Expect Tottenham to continue relying on youth vs Colchester in friendly

Despite another returning player from break, expect Tottenham to continue to rely mostly on the Academy in preseason-friendly number two vs Colchester United.

Superstar Heung-Min Son has returned to N17 and practice for Tottenham Hotspur. If you watch the video of him and the team on Spurs TV, you can see he is all smiles and energy on the pitch. However, despite the South Korean talisman’s return, we should not expect Son to play on Wednesday versus Colchester United in preseason match number two. Instead, we should expect another heavy dose of what we saw in preseason game number one, a lot from the academy.

Much of Tottenham’s first-team is still out

The reality is, besides Son, no other first-team players have returned to the club since they last played Saturday against Leyton Orient. With the likes of Harry Kane, Hugo Lloris, and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg all still on holiday following summer national team duty, Nuno Espirito Santo and company have little choice but to continue to rely on the kids, something Santo did often at Wolverhampton. 

We should expect more first-team Spurs than before

Although this match comes too soon for Son, there are some other first-team players, like Sergio Reguilon or Erik Lamela that we could potentially see as part of the squad. Santo could swap out those that were rested, like Lamela and Reguilon for those that were not rested like Dele Alli or Eric Dier.

While it is likely that we see more first-team players, how many and for how long we will have to wait and see. Regardless of who all comes back, we should expect to again see a number of the younger players, just possibly with some roles reversed.

Previous Tottenham starters to sit and sitters to start?

One thing that seems like a logical possibility is that we see a swapping of some of the roles played amongst the academy in game number two. Instead of Dane Scarlett again starting up top, Troy Parrott should get the nod, with Scarlett coming in in the second half as part of the mass substitutions.

Likewise in the midfield, it would seem reasonable to have Harvey White start and have Nile John come in as a substitute. With a new coaching staff and so many young players to put through their paces with first-team players still out, it just makes sense to see Jack Clarke and Timothy Eyoma for an hour. The point is we should expect some rotation from what we saw on the weekend.

With much of the first team squad returning in the next week or so, decisions have to be made with many of these young players. Will Clarke, White, and Eyoma all go back out on loan? Is there a role for Dane Scarlett or Troy Parrott in the first team this season? The only way to answer those questions is to have the young men play. Wednesday is the next chance for that, do not expect Santo or Spurs to waste it.