Tottenham Hotspur got their 24/25 preseason underway with an away trip to Hearts in Scotland, crushing the Edinburgh side 5-1 in a dominant performance.
Brennan Johnson opened the scoring in the first, with a tidy finish off a James Maddison square ball, before Hearts equalized early in the second as Emerson Royal gave the ball away in his own box. From there, though, it was all Spurs, with Will Lankshear, Mikey Moore, Djed Spence, and Ashley Phillips all getting on the scoresheet.
Here are my top 10 talking points from the match.
Boy, I have missed Ange-ball - and it was in full flow here. Often, you can see extreme tactical experimentation in preseason, but this was fullblown Ange-ball. The standard 4-3-3 setup, inverted fullbacks, and aggressive movement and pressing were all on full display, and it was encouraging to see how quickly the team have settled back into the tactics following the break.
Maybe it’s the way things go in Scotland; maybe Hearts just wanted to leave their mark. But you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a regular season match from the way Hearts dived into tackles. A heavy challenge on Dejan Kulusevski started things off early, before James Maddison was absolutely clattered in what was possibly a red card challenge. Hopefully he suffers no ill effects.
With the majority of Spurs’ center back cadre still on holiday following international duty, and Ange Postecoglou opting not to involve youth team players too early, it was an interesting looking defensive pairing to start the match. Oliver Skipp and Archie Gray started at the back, with Gray looking comfortable but Skipp perhaps less so. They did enough, however, to keep Hearts scoreless in the first half. It was maybe a slightly more “normal” pairing in the second, with Emerson Royal and Ash Phillips stepping in, and funnily enough, they were the ones to concede, with a terrible Royal giveaway playing creator for Hearts’ solitary goal.
It was Spurs fans’ first chance to see Archie Gray in action, albeit at the unfamiliar position of center back, and he was impressive. Showing composure on the ball beyond his years, he was calm, organized, and intuitive out of possession, while displaying impressive passing range in possession, as a lot of Spurs’ attacking moves started with him at the back. One to watch this season.
Or not. While Manor Solomon made his return from a long injury layoff last season, starting the match, Ben Davies, Destiny Udogie, Richarlison, and Pape Matar Sarr were all missing from the squad. The former three all had injuries at the end of last season, so are potentially still working on their rehabilitation; the unknown is Sarr, who as far as we didn’t have any issues. Maybe he picked up a knock?
Kyosuke Tagawa probably hates the sight of Brandon Austin after the Englishman made two phenomenal saves on Tagawa shots at point-blank range. The first was pure reaction from Austin as he stretched to tip a close-range header over the bar following a set piece; before Tagawa found himself in behind the Spurs backline, hitting a ball from the right goalwards... only for Austin to deny him yet again with a sprawling stop.
Though you sometimes see a conservative approach in preseason matches, not so today. Ange changed out the entire first XI at halftime, before making further substitutions later in the match, ensuring the majority of the travelling squad saw the pitch. From what I could tell, only midfielder Nile John and winger Yago Santiago didn’t get minutes.
Can we fix him? Questions around both ability and attitude have abounded around Djed Spence, but he was perhaps the surprise package today, looking completely at home in Ange’s attacking setup. His pass for Will Lankshear’s goal early in the second half was brilliant, and he made good attacking runs, being rewarded for doing so when he got on the end of a Timo Werner cross for a goal of his own. Maybe we need to watch this space?
This match was a huge showcase for the Spurs academy, with a number of youth side involved. Tyrese Hall continued on his positive display from the post-season fixture against Newcastle; Mikey Moore looked sharp and scored a brilliant goal following a mazy run; and Ash Phillips was assured at the back and bundled in a goal of his own. It was Will Lankshear, though, who really looked the part, bullying defenders and scoring early in the second half across the keeper with a true striker’s finish. Could he contribute to the first team this season?
Look, this is exciting and all, but it’s preseason - and even though Hearts finished third in the Scottish Premiership last season, they clearly aren’t a particularly good side (at least by Premier League standards). Let’s not put too many expectations on the team and some of our young players based on a single match played at a pace that was definitely below Prem level.
Screw it, we’re gonna win the league.