Tottenham Hotspur’s preseason continued with their second official fixture in preparation for the 24/25 Premier League season. Queens Park Rangers offered tougher resistance than Hearts in midweek, but were unable to take their chances and instead succumbed to an inconsistent but exciting Spurs performance, as the Lilywhites secured a 2-0 victory.
It was an unlikely scorer to open proceedings, with Yves Bissouma getting himself a goal late in the first half. He played a nice one-two with Dejan Kulusevski that opened up the defense on the left-hand side, before showing tidy feet as the goalkeeper rushed out to round him and slot home. QPR were much stronger in the second period, as Spurs withstood long stretches of pressure, before Dane Scarlett sealed the win late in the match. It was Mikey Moore who played provider, creating space down the left before playing an excellent square ball across the face of goal, where Scarlett snuck in to knock the ball home.
Here are my top 10 talking points from the match.
A match away from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium meant a chance to debut the new away kit. The azure strip is probably my favorite of the offerings this season, and it looked good on the players... except for the shorts. The pattern on the shirt combined with the solid coloring of the shorts made the kit feel a bit disjointed; if there wasn’t the appetite to continue the patterning, I really feel like an alternative color should have been used.
It’s been a few years since I’ve watched a match at Loftus Road, but the placement of the camera was extremely high and tight to the touchline, meaning a steep viewing angle and huge blind spots along the near side of the pitch. How do QPR fans cope with this?
Ange Postecoglou opted to make a few changes from Hearts as he gets to grips with Spurs’ squad. Pape Matar Sarr, who was somewhat mysteriously missing from the last outing, came into the side for Dejan Kulusevski, as did Lucas Bergvall for James Maddison in a new-look midfield three. Up front, Timo Werner started on the left instead of Manor Solomon.
Defense is in large part about strong communication and working as a unit; so with that in mind, it made sense that Ange kept the same combinations in place from the Hearts fixture, instead making changes elsewhere. That consistency was to Spurs’ benefit, keeping a clean sheet with the help of their keepers.
You would have expected a Championship side to sit deep against Ange Postecoglou’s swashbuckling style, but instead QPR implemented a pretty crazy high press. Spurs struggled at times with the pressure, with QPR managing periods of control in Tottenham’s defensive third, but it also meant some big chances for Spurs in transition.
One of the highlights so far in preseason has been the play of Lucas Bergvall. Intelligent, involved, and impressive, against QPR he played on the left of the midfield three rather than the right, and appeared to be operating in more of a passing role compared to against Hearts, where he looked to get forward more. He had probably been Spurs’ best player, before he went down clutching at his lower leg. It was unclear what was wrong, but the Swede was immediately subbed off and walked down the tunnel. Hopefully it was a case of the medical staff being cautious.
Brandon Austin has been involved with Spurs for around a decade now, coming through the Tottenham academy, but has found his opportunities to impress at senior level limited. Last season, he got a glimmer of a chance, backing up #1 Guglielmo Vicario following Fraser Forster’s injury - and has really pushed his case to continue in that role in preseason, making a couple of excellent saves against Hearts with another outstanding one today. An impressive performance for a player who’s had to bide his time.
Again, we saw Ange Postecoglou roll out nearly an entirely different XI in the second half, making 10 changes (Kulusevski, who came in for Bergvall, was the lone player to remain). Further subs were made as the half went on, but unlike against Hearts, this time it was to Spurs’ detriment. The match very quickly became disjointed and low-pace as Spurs’ patterns of play fell apart.
One of the bright spots against Hearts was Will Lankshear, and with Richarlison, Heung-Min Son, Alejo Veliz, and Dane Scarlett all also able to occupy the striker role, Postecoglou has some decisions to make. Lankshear struggled a bit more in this fixture, not quite meshing with James Maddison, while Veliz was left alone up front as Spurs defended late. Scarlett, once more a late sub, showed excellent movement to get on the end of Mikey Moore’s cross and get himself on the scoresheet. Right now, it’s hard to pick who will go and who will stay; Tottenham can’t have all of them in the squad.
This match felt like a step-up from Hearts, which is what you want in preseason - gradually build until you can hit the ground running when the season proper starts. With that in mind, there’s plenty to be encouraged about here: even as some of Spurs’ younger players struggled with the step up, they’ll be better for the experience, and some (Mikey Moore, for instance) may have given Ange Postecoglou even more food for thought as the 24/25 Premier League kick-off nears.
Screw it, we’re gonna win the league.