Welcome back to our mini-series looking back at Tottenham Hotspur’s intriguing preseason campaign. Yesterday, we got started with some of the positive takeaways: the players who stood out, exceeded expectations, and seized the chance before them. Tomorrow, as we lead into the first match of the season against Burnley, we’ll look at some of the quandaries and questions of the season’s preparations.
As for today, it’s a journey through the negatives. Who’s struggled through preseason, and perhaps not cemented themselves in Thomas Frank’s plans they way they could (or should) have?
Why don’t we get sad together?
Note: I haven’t included players who have missed significant time due to injury, such as James Maddison, Manor Solomon, or Dane Scarlett.
Yves Bissouma
It’s a far cry from Biss’ heady heights in the early days of Ange-ball at Spurs. Bissouma looked off the pace in preseason, with Rodrigo Bentancur and some of the younger options in Pape Matar Sarr and Lucas Bergvall often being preferred ahead of him; even late on in closing out matches where you think somebody with his engine and ability would excel. This is before the signing of Joao Palhinha, mind you!
Yves is always one moment away from making a mistake, and it just seems like Frank doesn’t trust him. That lack of trust won’t have been remedied in any way by Bissouma showing up late to training either, breaking team protocols and earning himself a suspension from the matchday squad for the Super Cup. It feels like his days are numbered at Spurs.
Brennan Johnson
It’s getting harder and harder to work out where the Europa League final hero fits in Frank’s starting XI. Though Johnson is always a goal threat, the deficiencies in other areas of the squad demand more from the wide roles, which new signing Mohamed Kudus seems to offer. Johnson’s playing time has therefore dwindled as preseason has gone on, and one solid performance against Newcastle aside, when he has played, he’s been completely anonymous in a rather uninspiring attack.
This culminated in a sub appearance against Arsenal, where he worked hard in defense, but only touched the ball four times in nearly half an hour. It’s the sort of stint that seems to happen a little too often for Brennan, and with Spurs now linked with another right wing in the form of Savinho, Johnson is going to have to really fight for his spot.
Mathys Tel
I feel bad even writing this, especially given what Tel has endured over the last couple of days; but the reality is that Tel hasn’t exactly shone through preseason. I am a huge fan of Tel, and I honestly thought he would be a fantastic stylistic fit for an Mbeumo-eque wide role under Frank. That never really eventuated, as other players were preferred in the wide areas, and Tel spent most of his time at striker covering for the injured Dom Solanke and Richarlison where he was largely ineffectual.
Tel is still young, and with a bright future in front of him; but with the departure of Son I really thought he could step up and be “the guy”. There’s still plenty of time, but it’s likely he’ll have to bide his as Spurs look for more attacking reinforcements and Frank seems to prefer other options.
Alfie Devine
After a pretty successful loan season in the Belgian top flight, I had high hopes for Alfie this season. A talented, front-foot midfielder with a good all-round skillset, I was hoping he would build on his time at Westerlo with a strong preseason campaign, potentially sticking around as depth for the senior squad as a club-trained option in Europe.
Instead, he played barely more than a half of football (where I maintain he looked pretty good!) before being loaned out to the Championship with an option to buy. It’s not a terrible result for Alfie, but I was expecting more, and with the injury to Maddison Devine could have been a valuable contributor if he could have made that next step.