Tottenham’s summer tour to Australia, Thailand and Singapore brought with it some positives and some negatives before it came to a close.
Tottenham have now returned from their pre-season tour to Australia and Asia but who ended up benefiting from the trip and who ended up losing out?
Spurs travelled first to Perth where they lost 3-2 to West Ham United in a match which saw Ange Postecoglou’s men have 30 shots on goal to the Hammers’ four. Then they moved on to Bangkok where the heavy rain in Thailand resulted in their game against Leicester City being cancelled 45 minutes after it was meant to kick off because of the waterlogged pitch. Then in Singapore, Tottenham saw off local side Lion City Sailors 5-1 to lift the Tiger Cup.
So who were the winners and losers of the tour across the world? Here’s who we reckon get into both camps.
Winners
Giovani Lo Celso
The Argentine returned to Tottenham after pretty much 18 months away at Villarreal and most people expected him to leave again this summer.
Instead he’s found a fan in Postecoglou and has fitted his system perfectly, scoring a goal in each of the two games and showing that his blend of energy, aggression and creativity is exactly what the Australian wants. Reports in Spain suggested Postecoglou has already told Lo Celso that he wants him to stay next season and be part of his plans so football.london asked the Spurs boss if there was any truth in it.
“You can see he’s a quality player and I think the way we play suits him. I’ve enjoyed working with him and I think he’s enjoying himself in terms of the football we want to play and yeah it’s going well.”
Ivan Perisic
Another player who seems to be thriving under Postecoglou so far who was expected, and could still, depart is Ivan Perisic.
The Croatian has looked fit and sharp and has been involved in some capacity in most of Tottenham’s goals he’s been on the pitch for.
The 34-year-old coud yet leave this summer but back in his original role as a winger he’s fitted the Postecoglou system well. If he doesn’t stick around then he’s put himself in the shop window with some style.
Richarlison
Richarlison was coming off a wretched season when he had “too many injuries” in his own words, while Antonio Conte used an even stronger term for the £60m Brazilian’s campaign.
One Premier League goal was not enough for such an expensive and Premier League proven attacker.
Yet he fits Postecoglou’s normal centre-forward type well. The Australian’s usual central striker is often a sacrificial lamb of sorts, constantly pressing, harassing and making a nuisance of themselves while also able to find the pockets of space to score a bucketload of goals from the chances Postecoglou’s attacking system creates.
Richarlison’s hat-trick featured finishes that got better as it went on, concluding with a cute 90th minute dinked finish past the keeper and Postecoglou hopes it’s the confidence boost the striker needs.
“I hope so. I’ve said before that I really like Richy. He’s someone who has got all of the attributes I look for in a striker in that he’s got the strong work ethic, he’s always in the right areas and he’s presenting himself and making a presence of himself in the right areas for the way we play,” he said.
“He was probably a bit unlucky not to get a couple against West Ham that night. Again he was in the right areas today. I’ve got a lot of time for him and he’s one of the ones I’m looking forward to working with.
“From the outside you see a player and you try to picture how they fit into the kind of football you want to play and I certainly think he can.
Manor Solomon
The 24-year-old Israel international had a really bright and positive tour, showing that he is going to make a big impact with his dribbling and direct play.
One thing Solomon needs to improve is his number of assists and having played his part in setting up Lo Celso’s goal on Wednesday that was a good start. It was another eye-catching display from the little winger.
His role may primarly be to launch himself at tired defences this season but that might just be where he is at his most dangerous.
Solomon has also endeared himself to those within the club with his friendly personality and his integration into the squad has been a quick one.
Alfie Devine
While he only got to play in the first match against West Ham, 18-year-old Alfie Devine did enough to show Postecoglou exactly what he is made of.
The teenager is more often an attacking central midfielder and was due to play in that role in the second half but with Son Heung-min missing out on the day, Solomon switched to the first half side and so Devine got his chance on the right wing in the second with Lo Celso coming into the middle.
Both the England U20 international and the Argentine took their chances. Devine showed that he’s just as happy on the right wing and tormented the West Ham defence with his movement. It was his shot from a tight angle pushed around by the goalkeeper which led to the corner Spurs scored from through Destiny Udogie. Clubs will be queuing up to take Devine on loan this season and it’s up to Postecoglou to decide what the next best step is for him.
Losers
Tanguy Ndombele
Postecoglou had praised Ndombele ahead of the tour and it seemed like the door might just be open for the Frenchman to walk through.
He was all set to start in the first half of the game against West Ham, only to pick up an ankle injury in the training game the night before in Perth.
When he came back it must have been decided that he wasn’t quite fit enough as he was not included in either subsequent matchday squad.
We will soon find out whether Ndombele ended up losing his chance and Lo Celso took it.
Joe Rodon
Rodon never really got an opportunity on this tour. He was not selected in any of the three matchday squads and in training was left to play small-sided matches with those players coming back from injury or just not set to be involved.
The Wales international will surely now leave this summer as Postecoglou was clearly not convinced enough with what he saw to give him a chance in a match situation, despite the unimpressive displays from some of those who played instead.
Djed Spence
Like Rodon, Spence never got a look in. The right back was coming back from an injury that had made his involvement in the tour a touch and go decision until the week before the squad departed.
It may be that his fitness levels were not enough to handle Postecoglou football yet and they wanted to build him up slowly, but it’s tough to see the young wide man getting past Emerson Royal and Pedro Porro in the pecking order at the moment.
A loan move looks best for all parties to allow Spence to get some game time and develop.
Alfie Whiteman
Poor Alfie Whiteman had gone along on tour as the team’s third choice goalkeeper but not only did get no minutes during the trip but he suffered what looked like a bad injury in the training session the night before the final game.
The stopper had to be taken off in a stretcher on Tuesday night with what seemed a serious ankle injury.
The full extent of the damage will be assessed in scans and the young keeper could miss a chunk of time with the injury if it’s as bad as it looked.
Ange Postecoglou
There were certainly positives for Postecoglou as he got to know his squad a lot better and make decisions on various players. He also won a trophy, albeit more of a souvenir of the tour than something for the front of the trophy cabinet. He also came out of the tour with plenty of credit for the way he dealt with stuff, not least a German reporter waving a Bayern shirt with Kane on it.
However, he’s in this list because circumstances ensured this tour simply wasn’t the best warm-up for him to get his methods across.
First the rain in Bangkok killed off any chance of that game being played, losing an important match against former Premier League opposition which would have helped get more of his ideas drilled into his team.
Instead he had to push the players hard in the ensuing days with double sessions from hell to leave them exhausted but with as much of his philosophy engrained in them as they could handle.
Then came the third match of the tour. Originally meant to be a great test against Jose Mourinho’s wily counter-attacking Roma, instead their withdrawal and the late notice meant local side Lion City Sailors had to be brought in instead.
