Brad Friedel explains how to replace Harry Kane and says Spurs can learn from Arsenal this season

In the third part of a Ladbrokes exclusive, former Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel spoke to us about Ange Postecoglou and replacing Harry Kane, but kicked things off by giving his prediction for Spurs’ clash with Manchester United this weekend.

Click on the link for part one for the American’s view of the goalkeeping situation at Arsenal and part two in which he discusses Mauricio Pochettino, Erling Haaland and his surprising prediction for this season’s Premier League title winners.

Spurs v Man United score prediction

I think Spurs are going to draw again against Man United this weekend – a score draw. A 3-3 is off the wall to predict, but maybe something like a 2-2, possibly a 3-3. I think both teams are playing to win. I don’t see Erik ten Hag setting his team up to defend and play for a 0-0, and there’s absolutely no way Ange Postecoglou, at home, is going to sit back and defend. There’s goals in this game, I’m looking forward to it. Let’s go with 2-2.

Spurs can learn from rivals; stick with Postecoglou through bad times

What’s a good season for Tottenham? Top six. More importantly than a league finish, though, for me, is that the fans take to Ange Postecoglou’s attacking and the board allows him to build his philosophy within the club. That’s all success. He’s still got a couple of weeks of this window, then you’ve got the winter window, but I think that next summer is where you’ll really see what his exact team would be all about. Finish in the top six, get confidence into these players, get the fans and the players behind the style of play, and that’s success.

When you look at the end of the 2021/22 season, and then subsequently the key difference between Arsenal and Tottenham last season, it’s that Arsenal were well and truly behind exactly what Mikel Arteta was building at the time. There were a lot of people who were calling for Arteta to be fired, but the board stood by him and rightly so. And that’s what I’m talking about with Tottenham this season and this board right now. If they go through bad times with Postecoglou, stick with him. He’s a very good manager who has proved himself by the great job he’s done at other clubs throughout his career. Give him time and let him build his own squad.

There was continuity taking place at Arsenal last season. If you saw Tottenham, by comparison, I suspect that behind the scenes there were battles going on over the style of play, what the board and the fans wanted, versus what the likes of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte gave them in recent years.

Everyone wants to see attacking football at Tottenham…you might then ask why the club appointed Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, but that’s a completely different topic; Postecoglou is an attack-minded manager, and I think that fans are really going to watch his team play. They are going to be open at times, and so that’s where I think they need to add one more midfielder, or maybe a defender, someone who is good in that transition.

I just want to see the club building towards something – let’s say they finish sixth or seventh this season, then fifth or sixth next, let’s just hope everyone is happy with that, and happy to give Postecoglou the time he deserves. Arsenal took a big leap last year from where they were at 12 months prior, and that’s down to the trust the board had in Mikel, but also the trust Mikel had in his squad. He had a very young group of players, but he also had a few players who he clearly didn’t like the mentality of, and it’s taken time to get rid of those players – once those guys are out of the dressing room, the whole squad is stronger as a result.

Here’s how you replace Harry Kane

In terms of replacing Harry [Kane], and how you go about doing that, I would think that Tottenham know that they’re not going to be able to go and get one individual who comes in and consistently scores between 25 and 40 goals a season. That sort of thing is hard to find, and when you do find it, it costs a lot of money. I think they’ll instead look to bring in another midfielder and a prolific goalscorer. Get two individuals who’ll chip in between 10 and 15 goals and assists each to help deal with the loss of numbers Harry gives you.

I still actually think they need one more name at the back. As you go through a long season, you face so many challenges; intensity of fixtures, injuries… I think they should probably look to strengthen at the back. It’s going to take Guglielmo Vicario time to adapt to the division, as well. I think he found, at times, the game to be very quick on Sunday. We’ll have to wait and see how he gets on in the next few weeks, but they do still have Fraser Forster and Hugo Lloris on the books if Vicario does need replacing at any point this season.

I would think the main area they’ll be looking to add strength in is goals, though, and maybe how they can benefit from other areas, such as set-pieces. Maybe use that as an area where you try to make up for the loss of goals that will be left by Kane.

It’s a really difficult position for the manager, and you can probably tell in my voice just how difficult it is to replace someone like Kane immediately. The best way is for Tottenham to have stability, and let Postecoglou build a squad, and build a structure within the club so that they’re confident in scoring goals from multiple angles and areas, so that they don’t have to rely on just one or two individuals.

I’ve no doubt this is going to be an exciting season for Spurs

I was at the game on Sunday, actually. I thought it was really entertaining. Both teams went for the win. Brentford were missing David Raya and Ivan Toney, both of whom played such a big part in things last season. So to get that result under those circumstances, for them, was great. They scored a couple of goals but I actually think they could have had more, particularly in that first half. Tottenham were sending their full-backs high up the pitch, wanting to attack and play exciting football, and as a result they were exposed at the back a couple of times.

It’s an approach we’re used to, though… it’s how Liverpool play as well. There are exciting times ahead for Tottenham under Postecoglou. He’ll play attacking football and the fans will love that.

I think, in the end, a draw was probably a fair result, based on performances and chances. There were a couple of periods, one in the first half and one in the second where Tottenham were on top possession-wise, but without really disturbing [Mark] Flekken’s goal. Flekken looked very comfortable, by the way, for a new goalkeeper in the Premier League. I thought he was very good with the ball at his feet.

It was an exciting game, an entertaining game, Brentford were great hosts and I think they’ll be more than fine this season. Tottenham need a couple more players to fight for that top six, but I’ve no doubt they’re going to have an exciting season, with the way Postecoglou wants them to play.