Winners and losers from Tottenham Hotspurs first preseason friendly
By Aaron Coe
Losers from Spurs Draw with Leyton
It is hard to say anyone is a real loser from the first friendly, as no one was flat-out horrible. However, with a new coach and a new director of football at the club, players who are not stars need to prove their worth. Unfortunately, not everyone was impressive in the match-up against the League Two O’s.
Cameron Carter-Vickers
Cameron Carter-Vickers has been with Tottenham Hotspur for seven years joining as a youth in 2014. After working his way through the academy Carter-Vickers has gone out on six consecutive loans, including last season at Bournemouth in the Championship. CCV has been in the news in terms of a potential move away from the club after performing well at Bournemouth.
With his name in the transfer rumor mill and Tottenham clearly in need of help at center-half, Saturday was a good opportunity for Carter-Vickers to make a statement. CCV did not play poorly, however, some of the same concerns about a lack of fluidity in his movement and questions about his positional awareness were still there.
There was one play in particular near the 44th-minute mark where Carter-Vickers got lucky in the box with a ball essentially bouncing off him to Joe Hart. CCV played some nice balls up the seem-to-feet and was not on when the goal was conceded but it feels like a real opportunity lost for Carter-Vickers as minutes to show what he can do are going to get harder and harder to come by as more players return. If CCV is ever to get his fifth official game with Tottenham and first in the Premier League, he is going to have to do more.
Dele Alli and Harry Winks
Like Carter-Vickers, neither Dele nor Harry Winks played poorly, however, as established first-teamers playing against a team three divisions below them, one might have expected more. So while it is harsh to classify Dele and Winks as losers from the match both did need to do more.
Dele looked fit, probably fitter than I have ever seen him but that did not help the first touch issues that continue to fail him. Winks looked progressive at times and had a role in the Spurs’ goal. However, Winks also had his pocket picked near his own penalty box and still played more sideways than forward.
The duo was particularly lackluster in their 20 second-half minutes where the Tottenham midfield was being given the run-around at times. by the O’s. Also, like Carter-Vickers there are questions about the futures of both Dele and Winks and neither did enough to either answer or silence those questions.
Whereas CCV, Dele, and Winks simply did not show out, Steven Bergwijn was truly not good for Tottenham. Bergwijn spent most of the match standing near the midfield touchline and really did not venture too far from that spot. If you look at his heatmap on the Spurs website you would think he was the fourth official.
If Bergwijn were receiving the ball near midfield and then driving in and providing service it would be one thing but his movement was probably the most limited of all the attacking players. Whereas Dele looks to be in the best shape of his life, Bergwijn seems to still be rounding into shape.
Bergwijn is supposed to be one of the main attacking options for taking on players yet he could not beat the League Two O’s defense. The goodwill from Stevie’s sweet debut goal against Manchester City seems like a long, long time ago and Tottenham needs a lot more than what the Dutchman showed on Saturday.