Hotspur HQ
Fansided

Five Tottenham News Items To Watch For This Week

By Ryan Wrenn

NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND - MAY 15: Tottenham Hotspur Manager Mauricio Pochettino during the Barclays Premier League match between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur at St.James' Park on May 15 2016, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND - MAY 15: Tottenham Hotspur Manager Mauricio Pochettino during the Barclays Premier League match between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur at St.James' Park on May 15 2016, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 6
Next
CHARLOTTE, NC – JULY 30: Head coach FC Internazionale Roberto Mancini looks on prior to the International Champions Cup 2016 match between FC Internazionale and Bayern Munich at Bank of America Stadium on July 30, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Claudio Villa – Inter/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC – JULY 30: Head coach FC Internazionale Roberto Mancini looks on prior to the International Champions Cup 2016 match between FC Internazionale and Bayern Munich at Bank of America Stadium on July 30, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Claudio Villa – Inter/Getty Images) /

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.

More from Hotspur HQ

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

Home/Tottenham News