Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Kitchee SC

please log in to view this image

Friday 26th May 1pm (GMT)
Friendly
Hong Kong Stadium​

A largely positive season's over, so the inevitable money spinner for our sponsors is on.
Heung-Min Son's front and centre in all the advertising, but it's somewhat warranted from his play.
He may be a superstar off the pitch in Asia, but he's really upped his game on the pitch in England.
Certainly bucked the trend of English sides signing players from that continent just to sell shirts.
One or two similar transfers wouldn't go amiss.

Our hosts are the current champions of Hong Kong and local FA Cup holders, Kitchee Sports Club.
They normally play at the Mong Kok Stadium, a venue with a capacity of a little under 7,000.
This tie will be played at the much larger, multi-purpose Hong Kong Stadium, which holds 40,000.

The ground has had some serious surface issues in the past, including when we've played there.
Jan Vertonghen was stretchered off with an ankle injury as we lost 3-1 to Sunderland in 2013.
Andre Villas-Boas complained extensively about the pitch and didn't want the game to go ahead.
Manchester City lost one of their players to it on the same day, while Utd pulled out of a game this season.
Hopefully it won't be in a similar state this time.

Our last game there was against another Hong Kong Premier League side, South China AA.
An own goal by Man City youth player Sean Tse put us ahead earlier on and it was all one way traffic.
Clint Dempsey made it two and Jermain Defoe hit a hat-trick, before Andros Townsend finished it off.
You can see just how bad the pitch is here, despite the equally poor quality of the clip:

Moussa Dembele has had on operation for his ongoing foot problem, so he joins our injured list.
Rose, Lamela and Winks are still out, while Carter-Vickers, Onomah and Walker-Peters are on international duty.

Here's the squad that traveled for the match:

please log in to view this image

Kitchee's squad is mostly made up of local, plus a few journeymen from around the world.
They don't really have any notable names, but include the mandatory handful of Brazilians.
I think that's a FIFA rule.

Referee: You'd have thought so.

TV: Not bloody likely.

Anyone you want to see given a start, other than to avoid injuries to first team players?
Any idea why we're going all the way out there to play one game on a swamp?
Does anyone actually care?

 

My guess is just exposure. Levy is still likely looking for any sort of opportunities to help with stadium financing and Hong Kong's a potentially lucrative market.

Son taking some of the lads to Seoul today is another good move, after the season he's had, taking him back home to "show him off" just enlarges our reputation out there.

As for the game, not arsed who plays. There'll be a mix of first team and youngsters in both halves I'd imagine. Be good to see Sterling with the first team, seemingly high hopes for him around the place.

 

Why not play another game in Seoul or something, then?
Play two completely different teams and use the youth players as subs.
Seems like a long way to go for not much, to me.

 

HK is the HQ of the AIA empire, so no surprise this game is happening.
If it served current AIA interests in the S Korea market, then no doubt
a tour game would have been played there too (with Son doing as
well as he is, that can only be a matter of time anyway) .

As for caring about this game : I do.

Specifically that each game now has the potential to create a
2017-18 season-threatening injury to key players.
I do not want to be tempting fate at all.

 

Looks like we sent the Youtube squad to Seoul...



...while sending the key players of Hong Kong

 

Need a Shelf side choirmaster out in Seoul ...

 

So what's it to be then? The Kia Stadium? The Samsung Stadium? (not such a good idea, it would probably catch fire after 3 months) , The Hyundai Stadium? The LG Stadium? The Posco Stadium? or could it be:

The China Mobile Stadium? The Cnooc Stadium or god forbid, The Chow Tai Fook Stadium.

Me, I'll stick with White Hart Lane thanks.

 

Loon Fung stadium.
Auspicious symbolism to go with the cockerel.
And they have a store in Brantwood Rd too. < local >

 

There's been rumours of either the AIA Stadium or Nike Stadium, both of which would be a drastic improvement upon the Über Stadium

 

Does this mean that the Sissoko "experiment" that began at Hull has
not yet ended ... ??

 

Depends how well Walker can handle him kimchi...

 

AIA are the third biggest company in Hong Kong (By turnover- Forbes) so, with our existing connection, that would make sense.

 

''AIA @ Lane'' stadium

 

White Hart LAIAne

 

Bravo!!!!

 

They need to brush up on their 'Oh when the Spurs'. A bit rusty

In all seriousness, I've never fully understood the marketing aspect of touring the far-east. Sure, it's an increasingly upwardly mobile emerging market, but the dynamics of following Western sport over there is so different to what we are used to.

South Korean fans don't support Spurs, they support Son. Forgive me for generalising, but there's is far more of a cult of personality than we have in the West, where loyalties are to a team rather than a specific celebrity who happens to play for that team.

Take the US for example. With 'soccer' there growing exponentially, local heroes such as Kasey Keller and Brad helped us to attract hundreds if not thousands of new fans who didn't down tools and switch allegiance to Borussia Mönchengladbach (different colour because I copied and pasted that ) just because Keller moved there after us.

If and when Son leaves, this army of fans leave with him. It's as simple as that. So I wonder; is the market sustainable? Is it even worth all the time and effort being pumped into what is ultimately speculative investment? Are we hoping that local companies share a similarly shallow understanding of sporting culture and commit years of sponsorship to us without considering the long-term variables?

The USA tours make a heck of a lot of sense. As I'm sure @redwhiteandermblue can confirm, the culture there is - much like it is here - 'something' makes you fall for a certain team, and you stick with that team for generations through thick and thin.

 

Retaining the Lane part of the name might actually be a sensible move for any sponsor.
We're all going to call it that anyway, so they may as well use that.

 

It's an immature market but football is growing hugely popular in the most densely populated part of the world. United are a global brand. It would enable them to rebuild OT for nothing but the naming rights money they could attract.

Conquering fans from far away countries and nicking their momey, only for them to come back and buy up the clubs from us, its the new imperialism. Embrace the future.

 

Hardly any time and effort is being pumped into the South Korea market
by THFC though, is it. A visit by Son and some other Spurs players to the
Seoul HQ of AIA, the sponsor of THFC. Meh.

 

This is all true, but lasting support is part of football culture and it might extend to South Korea, as the sport grows there.
Lee Seung-Woo is their next prospect, currently coming through Barca's academy.
Picking someone like him up could help to retain or extend the current interest.