Spurs boss Nuno Espirito Santo had his first experience of taking charge of the team in a match scenario at the weekend, as Leyton Orient managed to hold us to a 1-1 draw.
Dane Scarlett opened the scoring for a young Spurs side in the first half, but the hosts’ substitute Ruel Sotiriou equalised shortly after Nuno made ten changes to the side.
While many of the players who featured won’t be involved in the first team next season, there are a few youngsters on the verge of making the step-up, who stood-out.
Kallum Cesay
https://twitter.com/Kallum_cesay/status/1416736060298694658?s=20
Like Maksim Paskotsi, Kallum Cesay was bombing up and down his flank after being asked to fill in at left-back. However, the right-footer looked far more confident when taking on players than the Estonian and was inches away from creating chances for himself or others around him on more than one occasion.
Despite looking shaky on the defensive end, Cesay was aggressive in the tackle and looked to win the ball back as quick as possible – a clear indicator that Nuno is looking for this Spurs team to be on the front foot whenever possible.
Expect to see Cesay involved more in pre-season, but a first team breakthrough is unlikely for him this year.
Dane Scarlett
⚽️ The first goal which was scored by 17-year-old Dane Scarlett (@DScarlett09) pic.twitter.com/7fq95sOkMS
— The Spurs Web (@thespursweb) July 17, 2021
Where to begin with for this star-boy who was tipped to make the England National Team in the near future by former boss Jose Mourinho.
A composed and energetic performance was capped off when he got onto the end of Lucas’ fantastic through-ball and finished with his weaker foot underneath the Leyton Orient keeper’s legs into the bottom right corner.
With Harry Kane still on holiday, there is no doubt that Scarlett will receive plenty of minutes in pre-season.
Nile John
https://twitter.com/hxrrythfc/status/1416407884464852996?s=20
After making his first team debut in the Europa League last season, Nile John will be looking to make a proper breakthrough in the first team this season, and he has got his pre-season off to a good start after impressing against Leyton Orient.
He even almost opened the scoring after a superb piece of skill to not only get onto the end of a lofted through-ball by Harry Winks, but to flick the ball back over his opponent and attempt to volley with his left-foot – only for the goalkeeper to prevent the Alli-esque attempt from rippling the back of the net.
The 18-year-old was named alongside Scarlett as one of the players to watch out for by Joe Hart after the game, with the former England keeper saying: “I like these guys, I like them a lot. They get their heads down, they work. There’s obviously a super talent in Dane, Nile is really impressing.”