View: Three winners from the Tottenham pre-season clash with Shakhtar Donetsk
On Sunday 6 August Tottenham returned to North London as Ange Postecoglou made his first appearance in front of the Spurs faithful.
The Australian was greeted by a warm reception as he made his way out onto the pitch and with less than a week to go until the Premier League opener against Brentford, it feels now as if the Postecoglou era is well and truly underway.
It hasn’t been the greatest of pre-seasons by any stretch of the imagination. Spurs have managed to play just three matches in preparation for the new campaign and speculation surrounding Harry Kane’s future has continued to swirl around Hotspur Way, overshadowing the work Postecoglou is trying to do.
But one positive that can be taken away from the last few weeks for Spurs is the way they are now playing their football. If it wasn’t already obvious, it certainly will be now, Tottenham are going to play on the front foot during the upcoming campaign.
Against Shakhtar, they managed 32 shots with 20 of them finding the target and had 67 per cent of the ball as they thrashed their opposition from Ukraine 5-1.
Three players, in particular, stood out upon their return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Harry Kane
Even by his incredibly high standards, the England captain was immense during the match. If he is to leave this summer, scoring four goals in front of your fans is not a bad way to say goodbye. By contrast, if the 30-year-old ends up staying, then what a message he has sent to the rest of the Premier League.
After watching his performance from the touchline, his new manager will be crossing his fingers and toes that Kane is still a Spurs player come September. With one game a week and a striker who can almost guarantee you 25-30 league goals, Postecoglou will have a great chance of making a fantastic start to his new position.
Kane got things up and running when he opened the scoring from the spot in the 38th minute after James Maddison was taken down inside the penalty area. Shakhtar equalised on the stroke of half-time through Kevin Kelsy but Spurs’ record goalscorer had his side ahead again when he nodded in from close range following Maddison’s cross early in the second half.
His third goal for the hat-trick was a brilliant bit of link-up play between himself, Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min.
Son picked up the ball and fizzed it into the path of Kulusevski who had drifted inside and was making a run toward the box.
Kulusevski carried the ball toward the box and Kane pointed to where he wanted the pass to be made.
The winger made no mistake, sliding it through the defender’s legs, into the path of Kane who buried it with a textbook finish into the bottom left-hand corner.
His fourth goal was much more routine, with the skipper on hand to turn in Manor Solomon’s shot, which was parried by goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov into his path.
As well as his four goals, the striker registered a successful passing accuracy of 85 per cent, made three key passes, one accurate cross and four accurate long balls from the five he attempted (Sofascore).
It was a performance that reminded everyone why he is arguably the best number nine in world football and might have increased his price by a couple of million, with the question now remaining, was that his last game in the colours of Lillywhite?
James Maddison
Another player who played particularly well and will be hoping it isn’t Kane’s last appearance in a Spurs shirt is Maddison. It was the summer signing’s best performance of his three so far and he displayed signs of being able to form a deadly partnership with Kane.
Since the departure of Christian Eriksen, Kane has been crying out for a creative playmaker to play behind him and now that he finally has one, it would be a real shame to see him leave.
Throughout his 77 minutes on the pitch, the midfielder was brilliant and showcased in front of his new fans exactly why the club paid £40million to bring him to North London from Leicester City.
He provided one assist while registering a successful passing accuracy of 90 per cent, with six of his passes made being key, created two big chances, won a penalty, was successful with four of his six dribble attempts and had a shot on target (Sofascore).
His assist was particularly impressive, as he managed to pick out Kane who had defenders all around him in the box, as shown in the image below.
The ball was weighted perfectly as it sailed just above the defender and right into the path of Kane.
It was a pinpoint cross and left little for his striker to do but simply nod it home past the goalkeeper.
Defensively he was also solid, as he made two tackles and won 10 of his 13 ground duels. It was an industrious as well as creative midfield performance and one that will leave supporters wanting more. It seems that Spurs finally have an exciting midfielder who can get fans off their seats and make the difference in the final third.
Destiny Udogie
Another player for Tottenham supporters to get excited about is youngster Udogie, who has now surely cemented his place as Postecoglou’s starting choice on the left side of the back-four.
It has been a couple of years since Tottenham have had a dependable left-back but it appears they could now finally have one in the form of the 20-year-old who was signed from Udinese two summers ago.
His performances were solid throughout the first two pre-season matches and the Italy Under-21 international arguably saved his best one for back at home.
He played the full match and made three interceptions as well as three tackles, won 100 per cent of his ground duels (six out of six), had a passing accuracy of 100 per cent (61 out of 61 passes completed), had a shot on target and was successful with both of his dribble attempts (Sofascore).
At such a young age the player clearly has a high ceiling and it will be fascinating to see how he adapts to life in England and develops under his new coach.
In other Tottenham News, John Wenham has described the signing of another youngster as a “phenomenal” bit of business.