Pre-Season Thread

Somewhere to put all of the random nonsense as we head towards the start of another season.
First up, a match report from what we've scrambled together as a team so far:


It'll be interesting to see what the lineup was, but I've had no luck finding it at the moment.

Our confirmed friendlies are currently:
Roma in San Diego on July 26th. Kick off: 3.05am GMT.
Barcelona in California on July 29th. Kick off: 4.05am GMT.
Milan in Minnesota on August 1st. Kick off: 1.35am GMT.
Girona in the Estadi Montilivi on August 4th. Kick off: 7pm GMT.

 

This is almost "season compass" territory.

A lot of the players in these games are effectively going to be
the teams tasked to take at least 8 pts from the first 4 PL games,
before the bulk of the WC contingent return to starting XI duty.

 

Based on the match report, Erik Lamela was an integral part of Spurs’ offense, scoring three first half goals and playing others in with passing. Spurs didn’t list a lineup or even say everyone who played, but in reading the match report and viewing the photos online, we know that in addition to the goal scorers, other players that saw action included Serge Aurier, Ben Davies, Moussa Sissoko, Michel Vorm, and Paulo Gazzaniga.

 

Here's the best I can do

First half
Vorm; Aurier, ???, ???, Davies; Sissoko, ???; Lucas, Lamela, ???; Llorente

Second half
Gazzaniga, ???, ???, ???, ???; (maybe Oakley-Boothe), ???; ???, ???, ???; ???

 

Japhet Tanganga scored yesterday for England U19s against Turkey in the EUROs. Not the best of goals but a goal nonetheless. Highlights:

Enjoyed a really good 12 months, won the Toulon tournament last summer, extended his deal with us during the season (although wasn't announced), scored against Real and Apoel in the Youth Champions League and now scored for the England U19s this summer in their EUROs opener... Dark horse to make a first team debut next season? CCV and Foyth haven't fully cemented themselves as first team squad players yet, their could be an opening for Japhet if he continues to impress.

 

I have problems sleeping so those early morning kick offs will be perfect for me to watch.I'm usually up and about around 3am most mornings

 

Why do we need to take 5 goalkeepers? I'm sure 3 is enough and take a couple more outfield players.

 

Maybe he is gonna try them as strikers

 

No Onomah, Jansen, Edwards or Winks

New loan or good bye Onomah, Goodbye Jansen, Winks still injured?

And Edwards? Anyones guess

 

It's been clear Janssen's a goner based on how he's not been seen in any of the pre-season training galleries, and (as best as I can ascertain, anyway...) he didn't play against either Southend or Brentford with Llorente and Sterling getting run-outs, and there's scuttlebutt about him trying to work out a transfer on his own

Approximately 82% of Spurs fans on Twitter have jumped to the conclusion that Onomah not being in the squad means he'll be part of the Grealish deal, especially with Oakley-Boothe featuring in central midfield in both our pre-season friendlies so far, but the most telling thing is that with Winks being kept behind to work on fitness and Dier being rested the central midfield spots went to Skipp, Amos and Marsh and not Onomah

A few weeks ago a couple of blogs speculated that Edwards would be getting one last chance on the US tour, but we can see how well that worked out for him as Georgiou got a spot in the squad instead, as well as a start against Brentford yesterday...although Shashoua should be in the squad, DAMMIT

 

Looking forward to seeing how TOB, Georgiou and Skipp get on.

Georgiou impressed last pre-season and I think would've been in line to make more appearances than his cameo against Apoel had he not picked up a few injuries.
TOB may feel he has an outside chance to really stake a claim in the squad what with question marks over Dembele's future, Winks' fitness and no new CM signings as of yet.
Haven't seen as much of Skipp as the other two other than some YouTube highlights but everything I've read seems to point towards a real good DM in the making. Must've enjoyed working with Scotty Parker last season, shame he left so soon.

 

Oakley-Boothe looks pretty impressive in the second half of the video, versus the Netherlands--so much so I'd like to see how he looks paired with Wanyama on the upcoming tour. His good qualities include range of passing and strength on the dribble.

 

While he looks tidy in that video, it's hard not to spot how he has so much time he has when receiving the ball before he plays it, which is time he likely won't have in senior football.

 

That's just about my bedtime, usually!!!!!!!

 

Well, after all, Hugo got an "assist" in the World Cup!
(Did he get credited for it? I didn't see the stats!)

 

I went to the the training for one of the ICC matches last summer and Georgiou looked pretty lively. I'm surprised he never got a look in based on my ~1hr's worth of scouting.

 

He and N'Koudou were easily the two best Spurs versus City in Nashville. It seems Pochettino simply doesn't like pacy dribblers.

 

In GKN's case, it's hard to rate somebody who is perpetually injured...