 86th minute, picked up the ball in his own box, sprinted up the field, played Werner down the left and ran into the other penalty area to fire in Johnson's lay-off.
The 31-year-old had run the length of the pitch to do what he always does - be there when he is needed the most.
During the Harry Kane years, Son would always step into the breach and do the business. He relished stepping on to centre stage and that's why this season as captain has brought out the best of him.
He could have scored more on Saturday, one agonising shot after rounding Thomas Kaminski struck one post, rolled along the goal line and struck the other before bouncing out. He sent another effort at the goalkeeper in the second half from Porro's low ball. In the end though, the winning goal was the only thing that mattered.
It feels like Son is at the peak of his powers right now. He's still got his pace but now it's allied with the nous and experience of a player just in his 30s who has been at the top for years. That includes his ability to use his body to turn and shield the ball around the pitch, his knowhow of when to make runs and when to hold them at the last moment, as he did for his winner.
Luton's man-marking was pulled all over the place by the South Korean because he kept dragging his centre-back out deep in the visitors' half and telling the likes of Pape Matar Sarr and the full-backs to run into the space left behind the centre of the opposition half.
Son's goal made it 15 goals and eight assists in the Premier League this season, 23 goals involvements in 26 games if you will. He is just three goals behind Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race.
The winning strike took him to 160 goals for Tottenham Hotspur, pushing him clear of double-winning legend Cliff Jones - the grandfather of first team coach Matt Wells -in fifth place in the club's all-time top scorer rankings.
He is now 14 goals behind Martin Chivers with Bobby Smith, Jimmy Greaves and Harry Kane all in the 200s. However, it's worth pointing out that Son, like Jones, has spent much of his career out on the wing which makes his tally all the more impressive.
"I think the thing about Sonny is that irrespective of opposition or whatever game it is, he has this really high level of expectation on himself to be the best he can be all the time," said Postecoglou.
"It's very hard to be like that. It's a lot easier to try and get comfortable in the state of being as a person or as a player because he's done so much already, but he wants to maintain the highest possible standards whenever he plays, and when you see that with his football, his efforts, his leadership now so it's all encompassing.
"He's been a brilliant footballer for this club for a long time and hopefully for many years to come, and again I thought he was really unlucky with a couple of chances and some good saves. But when we needed him he was there and got the job done."
The Spurs boss was asked whether his always running captain ever felt tired, especially after all of his international exploits in the past fortnight across the world as he scored twice for South Korea in two World Cup qualifying games against Thailand.
"I am sure he feels tired. Yeah absolutely. It's tough. When I was national team coach of Australia, we had quite a few players playing this side of world and you talk to them. Mile [Jedinak] is a classic example of that where they come back, they're long trips, there is time difference but like I said before he never looks for those crutches, Sonny," he said.
"For him when he is available, he wants to play to the highest possible level and he keeps doing it. Playing for his national team is hugely important to him. Playing for this football club is hugely important to him and he wouldn't compromise either by letting his standards drop. He gets on with it, we try to look after him the best we can and the proof is in what he produces."
Son loves having the responsibility for club and country and the people he can make happy. On Friday, the afternoon before the game, he undertook a now regular habit of coming out of Hotspur Way to meet the crowd of fans who had travelled from Korea, their numbers swollen by local Spurs fans off for Good Friday.
He patiently worked his way through the entire queue that formed, signing shirts and photos and posing for selfies with them all.
Spurs used to prevent fans from gathering outside their Enfield training complex by explaining that players are not going to stop as they pull their cars out on to the narrow country road. Son has given the security guards a little more to think about and put a lot of smiles on the faces of fans, with many of them journeying from across the world just to catch a glimpse of him.
"Playing for one club for almost ten years is an incredible feeling and a big honour for me," said the Spurs captain of taking his place in the top five all-time goalscorers at the club.
"I didn't even realise how many goals I'd scored. I want to thank everyone who played with me and coached me for their big effort. I want to give as much as I can for the team, football is a team sport and the individual comes afterwards. In the last nine games I want to give everything for the team."
That is Son in a nutshell and his winning goal showed it. He gave everything left in his body to ensure the team prevailed.
No time to rest
Tottenham's sports science staff are going to have to use everything in their power to recover Son & Co in time to face West Ham with just two days to recover.
Postecoglou will have plenty of decisions to make over the team he selects to face David Moyes' side in what will be a fierce London derby in Stratford, with the Hammers looking to bounce back after their dramatic defeat at Newcastle.
With injuries easing, the Spurs boss will be able to make changes if he wants to. Micky van de Ven is ready and champing at the bit to come back into the team with Postecoglou taking the chance to give the Dutchman a few more days of recovery from his hamstring issue.
Cristian Romero, like Son, made light of his travels to the USA for Argentina's matches, in which he started both, scored once and played most of, with a dominant display against Luton, winning four aerial duels and making three clearances.
