Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou is refusing to publicly set targets for his team this season, insisting their focus will be on improvement and consistency.
Spurs begin their 2024/25 Premier League season with a trip to Leicester City on Monday evening, with renewed optimism of claiming a coveted place in the top four and with it, securing a return to the Uefa Champions League.
Tottenham were in contention to finish fourth last season, but a late collapse of four successive defeats saw them settle for fifth and a place in the Europa League. The London club have strengthened this summer with the arrival of England striker Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth, teenage midfielder Archie Gray from Leeds United, and French winger Wilson Odobert from Burnley.
"I go into every season with the same kind of target of trying to be successful," Postecoglou said. "The starting point for us is improvement. Improvement in our football, improvement in the consistency of our football.
"We had a decent season last year. We certainly improved on the season last year in terms of results alone. Obviously, we changed the football and we had some really good moments and some moments where we had to work really hard to get some results and probably the back end of last season was disappointing for us.
"There’s a lot in there but for us if we can get improvement in that then more consistency gives us an opportunity and a platform to try to achieve something which is what you go into every season trying to do."
Solanke, recruited for a reported £55 million to fill the void left by Harry Kane's exit to Bayern Munich last summer, is Tottenham's statement signing following a career-best 19 Premier League goals last season. Postecoglou said the 26-year-old striker is adapting well but also called for patience.
"Thankfully it is what we expected, he is a top pro, a good guy, he has settled into the dressing room really well," the Spurs manager said. "Footballing wise you can see he has the attributes that kind of fit into what we want to do really well.
"There is still an adjustment period there as we play a little bit differently and train differently and we have seen that with every new signing that comes in. So far he has fit in really well with the group and training. We still have a couple of sessions to go but so far, so good."
Welcoming Tottenham to the King Power Stadium on Monday will be Leicester manager Steve Cooper, who returns to the Premier League following his sacking by Nottingham Forest last season.
Cooper has replaced Enzo Maresca, now at Chelsea, and is back in the top flight nine months after leaving Forest.
The Welshman faces a difficult task as the promoted Leicester have a possible points deduction hanging over them while they have found it tough to strengthen their squad.
Monday night’s visit of Spurs provides a bit of symmetry for Cooper as it was a 2-0 defeat to Postecoglou’s side in December which proved his final game in charge of Forest.
“I can’t wait to get back,” Cooper said. "I think about the organisation and not myself. It’s always the club first.
"I missed the Premier League, there’s no doubt about that. I didn’t use the time to down tools. That was the last thing I wanted. I tried to use the time wisely to prepare for the next role. It’s an exciting challenge here. It’s been a good pre-season while transitioning to being a Premier League team again.”
