Having failed with the high-profile appointments of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy changed track and handed Ange Postecoglou the reins last summer.
Conte had been dismissed several months prior – the club's fourth sacking in as many years – and an eighth-placed Premier League finish had brought the urgency for change to the foreground.
There have been some bumps in the road and Angeball is hardly infallible, but the progress under the Australian boss is clear to see, with new signings marrying into the ideology and existing squad members revived after the previous malaise.
Creativity has permeated the crop, and while Harry Kane was in prolific form last year, this was an issue that needed sorting, indeed rectified early into Postecoglou's reign through the £40m acquisition of James Maddison from relegated Leicester City.
The rest of the squad has stepped up too, with right-back Pedro Porro coming on leaps and bounds after entering at the 2022/23 term's midpoint, complete in his skill set and one of the Premier League's most creative full-backs.
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However, he's actually been surpassed by a former Spurs star in Kieran Trippier, who has inarguably been one of Europe's most influential wide defenders over recent years.
Kieran Trippier's time at Spurs
Admittedly, Trippier has been chided for a catalogue of errors across recent months at Newcastle United, but he's been one of the most transformative signings in recent memory within English football, with the best days of his career coming after his spell with Spurs.
June 2015: Trippier was a somewhat unknown commodity but then Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino spotted an opportunity and activated the 24-year-old's bargain £3.5m release clause with Burnley and brought him to White Hart Lane.
The 5 foot 10 ace would amass 114 appearances for Tottenham, scoring twice and providing 23 assists, but he revealed that his final days at the side proved to be laced in poignancy, a growing sense that he was expendable forcing him to seek pastures new.
Season
Apps
Starts
Goals
Assists
18/19
27
26
1
3
17/18
24
21
0
5
16/17
12
6
0
5
15/16
6
5
1
1
Source: WhoScored
Speaking to The Athletic in 2019, he said: "What annoyed me … as you know, people in football speak and there are always rumours, but I know 100 per cent for a fact – and this is what I was most angry about – that two months before the end of the season, Daniel (Levy, the chairman) was offering me to other clubs.
“I knew for certain that was happening, so I knew my time there must be up. I was playing for my teammates and the supporters, but I also knew I wasn't wanted."
Levy was seemingly keen to move the defender on and that resulted in a permanent transfer to Atletico Madrid for a reported fee of £25m in the summer of 2019.
Perhaps, Trippier felt that the chairman should have gone about it in a different way or been, in his eyes, more respectful after more than 100 appearances for the club.
Kieran Trippier's post-Spurs career
Now aged 33, Trippier has been the linchpin behind Newcastle's resurgence under Eddie Howe's tutelage, producing some frightening performances since his arrival from Spain back in 2022, also assuming the central leadership role.
Described as a "revelation" by talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan, Trippier has been utterly immense, blending defensive fortitude with high-class creativity to a resounding effect, albeit suffering a blip in form recently, rebuked for some "disastrous" defensive displays across the winter period by journalist Harry De Cosemo.
Nonetheless, the lion's share of Trippier's efforts since draping the curtain on north London have been excellent, with his two-and-a-half-year stint with Atletico Madrid sharpening his defensive skills – playing under Diego Simeone will do that – before returning to his homeland in January 2022 as Newcastle started to kick things off under affluent new ownership.
To this day, he is one of the division's standout stars, chalked into the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for 2022/23.
More creative than James Maddison in 23/24
Tottenham have attacking quality in abundance right now despite the summer sale of Kane, but this hasn't always been the case over recent campaigns and Trippier could have been a fine player to have aided the club, especially given that he's actually been more creative than Maddison this term.
As per FBref, the Magpie machine ranks among the top 2% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues and European competitions over the past year for assists and shot-creating actions, the top 4% for passes attempted, and the top 3% for progressive passes per 90, clearly one of the game's elite creators.
#
Trippier
Maddison
Matches played
23
15
Goals
1
3
Assists
10
6
Pass completion
81%
86%
Big chances created
13
7
Key passes per game
2.7
2.7
Tackles per game
2.3
1.4
Ball recoveries per game
6.3
2.0
*All stats sourced via Sofascore
As can be ascertained from the table above, Trippier is matching Maddison for key passes per game while creating more big changes and providing more assists, albeit a more infrequent goalscorer – but he is technically a defender, remember.
Furthermore, he might have played more fixtures but Trippier is supplying assists for his teammates at a rate of 0.43 per match, a higher rate than his fellow England international's 0.40 per match.
It is obviously important to remember that the stars in question play very different roles, but this actually just puts the force on Trippier's praiseworthy productivity.
But Postecoglou's Tottenham fraternity is steeped in fluency and attacking intent, and Trippier, while approaching the twilight phase of his career, has proved himself not only as one of Europe's best right-backs since leaving Spurs but one of the most influential playmakers around.
Porro is much younger and will (hopefully) be a key member of Postecoglou's project for years to come, while Maddison has been hailed as "one of the best players of the season" by The Times' Henry Winter, Trippier has indeed pipped him when taking in the scope of the creative metrics.
Still, Trippier would have been an invaluable member over recent seasons, with his impact on Tyneside evidence that he could have been pivotal in stemming the sludge that has marred the recent years at the club, given his outstanding creativity in comparison to his compatriot this term.