Two Tottenham XIs From Interclub Practice Game Give Insight Into Ange Postecoglou's Plans For New Season
Tottenham will play their first official pre-season friendly of the summer on Tuesday when they take on London rivals West Ham in Perth, Australia.
But Ange Postecoglou's players took part in an 11-a-side interclub practice game on Monday.
The two XIs selected for the game appeared to give some insight into how new manager Postecoglou plans to line up his team next season.
Both teams in Monday's match started in a 4-3-3 formation. This has been Postecoglou's default system for most of his managerial career, although he has also used 4-2-3-1 in the past.
The two teams did not appear to be evenly matched.
One featured Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski in attack, as well as summer signing Guglielmo Vicario in goal.
Meanwhile, the opposition had Richarlison, Manor Solomon and Ivan Perisic up front and also featured 24-year-old reserve keeper Brandon Austin, who has never made a senior appearance for Spurs, despite having been at the club since 2015.
Tottenham Lineups From Monday's Interclub Game
At first glance, it appeared as though Postecoglou may have selected his best XI against 'the rest'.
If that was indeed the case then it could mean that two players who recently had loan spells away from Spurs might be set for first-team returns under Postecoglou next season.
Tanguy Ndombele and Sergio Reguilon started in the perceived 'A Team' on Monday, having spent the 2022/23 campaign with Napoli and Atletico Madrid respectfully.
The other interesting inclusion in this XI was Japhet Tanganga alongside Cristian Romero at center-back.
Romero is widely considered to be Tottenham's best central defender, while the club are reportedly in the market for another player in this position.
Tanganga, who came through the Spurs youth academy, was handed his Premier League debut by Jose Mourinho in January 2020. But the 24-year-old has only played in 26 EPL matches since then.
Ben Davies and Davinson Sanchez were the starting center-backs for the apparent 'B Team' on Monday.
Eric Dier was unavailable due to an injury.