Tottenham struggle to find balance between competitions

It’s hard to make too little from preseason friendlies — especially ones as part of an international summer tour — but in Tottenham’s case it is possible to make too much.

While it would be prudent to not go deep here, it is possible to see in Tottenham’s four high profile friendlies this summer as hints of what’s to come in the 2017/18 season.

Though it doesn’t quite occupy the center of Spurs’ concerns next season — adapting to Wembley and seeing out a sustainable, zero-loss transfer window hold that honor — the balance between domestic and international concerns will inevitably play a part.

Mauricio Pochettino’s revolution is one mostly confined within the borders of England. To date he’s proved unable to translate his success in the Premier League into success on the European continent, be it in the Champions League or Europa League.

In past seasons it was, the pundits said, a matter of depth. Spurs simply didn’t have the roster to fight on more than one front. When Pochettino and Daniel Levy went about filling out the first team, suddenly the excuses became more tangible: Wembley was cursed or, at least, ill-suited to Spurs’ particular brand of football.

Like all good excuses, both of these arguments ring at least a little true. Turning to Vlad Chiriches and Andros Townsend for mid-week clashes was less than ideal, and there was a sense that Spurs as a whole were more comfortable in the cozier confines of old White Hart Lane.

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They were incomplete explanations for what was going on. The fact is that Spurs never really took Europe seriously in the last half decade. In the Europa League that might have been understandable, but Pochettino even seemed reluctant to commit fully to their first appearance in the Champions League since 2010/11 last season.

Look no further than the team chosen for a vital trip to Monaco last fall. There was still hope of some kind of recovery, even after two losses and a draw in the opening four matches of the Champions League group stage.

In a peculiar move though, Pochettino heavily rotated his squad, benching Kyle Walker, Christian Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen. The result — which, given Monaco’s phenomenal season, might have been inevitable — was a 2-1 loss.

That result relegated Spurs to the Europa League knockout round after the New Year. Pitted against Belgium’s Gent, the team looked profoundly disinterested. Once again, Pochettino’s side bowed out gracelessly.

Cynics might say, given what looked almost like failure-by-design in Europe last season, Saturday’s preseason contest against Manchester City might be the match Spurs take most seriously. It is, after all, the only time before the season begins in two weeks where Pochettino gets to test his team against domestic opposition.

The previous two matches — a win against Paris Saint Germain and a loss against Roma — along with next weekend’s match against Juventus at Wembley might mean more in the long run though. They are all tests against elite opposition, but more importantly against opposition who play the game different than Spurs might see at home in England.

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Those differences might seem minor — Italian organization, French/Qatari billions — but they give Pochettino and Spurs an excuse to learn how to adapt on the fly. These are not familiar opposition fielding typically dour English tactics. If Tottenham are ever going to succeed in Europe they need to take more away from these matches than they do the umpteenth iteration of City v Spurs.