Observations from Tottenham Hotspur 6-3 win over Team K-League

Observation 2: Put Korea on the travel list as a Spurs fan the next time this happens

We knew the crowd would be excited and into the match. However, I’m not sure I have ever listened to a crowd live every moment of the game, like the fans in the Seoul Olympic Stadium.

The crowd played, whether they were being cheered on by the PA announcers saying players’ names or simply cheering the simplest of step-overs.

Factor in that Spurs were essentially treated like the home team, with a vast majority of shirts being AIA Tottenham jerseys; you would have thought the game was played somewhere in north London.

The fans got what they deserved with nine goals, including two from Korean superstar Heung-min Son. The atmosphere was electric, and that was just a preseason game.

Observation 3: Passing from the back is going to be important for this team

One noticeable trend in Spurs’ play against Team K-League was how much the ball moved from the back to the front, bi-passing the midfield. The midfield for Spurs did their part, but there was an effort to play the ball from the back forward with longer passes.

Eric Dier hit several sharp balls between the lines to Richarlison’s feet, pushing Spurs forward into the attack. Davinson Sanchez had a couple of nice through-balls, leading Ryan Sessegnon down the flank. Japhet Tanganga zipped a long ball up the line to Richarlison.

Tottenham wants to play the ball out of the back more; however, Conte wants the team to attack quickly and directly, which we saw in Seoul. When you see Spurs playing like that, it makes the loan signing of a ball-playing centre-half like Clement Lenglet look much more logical, especially if a top target is unavailable.

It was only one game, but the efforts were evident. Spurs want to push from the back to attack quickly and directly when they can.