Tottenham: 3 takeaways from final preseason game vs. Watford

Bright spots for Spurs

There were some bright spots for Tottenham Hotspur on the day, maybe the brightest being Harvey White. White has seen some extended minutes in the preseason, with even more given the loan of Oliver Skipp. Whether White sticks with the club or goes out on loan for some minutes himself, it is clear the young man can play.

White spent his time as one of the two deep-lying midfielders playing next to Ndombele, and later Dele, doing his best to bring a mix of the passing Harry Winks does, along with some of the toughness of Hojbjerg.

While neither of those two skillsets are at the level yet, it is clear White knows what he is doing, is calm on the ball, and can flat out play football. White he played a nice, direct pass to Lamela to set up the penalty for Spurs’ only goal. I have seen far too many Spurs play that same ball sideways over the last few years, sometimes the directness of youth is a good thing.

Besides White, Dele Alli and Heung-Min Son both played hard for 90 minutes. While neither played particularly well, they both showed the kind of aggression and effort that those watching “All or Nothing” have been hearing Jose Mourinho demand. Two plays demonstrated this commitment.

The first was at 72 minutes when Dele went in hard and probably a bit late on the ball. Originally, it looked like a 50/50, but the more you saw the slow-motion replay, the more you were happy there was no VAR.

Dele was given a yellow and I am in no way condoning any kind of play that may injure another, but to show that kind of aggression to win the ball back 80-plus minutes into a meaningless preseason friendly tells me something about Dele’s attitude going into the season. I recently wrote that Dele is at a crossroads, and while the finished product was not there today, no one can complain about the effort. If that effort continues, Dele is just too good not to produce.

Son did score Spurs’ only goal, burying the penalty White and Lamela had drawn. However, it was literally the last kick of the match that most impressed me about Son today. Spurs had a corner in the final second of injury-time so Paulo Gazzaniga came up field to pitch in. Of course, Spurs did not win the duel off the corner and Watford broke toward goal. It was not until you saw Marc Navarro try and score from quite a distance that it was clear, Spurs had an empty net.

Having already lost the friendly match, everyone could have just put their head down and said that the goal was inevitable. However, Son continued to sprint after the play, having tried to win the header on the attacking end and reached the end line and the ball just in time to clear it off the line and away from the net.

There is no goal difference yet and Spurs were losing either way, but the commitment from Son to chase the ball down and clear it away, preserving the one-goal deficit tells me where his head is and that we will not be seeing him shouted out by Hugo Lloris anytime soon. Well done Sonny!