Two Tottenham XIs From Interclub Practice Game Give Insight Into Ange Postecoglou's Plans For New Season

Ange Postecoglou appears to have revealed his best Tottenham XI through his team selection in an interclub friendly that took place during pre-season training.
Two Tottenham XIs From Interclub Practice Game Give Insight Into Ange Postecoglou's Plans For New Season
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

A graphic showing two Tottenham XIs from an interclub game during a training session in July 2023
A graphic showing two Tottenham XIs from an interclub game during a training session on Monday / buildlineup.com

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.

Harry Kane pictured leading out the Tottenham team for an open training session at the WACA stadium in Perth in July 2023
Harry Kane pictured leading out the Tottenham team for an open training session at the WACA stadium in Perth on Monday :: IMAGO/AAP/Richard Wainwright

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Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.