5 things we learned about Tottenham in August

Tottenham Hotspur had high hopes of a successful 2024/25 season heading into the new campaign.

And while those hopes haven’t been permanently dampened, there’s been a little bit of expectation management following three rounds of Premier League fixtures.

Spurs have taken four points from a possible nine, beating Everton but faltering on trips to Leicester City and Newcastle United.

Here’s what we learned about the north Londoners from their first three fixtures.

Dominic Solanke, a man who had previously not been sidelined with injury since the invention of the wheel, has so far missed two games for Tottenham through injury.

Spurs’ new star striker showed promising signs in his debut away at Leicester and almost certainly would have feasted against Everton, but it was the loss at Newcastle where Ange Postecoglou really missed Solanke.

A lack of a natural striker was a two-fold reason behind Tottenham’s inefficiency at times last season, lacking another finisher but also a physical figure to lead the line in Postecoglou’s ideal way.

Solanke ticks all the boxes for what Postecoglou and Spurs need. It’s been a real source of frustration that he’s already had to take a backseat role so early in his north London career.

On paper, Spurs had a pretty decent transfer window.

They’ve continued to bring down the average age of the squad and have strengthened in key areas that clearly needed addressing. However, they didn’t complete all of the necessary business and there are questions over how young was too young for these incomings.

Left-back Destiny Udogie lacks competition and his performances have dipped since his breakout at the start of last season, while Micky van de Ven is the only centre-back who is truly capable of sweeping up in Postecoglou’s high line.

The surprise £25m deal to bring in Wilson Odobert from Burnley could age superbly, with the 19-year-old the perfect fit for Tottenham’s system. However, if Spurs are to compete straight away, it’s normal to ask whether they should have moved for a more proved and senior option.

Tottenham will probably view this as the second summer out of three or four trying to build a squad in Postecoglou’s vision. They may also look back at this as a missed opportunity to improve in the here and now.

Tottenham’s…