The Thomas Frank era at Tottenham Hotspur is well and truly under way with the first match with the Dane at the helm now in the rear view mirror.
Spurs will make their next trip of pre-season to Luton Town on Saturday where they will come up against former goalkeeper Josh Keeley, who only made the move to the Hatters last week. The friendly comes after Tottenham opened their account under Frank against another League One side in Reading on Saturday with a 2-0 victory.
After this coming weekend's match the north London side will make their way to Asia for a shorter than normal summer tour with games against Arsenal and Newcastle in Hong Kong and South Korea respectively. A couple of days after they return they will head off to Germany to face Harry Kane's Bayern Munich ahead of the first competitive game of the season against Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup in Udine. A few days later the Premier League season begins with the visit of promoted Burnley.
So how did it all begin on Saturday at the Select Car Leasing Stadium and which players came out of it as winners or losers, in the loosest possible terms? With Frank naming a different XI in each half against Reading, football.london has given their verdict on the players that we reckon just about fit into each category.
Winners
Luka Vuskovic
There's only one place to start and that's with the 18-year-old Croatian who had a friendly debut to remember. It's taken two years to get Luka Vuskovic to north London, as due to EU regulations he had to wait until he had celebrated his 18th birthday, and the big teenager looked desperate to make up for lost time.
The centre-back started in the second half and after a couple of rushed touches and one mistimed tackle, he burst to life with the headed assist from Mohammed Kudus' corner on to Will Lankshear to nod home the opening goal of the game.
Things got even better when Vuskovic ran into the box after another cleared corner and Kudus picked out his run and the young Croatia international stroked a perfect low strike inside the right-hand post. Just to prove he's not all about the attacking, he then made a clearance in front of his own goal from a Reading attack.
"Luka deserves the praise as well," said Frank. "A great header. Showed his physicality and his composure on the ball. He’s not getting stressed when opponents get close. And what a strike."
Mohammed Kudus
Another player who looked desperate to impress was Spurs' new £55million signing Mohammed Kudus. The Ghana international also played in the second half and it's fair to say that the entire game changed with his introduction.
With his lower body strength and dribbling ability, the 24-year-old was a dynamic presence on the pitch and Reading did not have any answers to what he was doing. He curled in the corner that led to Lankshear's goal via Vuskovic's head and then grabbed an assist by picking out the centre-back's run.
He also set up Jamie Donley for a chance later on following a blistering run down the right flank and with Brennan Johnson quiet in the first half, Kudus certainly shone brightest among the attacking players.
"I thought there were a lot of positives in there," said Frank after the game. "If we start with Kudus, of course, he’s the newest one. He was exciting to watch. He had four, five very good actions where you could see what he’s about. His pace, one-on-one skills, the way he can twist and turn going forward."
Will Lankshear
Pre-season and Will Lankshear just seem to go together in the summer like strawberries and cream. The 20-year-old made his breakthrough last summer under Ange Postecoglou with a couple of goals in friendlies, pushing Dane Scarlett and Alejo Veliz down the pecking order.
That led to three Premier League appearances and another three in the Europa League, in which he scored his first goal for the club at Galatasaray before also being shown his first red card. A loan move to West Brom followed during a season of real development for the big striker.
This summer has started in a similar vein with Lankshear showing good reactions to head home from Vuskovic's flick-on at Reading. The young striker didn't see much more of the ball but he proved to another manager that he can weigh in with goals.
Frank will have to decide whether to keep the forward around this season as a homegrown player or whether another loan move beckons to continue his development.
Alfie Devine and Jamie Donley
With an absence in available number 10s right now, both Alfie Devine and Jamie Donley got the chance to show Frank what they are made of.
Both 20-year-olds started in the central attacking midfield role in either half. Both put in solid enough displays with plenty of tidy football and progressive passing in trying to make things happen. It almost did for Donley in the second half when he raced away on a break and was picked out by Kudus only for the academy product's low shot to be deflected wide of goal.
