Tottenham fringe player shines in friendly win

As is customary for this time of year, Tottenham hosted Leyton Orient at Hotspur Way on Wednesday for an unofficial pre-season friendly.

With only a small handful of Tottenham’s senior squad back with the club from holiday, the team that took to the training pitch were mostly Academy products and youngsters.

Indeed, the only regular members of the first team squad on the pitch were Michel Vorm, Josh Onomah and Georges-Kévin Nkoudou. Others, such as Kazaih Sterling and Kyle Walker-Peters, are slated for bigger roles in the coming season.

Still, despite the patchwork side, Spurs managed to put on a predictably fine showing against the team currently residing in English football’s fifth tier. They earned a comfortable 4-0 victory.

What wasn’t quite as predictable was the player who would end up being the star of the show however.

The last time Nkoudou was worth talking about, it was last month when he got caught wearing a Chelsea jersey on Instagram. At that time, we speculated that such an infraction might effectively prove the end of his brief time at the club. The fact was that he had not, as yet, found a way to convince Mauricio Pochettino to put him in the first team, and he seemed destined to go the way of Clinton Njie.

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Even with that in mind, it is not particularly surprising that Nkoudou would find his way into a Tottenham squad in the preseason. Much of the first team is still away or only just beginning training, and the ranks need to be filled out somehow.

It took Nkoudou only 11 minutes to make his mark on the match. Per the club’s account of the match, Walker-Peter’s marauding dash forward reached its end when Nkoudou cut back a cross from Sterling. The Under 20 World Cup winner scored, granting the hosts an early lead.

Leyton Orient found some traction in the game, but once again Nkoudou found the ball at his feet in a dangerous area. At a tight angle, the Frenchman shot across the mouth of the goal to double Spurs’ advantage in the 36th minute.

Tottenham would hold onto their lead through half-time. Though both teams mixed their squads up after the interval, Nkoudou stayed on through full-time.

The 22-year-old wasn’t involved in either of the two goals Spurs scored in the second half however. Academy players Jaden Brown and Will Miller earned those honors, with Harrison again making in appearance in the set up of the latter’s goal.

Still, Nkoudou remained a menace throughout the match. He came close to scoring again before half-time, and then in the games closing stages almost added a second goal to his day with a 25-yard rocket narrowly saved by Orient’s goalkeeper.

It’s impossible to say whether 90 minutes against a side about to ply their trade in the National League will endear Nkoudou to the powers that be at Spurs. His ability to pull of theatrics here is no indication of his ability to do the same against Newcastle on opening day, or in the Champions League group stages that follow.

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If it tells us anything, though, it’s that Nkoudou might not quite be the outcast we assumed him to be. Time will tell if he can build on this promising display. If he is included in the Tottenham roster set to travel to the United States later this month, we might have a clearer picture of his future with the club.