Five Tottenham News Items To Watch For This Week
By Ryan Wrenn
A trip to Norway
Tottenham’s final pre-season match might be the only one that Pochettino takes seriously.
That might not be entirely fair, but it’s hard to argue that two open-to-the-public friendlies featuring a cast of bench and youth players constitutes a normal pre-season campaign for a club like Tottenham.
The demands of the Euros more or less forced hard decisions on Pochettino, and in the end he preferred to have his best players fresh and ready to once again endure grueling Premier League season — with Champions League to boot.
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Australian fans might be a tad bitter that they didn’t get to see more of their favorites, but few can doubt the value of Pochettino’s already-well-versed starting XI coming into August rested and ready to jump right back into the intense pressing game the club has become known for.
And so it will be that Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld — among others — will likely play at least some minutes against Inter Milan on Friday.
Robert Mancini’s side is stocked with talent even if the team faltered a bit toward the end of last season. They will give Tottenham a challenge, and it should be a much more competitive match than the losses to Juventus and Atlético Madrid.
Next: A meaningless cup