It's going to be an uncertain summer in north London this year. The chaotic bricolage of the late- and post-Pochettino years has left Tottenham in limbo.

Jose Mourinho, tasked with elevating Tottenham after a run to the Champions League final, is now gone. The erstwhile lionised Portuguese left a bitter taste in the mouth of many at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, landing several jabs at his players after slapdash displays in later weeks.

It leaves Daniel Levy with perhaps the biggest decision of his Tottenham chairmanship. The roll-of-dice appointment of a former Chelsea and Man United manager left Spurs with more snakes than ladders. And now, in the ever-demanding, never-forgiving bearpit of elite football, Levy is tasked with appointing another manager who will not only elevate the current squad but completely rid it of any vestiges of Mourinho-ball.

Plenty of names have been thrown around in recent days. Ajax's Erik ten Hag was reportedly sounded out before he signed an extension. Lille's Christophe Galtier has also been linked, along with England's Gareth Southgate.

Reports indicate Tottenham are looking at a relatively younger profile of managers, which explains why they were linked with soon-to-be Bayern manager Julian Nagelsmann. But with a talented squad with its best player in his prime, how long do Tottenham have before Harry Kane decides the grass is greener over in Manchester or Paris?

And how long can Tottenham wait before losing their best shot at one of the most brilliant minds in German football?

A case for the man with the Midas touch

Ralf Rangnick is perhaps one of the most intriguing managers out of a job at the moment.

Having served as its director of football, Rangnick is rightly heralded for the emergence of Leipzig as a domestic force, charting a path for the club from the fourth tier of German football to Bundesliga title contenders in seven short years.

With only five games left in Tottenham's season, it would behove Levy to get Rangnick off the market before Tottenham's mini-crisis turns into a comic strip.

Rangnick-ball

Mauricio Pochettino brought a high-energy brand of football to north London, earning plaudits for his style of play and for developing the likes of Dele Alli and Heung-min Son. That high-energy brand of football has since been placed in a vault at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (or in the bare trophy cabinet, for all we know).

With Rangnick, high-intensity football is precisely what they will get.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is most popularly known for his gegenpressing brand of football, but it was Ralf Rangnick who first brought the high counter-pressing style to the Bundesliga.

Employing either a 4-4-2, a 4-2-2-2, or a 3-5-2 formation, Rangnick set up his Hoffenheim and Leipzig sides to adhere to the "8-10 second rule".

Hunt in packs, win the ball back high up the pitch and complete the counterattack with a shot on goal in 8-10 seconds. His coaching methods ingrained the 8-10 second rule into his players, making it an instinct in transition.

When they regain possession, Rangnick's teams attempt to penetrate the opposition through direct, combination play. When they win the ball lower down the pitch, Rangnick's teams play quick vertical passes to the striker duo up front, launching the ball into high-danger areas.

Should the attacking players fail to latch onto these probing aerial balls, the midfielders are set up to fight for the second ball through a counter-press. Naturally, this requires a high level of energy, but it's something most of Tottenham's players grew accustomed to during the Pochettino era.

Rangnick's philosophy, though, is a lot more direct. He aims to create overloads in the half-spaces and, through triangular and diamond shapes, facilitate combination play at breakneck speed, like a blitzkrieg.

In Steven Bergwijn, Heung-min Son, Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela, Tottenham have quick and skilful players to execute Rangnick's philosophy in transition, while full-backs like Sergio Reguilon and Serge Aurier will have the license to bomb up the pitch.

The midfield is also well-stocked for Rangnick's style of using two number 6's at the base of the 4-2-2-2. This double-pivot is crucial in the counter-press, tasked with helping to win the ball back and launch a counterattack. This responsibility would fall on Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Harry Winks, Tanguy Ndombele and Moussa Sissoko. Ndombele, in particular, would thrive in this system owing to his press resistance and his ability to bulldoze past opponents (a precious Mousa Dembélé throwback).

Up ahead, the 4-2-2-2 employs tucked-in wingers. This is where Son, Bergwijn, Moura and Lamela come into play, though there is the option of playing Son with Harry Kane up front. This would free up space for Dele Alli to play as an inverted winger, whose combination play with Harry Kane would come in handy in transition.

Up front is where Tottenham would be incredibly lethal in this system. Harry Kane is a prolific No 9, while Son would be a perfect foil for the two-man striker system. The second striker role could be rotated with Dele Alli, though a backup striker would be ideal considering Carlos Vinicius hasn't quite set north London alight since his move.

Fresh faces

It is in defence where Tottenham will need more bodies, should Rangnick take over.

Tottenham will need a mobile, quick, reliable ball-playing centre-back in this system, and they are few and far between. Ibrahima Konate is a good example of the type of centre-back Spurs will covet should Rangnick take over, though Konate is destined for Liverpool. Joe Rodon is a promising centre-back in this mould but one who needs to develop a bit, while Toby Alderweireld is a solid defender, but not very suited to Rangnick's intense system. Brighton's Ben White could be an ideal target but he will not come cheap and his aerial abilities are circumspect.

Elsewhere, Spurs will need fresh faces in the full-back area and another winger. Erik Lamela isn't the most productive winger in the Premier League, and Gareth Bale's situation is cloudy at best.

All in all, though, Rangnick would have a talented squad to work with. His policy of the three K's - Kapital, Konzept and Kompetenz (money, concept and competence) - were integral to Leipzig's development but there is little chance of Daniel Levy handing him the keys to the kingdom.

Rangnick, though, has an astute eye for talent and spends money wisely, which would light up Levy's eyes, considering the substantial financial hit of the pandemic. Rangnick is also fluent in English, for those who haven't clicked on the social media links I've attached.

"There’s always a danger if there’s too much emphasis on playing nice football, fair-weather football. Arsenal had a similar tendency under Arsene Wenger, at least in his later years," Rangnick said in an interview with The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein. That's the sort of grit Tottenham need right now. Kane, Son, Alderweireld and Lloris are all in their prime, while Reguilon, Ndombele, Højbjerg, Alli and Bergwijn have room to develop.

Tottenham have a promising squad, which means Rangnick will not need heavy investment to propel the club to new heights.

Moreover, any signings Rangnick makes are likely to aid in the long-term development of Tottenham. This, combined with the expected arrival of fans in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (hopefully they'll attract a sponsor so I won't have to type the whole thing out every time), will mean that the German mastermind would be well-placed to do what Levy thought Mourinho could.

Rangnick is a man who will rejuvenate Tottenham, not just on the field, but off it, in getting the right players at the right time. That should set Tottenham up well for when they consider approaching a younger manager like Graham Potter, with a robust system and playing style in place.

When the white smoke starts billowing above the swanky new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (for the love of God, Levy, get a sponsor!), Spurs fans will hope Ralf Rangnick is the man of the hour. The German has been out of a managerial job for a while but the likes of Thomas Tuchel, Ralph Hasenhüttl and Jurgen Klopp will stand up and take notice when Rangnick arrives in England.

“If you want to increase the speed of your game, you have to develop quicker minds rather than quicker feet,” he said in an interview with Bundesliga.com two years ago. There's no better place to put that into practice than the Premier League.

He's a known admirer of data analytics, and he's a German mastermind who will bring a frisson of excitement to north London. Tottenham could do a lot worse. At the very least, his appointment would eradicate the jeremiad football of the Mourinho era.

Image courtesy: Zayceeann Alvares