Alongside him Radu Dragusin was impressive, bouncing back from a tough night at Craven Cottage. He made five clearances and one tackle and won two aerial duels, was comfortable on the ball and embarked on a couple of long runs into the Luton half, one of them culminating in the Johnson effort that somehow did not cross the line.
Van de Ven will likely come back in for the Romanian - one 22-year-old for another - to bring his pace into the backline but Dragusin's height could be used as the game progresses to counter West Ham's ability at set pieces. Postecoglou will also have to decide about the full-backs with Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie having moments of quality against Luton but in a draining role, but can afford to change it up as much as bringing in Emerson Royal and Ben Davies does. West Ham will also be tired of course.
Others looked to make their case to start on Tuesday night. Johnson did so emphatically while Rodrigo Bentancur was bright and so was the lesser used Giovani Lo Celso, who had started both games for Argentina, scoring once and accordingly looked sharp. In his 100th appearance for Spurs in almost five years, set up that agonisingly close chance for Johnson and then made a crucial interception in his own box in the final minutes.
Richarlison made some important late touches and battled well, even if he did not look to be moving entirely freely with Spurs and Brazil both managing a knee issue he has had.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg shored up things late on, coming into the midfield after Yves Bissouma had been taken off.
The Dane wants to play more, saying on international duty in midweek to Danish media outlet Tipsbladet: "Of course, I am not satisfied with what is going on at the club. It's not a secret, but it's not something I make a fuss about either. I can put my head on the pillow knowing that I'm giving it my all to show the coach he has to believe in me. This is not the case at the moment, and it is the coach who must explain why."
Bissouma is not exactly making a glowing case for his continued starts ahead of Hojbjerg, Postecoglou admitting on Friday that the midfielder's performances have been inconsistent in line with many others in the team. His drop in form for club and country resulted in the 27-year-old being left out of the latest Mali squad.
Against Luton, Bissouma put in a performance of two halves alongside the energetic Pape Matar Sarr and the quiet James Maddison. In the first period Bissouma was unable to make much of an impact and was weak in his attempts to stop Townsend in the build-up to the early goal for the visitors.
However, he did improve in the second half and that gave Spurs the foundation to become more of a threat. He even went on a couple of the dribbles that drag opposition players behind him and leave space for others, which for some reason he has not done much since the early months of the season.
The problem for Postecoglou is that an out of form Bissouma is still the best fit for his number six role. He has the ability to protect the ball, move it quickly and, that Townsend moment aside, he is one of the side's best tacklers.
He made three on Saturday to make it 65 in total this season in the Premier League for Spurs. Only Pedro Porro has more with 74 and Destiny Udogie also has 65 but both full-backs have played 26 and 25 games respectively to Bissouma's 21.
Hojbjerg is a solid, disciplined player in the role but the rest of his game does not fit the Postecoglou way. With a year left on his contract, he is expected to leave Tottenham this summer despite still making a strong contribution across the season.
Bentancur is still finding his sharpness after so little football in the past year and the indications appear to be that the Spurs head coach sees him more of a number eight than a six, despite maintaining that he expects all midfielders to be able to play in both roles.
Oliver Skipp cannot even make matchday squads now, although Spurs' potential issues with a lack of homegrown club-trained players could make any loan departure for a player once called a future Tottenham captain this summer problematic.
football.london understands that Tottenham will look to improve their options in the number six role to see if there are potential upgrades available in the coming summer transfer window with Atalanta's Brazilian midfielder Ederson one of a number of players being looked at. That will present an issue for Bissouma if he cannot find his way back to consistent performances.
Spurs will continue their push towards more data-backed signings under the recruitment team led by technical director Johan Lange and chief scout Rob Mackenzie. That process has seen at least four scouts heading towards the exit door, including the experienced 73-year-old Ian Broomfield, who was chief scout under Harry Redknapp and has been at the club in various roles for 15 years across two spells.
The focus first though is on the remaining nine matches of the season and a big derby on Tuesday night. Aston Villa travel to Manchester City the following evening and it is a midweek in which Spurs can grab hold of their destiny with a good performance at the London Stadium.
They need to show they have learned from their past trip across the capital and that the Postecoglou way will only reap rewards if it is backed by the required hard work.
The Australian wants to be challenging for far more than Tottenham are this season, he admitted as much in his post-match club interview. The day before, when speaking about Cristian Romero's desire to play at the Olympics this summer to football.london, Postecoglou said he wants the Argentine to rest and prepare for what he believes will be a big season next time around.
Nights like the upcoming one on Tuesday in Stratford are the kind that big teams that have big seasons go and win. Tottenham need to do exactly that and show Postecoglou that the foundations are being put in place for what he wants to build sooner rather than later.
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