With Tottenham needing some homegrown players this season for their European squad, one of Donley or Devine could be kept around until January at least and Frank will want to take a good look at them this summer before making any decisions.
Morgan Gibbs-White
Yes, we know he doesn't play for Tottenham and yes, we know that whole transfer situation is a complete mess right now, but this game was good for Morgan Gibbs-White.
That's because it showed, despite the solid displays from the youngsters above, just how much Spurs need an experienced number 10 with James Maddison still on his way back from his knee injury and Dejan Kulusevski set to miss the start of the season after his patella surgery.
Both Spurs and Frank have been casting envious eyes at Gibbs-White since his Wolves days and the Dane believes the 25-year-old England international would be a perfect mobile and creative midfielder within his system. The question is whether a way can be found to make the move happen.
Losers
Son Heung-min
It's incredibly harsh to have Son Heung-min in the losers column just two months after the Spurs captain lifted that trophy in Bilbao and also because the 33-year-old had an involvement in both goals on Saturday by winning the corners they both eventually came from.
A more fitting term for this column would be disappointers but winners and disappointers doesn't really have that ring about it.
It's accurate to say though that Son was very rusty at the Select Cars Leasing Stadium as he struggled to control the ball at times and sliced one effort well over the crossbar. He grew frustrated in that move mentioned above when neither Kudus nor Donley passed the ball to him.
The South Korean star just look a bit out of sorts throughout amid all the speculation about his future, and Frank admitting he had not decided his captain for next season yet, and the player ended the match holding his back, looking like he was struggling with some pain there as well.
Lucas Bergvall
Again, last season's player of the year can hardly be called a 'loser' but the format dictates the name of this column. Like Son, the 19-year-old Swede just looked particularly rusty on Saturday against the League One opponents.
The teenager gave the ball away on a couple of occasions with under-hit passes that put Spurs into trouble around his own box. He looked very much like a player taking part in his first match since picking up that ankle injury in training at Hotspur Way back in May.
The Swede will get fitter and sharper as this pre-season goes on and this was hopefully just him needing to shake off the cobwebs like his captain.
Yang, Abbott and Phillips
While Frank used 22 players on the day in Reading, three members of the squad had to travel to just sit on the bench and watch. They were teenagers Yang Min-hyeok and George Abbott as well as 20-year-old Ashley Phillips.
Their position at the bottom of the submitted team sheet, below the 11 players who came off the bench at half-time, suggests they were always likely to remain spectators unless there was an injury.
football.london has previously reported that 19-year-old Abbott is expected to head out on loan, likely with a new contract, after his development over the past year. The sheer number of wingers and centre-backs suggest that Yang and Phillips are likely to also exit the club this summer unless something dramatic occurs in the weeks ahead.
Dane Scarlett
Dane Scarlett was the only player unaccounted for by Frank after the game when he explained why various players were missing.
The striker did have a groin operation towards the end of last season but was back in training and on the bench for the Europa League final in Bilbao. However, despite training last week ahead of the friendly at Reading, including the day before the game, the 21-year-old was not included in the matchday squad.
Perhaps it was decided that it was better for him to train with the likes of Richarlison, Archie Gray, Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel rather than sit on the bench and watch on Saturday but it's not a good look for him that once again Lankshear has taken his chance ahead of him during pre-season.
This is a year when Scarlett really needs to make an impact wherever that may be and fulfil all the promise he's always had.
Kota Takai
The 20-year-old Japan international finally got his work permit after a week of waiting and would have looked sharper than most in training as he was halfway through the J.League season when he made the move from Kawasaki Frontale to Tottenham.
However, a little knock in training ahead of the friendly at Reading robbed the centre-back of his chance to impress. Unfortunately for him, a bit like for Scarlett, Vuskovic grabbed his opportunity to dazzle on his debut in his absence.
The expectation when Takai signed was that he would be part of Frank's squad this season and Vuskovic could end up getting a loan, with a queue of clubs across Europe awaiting a decision. However, Vuskovic won round one of that contest due to the Japanese defender's little knock.
This could be a fascinating little battle to impress Frank the most as this summer progresses.