Thomas Frank was particularly impressed with the defensive side of our game as we kept a clean sheet to beat Arsenal 1-0 in Hong Kong on Thursday.
The winning goal was worthy of any north London derby. Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya strayed a long way out of his area to play a pass into Myles Lewis-Skelly, Richarlison pressed and won possession and the ball ran to Pape Matar Sarr, who took one look and from 40 yards, pinged a beauty over backtracking Raya and home. That was no less than we deserved in a first half where we struck the woodwork three times.
“A 1-0 score against Arsenal is an absolutely beautiful score!” Thomas told SPURSPLAY afterwards. “Yes, it is a friendly, but it’s also a very competitive match. I said before the game that games against Arsenal are never ‘friendly’. It means everything.
“I have to give respect to both teams for their competitiveness in the game. It was very competitive. I was extremely happy with our first half, that first half was completely even. In many ways I loved the way the team performed, and throughout the game the defensive structure was top.
“In the second half, I thought we defended a little too much, but there were some tired bodies on the pitch and sometimes the nature of the game when you are 1-0 up, the other team is pushing a bit more.
“Some of the defensive principles, and high pressure, especially in the first half, were really good, the mid-block, where everyone defends together and the lower, and the emergency defending, especially at the end, was top class.
“The desire was good. We talk about that clean sheet mentality. It’s a big thing we need to add to the team. Of course, we need to play forward, play brave, aggressive, offensive, but we need the other bit if we want to win enough football matches.”