PSG 2-2 (pens 4-3) Tottenham (Lee 85′, Ramos 90+4 | Van de Ven 38′, Romero 48′)
You see it first in Thomas Frank’s white polo shirt. How seriously are we dressing up for this? A little, at least – there are distinguished guests in town and no glorified friendlies to be had.
That Tottenham surrendered a late two-goal lead to lose the Super Cup to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties should not carry too much import. The occasion’s very existence signposted the jarring flux between the ghosts of Spurs’ past and present.
Victory in May’s Europa League final was a whole manager and captain ago. So much has happened since that memories of that night could feel hazy in the dry Udine heat. And still the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Heroics in vain, Spurs could not see it out. Nuno Mendes’ was the decisive spot-kick after Micky van de Ven and Mathys Tel’s misses – a crushing end to a night full of optimism.
Frank has not had much time to stamp his fingerprints and yet promisingly, they were all over his first competitive match in charge.
That does not seek to disparage Ange Postecoglou, who brought two years of enthralling plot twists and high-octane football.
It was nevertheless a period characterised by a notoriously high line and disorganisation from set pieces; on this evidence both have been addressed.
Spurs’ set-piece success
Van de Ven benefited first, a poacher’s goal after a long free-kick made its way to Joao Palhinha, whose effort rebounded off the woodwork and fell to the Dutchman.
Cristian Romero got in on the act by heading Pedro Porro’s free-kick past Lucas Chevalier, floundering in goal in place of Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Few could have predicted the difficulty PSG would have breaking down Spurs for 85 minutes, a well-organised unit no longer running on vibes but hard discipline. Take Yves Bissouma, unceremoniously dropped for lateness.
Lee Kang-In’s late strike from the edge of the box takes little away from the overall progress. Nor should Goncalo Ramos’ 94th-minute header after a sudden injection of Parisian pace.
Frank’s troops found new ways to impress in Kevin Danso’s new trademark long throw and Guglielmo Vicario’s kicks, and through the pace of Mohammed Kudus, who may be the answer to an urgent problem at No 10. His driving runs at the world’s best left-back, Mendes, were among the highlights.
The ACL injury that has all but ended James Maddison’s season before it began is a pressing concern, with Lucas Bergvall and Pape Matar Sarr used experimentally in the role since. It has been an underwhelming transfer window, save the arrivals of Kudus and Palhinha (on loan), youngsters Luka Vuskovic and Kota Takai and the permanent additions of loanees Danso and Tel.
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There have been efforts to do more – an approach for Morgan Gibbs-White provoked war with Nottingham Forest before the midfielder signed a new contract. More than a fortnight remains to do business but many of the indications are that Frank will have to make do – that will sometimes mean operating with less than 30 per cent possession.
So far, so good. With Van de Ven at left-back and Djed Spence on the wing ahead, they retained the thrills and spills of an Angeball breakaway and until late, did not compromise their defensive work.
When Ousmane Dembele threaded through to find Achraf Hakimi, Spence was already back in place to shrug him off. It was the same trick that neutralised Bukayo Saka in another pre-season friendly, if there is such a concept, against Arsenal. Incidentally, it was their rivals once derided by Spurs fans as “Set Piece FC”. It might just be their own secret weapon this season.