The Qatar World Cup has meant that Tottenham Hotspur not having played a competitive fixture since the 4-3 win over Leeds back on November 12th, and are yet to return to Premier League action until Boxing Day’s trip to Brentford.
Antonio Conte has therefore sought to improve the team’s fitness levels for those not on international duty with some friendly matches ahead of the team’s return to domestic duties.
First up was a 4-0 win over Motherwell last week at Hotspur Way, in which Matt Doherty netted twice from left wing-back, with the scoring completed by Bryan Gil and Dejan Kulusevski.
The demolition of Motherwell was followed up by a 3-1 win over a youthful Peterborough side earlier this week, again at the club’s training ground. Gil and Doherty netted again, with Harvey White – who started both friendlies up front – completing the scoring over Posh.
Although Gil impressed in both matches with his attacking involvements, I still think that he has a mountain to climb if he is to seriously assert himself into the first-team picture.
The one saving grace he has will be Richarlison’s injury and the need to rotate between Kulusevski (who was breathtaking in both matches), Harry Kane and Heung-min Son in matches like the cup tie against Portsmouth next month.
Nevertheless, it was good to see him score in both matches and make consistent meaningful contributions going forward.
The next big talking point comes at full-back; while I do stress that we must not read too much into training ground matches against lower-ranked opposition, you can only beat what’s in front of you, and that’s exactly what Djed Spence and Doherty did.
With three goals in both matches (and he could have had more), Doherty will be looking to regain the form that made him Conte’s first-choice right-wing back prior to his injury at Villa Park in April, and his attacking contributions are not a bad place to start for staking his claim ahead of the Brentford match next week.
Meanwhile, Spence was a lively presence in both boxes in both matches, and linked up brilliantly with Kulusevski down Spurs’ right – it would be great to see him a couple of times when the fixtures pile up, although like Gil, it probably won’t be until the Portsmouth match that we do see him (if at all).
While Yves Bisouma missed a penalty against Peterborough, it was his driving run that won the kick in the first place, and he generally impressed in both friendlies as he looks to assert himself onto Conte’s plans for the second half of the season.
With Rodrigo Bentancur suspended for the Brentford match and facing a potential injury lay-off, and Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg only just returning from Qatar, Spurs will need Bissouma to show the form that saw us sign him from Brighton in the first place, as when the aforementioned duo are unavailable, our game tends to flag dramatically.
The signs from Bissouma in both friendlies were promising, but such the trivial nature of the fixtures and the opposition’s inferiority means the jury is still out on the Malian for now.
Another midfielder who will be looking to make his mark ahead of the Premiership’s return is Oliver Skipp, who has deputized underwhelmingly for Hojbjerg for a couple of matches this season, and will be looking to regain the impressive form that saw him become a first-team regular before his numerous injury setbacks last year.
Skipp encouragingly completed both matches back-to-back without any setbacks, and will be hoping to finally be able to maintain his fitness ahead of the New Year. Speaking to the club about his involvement in both matches, this is what he had to say about a unique mid-season break:
“It’s always nice to get minutes after nearly a month without a game, really important and we’ve treated the games in the right way, a good couple of performances, and they’ve been good in terms of getting back into the rhythm of playing matches.
“This season is a bit of a weird one (in terms of the break for the World Cup) as usually you don’t get this opportunity halfway through the season, by Christmas, there have been loads of games, but this has been a bit different. It’s nice to have a reset, clear the mind a bit and get ready for the second half of the season.”
For now, attentions turn to Spurs’ match against Nice at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday, our last match before the Brentford trip on Boxing Day.