Despite missing out on Champions League football for the forthcoming season there is plenty to be excited about for Tottenham Hotspur.
They showcased as much during their opening pre-season friendly with Hearts on Wednesday evening.
Fresh off a punditry stint with ITV and having been linked with the England vacancy, Ange Postecoglou will no doubt be beaming from ear to ear.
The Aussie provided a classic response when quizzed on those rumours. “I was having a nap this afternoon. I have no idea…”
Well, the performance his side delivered against their Scottish opposition in Edinburgh will have woken him up.
5-1 was the final score line, with a number of Spurs’ fine young talent starring on a rare first-team appearance.
GK
Brandon Austin
Alfie Whiteman
RB
Pedro Porro
Djed Spence
CB
Archie Gray
Ashley Phillips
CB
Oliver Skipp
Emerson Royal
LB
Jamie Donley
Max Robson
CM
Yves Bissouma
Tyrese Hall
CM
James Maddison
Lucas Bergvall
CAM
Dejan Kulusevski
Alfie Devine
RM
Brennan Johnson
Mikey Moore
LM
Manor Solomon
Timo Werner
ST
Heung-min Son
Will Lankshear
How Spurs beat Hearts
There will no doubt be sterner tests for Postecoglou’s side between now and the start of the season but it was a phenomenal start as supporters got a glimpse of their stars of tomorrow.
There was a Spurs debut for Archie Gray, signed from Leeds a few weeks ago and for Lucas Bergvall, the young Swede who is being talked about as one of the best teenage midfielders around.
So, who got the goals and who played well?
Brennan Johnson got things underway in the 39th minute but it didn’t take long for Lawrence Shankland to equalise for Hearts.
The second half was a considerably improved display though as the Lilywhites romped to victory courtesy of some particularly impressive displays from their young crop.
Teenage forwards Will Lankshear and Mikey Moore gave the Londoners a two-goal advantage before defenders Djed Spence and Ashley Phillips got on the scoresheet.
Spence looked in particularly fine fettle having returned from a loan spell in France, earning an 8/10 match rating from Football.London’s Alasdair Gold who hailed his “bright energetic return to the team”.
There will no doubt be a clamour for Spence to earn more minutes now in pre-season, but he wasn’t the main talking point.
Spurs given a glimpse of their own Yamal
Has a name ever captured the imagination at a major tournament quite like Lamine Yamal?
As Spain won Euro 2024, the teenage talent looked a class apart, despite being just 16 years of age for the vast majority of the competition.
It was a remarkable four weeks for the Barcelona sensation who took home the Young Player of the Tournament award after scoring once – a beauty against France – and collecting a haul of four assists, more than any other player in Germany.
Why is he relevant here? Well, in one of Tottenham’s goal scorers, supporters may have just caught a glimpse of their own Yamal.
That happens to be a certain Moore, another 16-year-old who has been causing quite the stir, for all the right reasons, over recent months.
Said to be the natural heir to Harry Kane, the teenage attacker currently lacks the first-team experience Yamal does but the Spaniard is a remarkably unique example. Let’s be honest, no player should have one cap for your country at that age, let alone 14 caps.
Moore certainly won’t be in the England side anytime soon but his record is rather incredible.
The forward – who can play out wide or as the focal point of the attack – scored 16 goals in 16 official youth games last term, form that has already seen him rewarded with two appearances from the bench in the Premier League.
He took his goal superbly well against Hearts on Wednesday, driving into the box and finishing like a seasoned striker.
Like Yamal, Moore isn’t any normal teenager. As scout Jacek Kulig labelled him, he is a “special talent”, one who is defying the odds by making an impact among senior pros at such a young age.
Can he score goals on a regular basis at a higher level? We’ll soon see.
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