Tottenham Hotspur showed there was more work to do on the pre-season training ground for Thomas Frank as a strong but incomplete Spurs side were second best against League One Luton in their goalless draw.
This was the latter of two friendlies played on Saturday – with another Spurs XI drawing 2-2 with Wycombe at the training ground in the morning.
This Spurs side, which included new £55m summer signing Mohammed Kudus plus regulars Micky van de Ven, Brennan Johnson, Mathys Tel, Yves Bissouma and Guglielmo Vicario, struggled against the sharper and fitter Luton outfit, who begin their League One season on Friday.
Mathys Tel started in a fluid front line
Spurs only had two shots in the entire match – a forgettable Kudus effort that was blocked before Johnson’s close-range effort was well kept out by Josh Keeley, who moved to Luton from the Premier League club last week.
And Luton had the better chances as Vicario had to keep out Millenic Alli’s effort from a tight angle, with Shandon Baptiste heading a good chance over from the resulting corner.
Substitute goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who came on at half-time for the Italian, kept out two goalbound efforts from Alli and Nakhi Wells in the second period, as Spurs struggled to keep up with the play and fashion chances themselves.
With just over ten minutes to go, Frank took off his senior stars for a raft of youngsters, with substitute Will Lankshear putting a good effort wide as the clock ticked into 90. But Frank will not have learned much from these senior stars on the basis of this performance.
Thomas Frank will not have been impressed with the attacking quality of his team
Analysis: More questions than answers with these Spurs players
Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz at Kenilworth Road:
Context is probably needed before too much judgement is made on this result. A lot of these Spurs players were playing their first 60 minutes of the season, with Luton further along in their preparations ahead of their League One opener on Friday night against AFC Wimbledon.
But Thomas Frank won’t have been happy with the number of attacking opportunities his side fashioned in a game they should be winning based on quality alone, even though the Hatters were always going to be a bit sharper to the ball.
There were a few mitigating factors. Destiny Udogie came off in the warm-up which wouldn’t have helped alongside Dominic Solanke’s minor ankle problem which ruled him out of this game. But £55m signing Mohammed Kudus showed extremely little on his first Spurs start, while the likes of Mathys Tel and Brennan Johnson did not add much more.
There were a few interesting tactical aspects from Frank based on his instructions from the sidelines. His constant shouting of “play” as his side had the ball in the defensive third showed a distance from his direct Brentford days.
The shape was interesting too, with Jamie Donley – who started at left-back in place of the injured Udogie – inverted into the midfield but also front three at times, showing Frank may have some interesting ideas for Spurs’ full-backs.
There was also a fluid front four – with it shifting from a 4-3-3 formation out of possession into a 4-2-4, with Tel and Mikey Moore becoming split centre forwards when flanked by Johnson and Kudus.
But despite the interesting tweaks, and this not being a complete Spurs squad, there are more questions than answers when it comes to the Spurs players who turned out at Kenilworth Road.
Another Spurs XI draw to League One Wycombe
Earlier on Saturday, a separate Tottenham XI – which included first-team players such as Pedro Porro and Heung-Min Son – drew to another League One team in Wycombe.
Pape Sarr gave Spurs the lead but a double from Wycombe’s Junior Quitirina either side of half-time put the third tier side ahead.
Sarr grabbed a second to avoid a defeat for Spurs. There was also a late withdrawal for Rodrigo Bentancur, who picked up an illness before kick-off and was replaced in the team by George Abbott.
Spurs XI: Austin; Porro, Romero, Vuskovic, Davies; Abbott, Bergvall, Sarr; Odobert, Richarlson, Son
Subs: Bloedorn, Ashcroft, Casanova, Arganese-McDermott, Akhamrich, Tyrese-Hall, Williams-Barnett, Irow Lehane, Thompson, Olusesi
