How Tottenham could set up under permanent boss Robbie Keane as summer fire sale casualties identified | OneFootball

Robbie Keane could return to Tottenham Hotspur as their next head coach, but what is his style of play and which players in the current Spurs squad would be at risk because of it?

Tottenham made the long-awaited decision to sack Thomas Frank this week after realising partway through his first season in charge that his project wasn’t going anywhere. Fans were growing increasingly frustrated and angered at his approach and style, which seemed ill-suited to their ambitions.

Now, the search is on for Frank’s successor. Candidates include the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Roberto De Zerbi and Andoni Iraola. Marco Rose also came into the frame briefly on Friday, while former Spurs striker Keane is another name thrown into contention.

Currently in charge of Hungarian side Ferencvaros, Keane would reportedly be interested in returning to Tottenham, but only on the basis of being a permanent appointment and not an interim manager.

As things stand, Tottenham have agreed to make an interim appointment – Igor Tudor is set to take the reins – before a permanent decision in the summer. Thus, a door could still be open for Keane if they see him as a permanent candidate.

While Spurs fans will have plenty of memories of Keane as a player after his two spells with the club, inside knowledge of his management style might be more limited.

Keane usually sets his Ferencvaros side up in a 3-5-2 formation, but in his previous job with Maccabi Tel Aviv, he often used a 4-3-3.

Regardless of the formation, Keane has already elaborated on his preferred philosophy.

“Very aggressive in terms of with the ball,” he told the late Grant Wahl in 2021, prior to his managerial career taking off. “Obviously playing out from the back.

“I always played in teams that were very, very good, and always a good footballing team, playing for Tottenham for eight years as you know, Tottenham is a footballing team. They have a certain way. Play off on the back, play through the lines quickly. That’s something I’m big on.

“And getting in people’s faces, stop people from playing, fast tempo football, and ultimately to try and get from one end of the pitch to the other end fairly quickly to score goals with it, with a good intensity and good football-intelligent people playing on my team.”

Now armed with the knowledge gained from being a manager since 2023, Keane still views progressing the ball vertically as key to his methods.

“The way I played was play from the back as much as you can, but don’t be stupid,” Keane told The Reflective Coach podcast in 2024. “I told my centre-halves… if you keep passing to each other, I’m going to take you off. Because they passed to each other just for the sake of passing.

“Pass with a purpose, I always used to say to defenders. If you see the six or you see the eight free, straight away, pass to them. I don’t care if we’re 1-0 up, 2-0 up, 0-0, you do it, as quickly as possible.

“I don’t care whether I’ve got 65% possession or 55 as long as you’re doing it on the purpose of getting the ball through the lines quickly.”

It could be the kind of football Spurs fans want to see. Indeed, our resident Tottenham expert Rob McCarthy put Keane top of his ranking of preferred next manager candidates, billing him as “the educated gamble that Tottenham should be taking and sticking with through thick and thin for the next few years.”

But which players in the current squad would such an appointment suit and who could be found lacking? After all, they’re changing the manager, but Tottenham need to oversee a shake-up to their squad as well after a few years of underachievement in the Premier League.

Tottenham squad suitability for Keane assessed

First and foremost, there would be an emphasis on ball-playing centre-backs. Spurs’ defenders all rank near the top of their pass completion rates this season, but the question is if enough of their passes would be forwards.

The onus would also be on Spurs’ midfielders to be able to receive the ball and move it on quickly – and that’s a section of the squad that should be more under the microscope.

There hasn’t been enough of a fluid transition from defence to attack, with Tottenham lacking creative midfielders who can feed the ball to players further forward.

Joao Palhinha is a good disruptor, while Conor Gallagher should be bringing energy after his January arrival, but Spurs will need to make sure they have someone who can conduct play from deep in their midfield. Incidentally, Palhinha’s future beyond his loan spell from Bayern Munich is in doubt, while Yves Bissouma is due to become a free agent at the end of the season.

Finally, in attack, players would need to be ready to press high. One beneficiary could be Xavi Simons, who ranks joint-fifth in the Premier League for possessions won in the final third per 90 minutes this season so far.

But in contrast, players like Wilson Odobert and Richarlison win the ball back in the final third about half as often. Odobert recently suffered a serious injury, but should remain a long-term prospect for Spurs, but Richarlison is approaching the final year of his contract, which could make him a strong candidate to be sold in the summer – especially if Spurs are serious about finding a new striker.

Some big decisions are due ahead of the summer, regardless of who will be in the frame as the next manager. For now, it’s over to Tudor to try and get a better tune out of Spurs’ players.