Tottenham Hotspur were in pre-season friendly action on Saturday evening but much of the Spurs chatter concerned a player who wasn’t involved.
Dominic Solanke (£7.5m) officially signed for the Lilywhites on the same day as his new club’s defeat to Bayern Munich, with Ange Postecoglou’s post-match press conference dominated by talk of the striker.
In this Scout Notes article, we’ll cover the key quotes from Postecoglou on his £65m forward.
And we’ll bring you the other main Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The friendlies involving Everton and Leicester City are also summarised.
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TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 2-3 BAYERN MUNICH
- Goals: Kulusevski x2
- Assist: Bergvall
In relation to the title of this article, Postecoglou doesn’t see any reason why Solanke “wouldn’t be available” in Gameweek 1.
The ex-Bournemouth talisman has, unlike, some of the late returnees from international duty, already had a full pre-season of training. He’s been involved in two friendlies for the Cherries, too.
Postecoglou was specifically asked about Solanke starting against Leicester City – and he responded positively.
“Yeah, I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t be. He’s played most of the pre-season. Slight knock in the last game Bournemouth played, but, of course, we’ll have a look at him during the week. But I think that considering he’s done most of pre-season, I see no reason why he wouldn’t be available.” – Ange Postecoglou on whether Dominic Solanke will be ready to start against Leicester City
There was plenty more from Postecoglou on the Spurs new boy’s attributes.
“We identified him because he has the attributes we are looking for in terms of that position. He gives us some things we probably have been missing in the last 12 months, particularly when Richy was out last year. When Richy played he was very effective for us but it was quite evident when he was out we didn’t really have a player who can make the impact that I know Dom can in the final third and just with his general play. So I think he will be a good fit for us.” – Ange Postecoglou on Dominic Solanke
With Richarlison (£7.0m) spending this summer on the sidelines, Dejan Kulusevski (£6.5m) has been leading the line for a lot of pre-season.
And he duly delivered a brace against Bayern on Saturday. The first came after just 25 seconds when Brennan Johnson‘s (£6.5m) cross fortuitously ricocheted into his path. The second, after the interval, was a coolly taken finish from Lucas Bergvall‘s (£4.5m) pass.
So, will Solanke face a fight to displace Kulusevski from the centre-forward role?
It doesn’t sound like it.
“No, I don’t think [we’ll use Kulusevski there again]. The good thing about Deki is that he can play attacking midfield and out wide. I think the reason why we signed Dom, and hopefully Richy should be ready as well, is that we want to have a player through that area who is a bit more accustomed to that role.
“Deki has done a great job for us but I think his strengths and attributes are more in that attacking midfield or wide role. I think he is really developing and has had a really strong pre-season for us and hopefully, it gives us some more flexibility and potency through the midfield when he is playing because he can get into those scoring areas.” – Ange Postecoglou
With Kulusevski likely to be accommodated elsewhere, could Johnson’s place be at risk? The Swede started the second half on the right, with Johnson hooked at half-time. He had been quiet before then.
So too, yet again, was James Maddison (£7.5m). When was the last time you saw his name in an FPL draft?
Postecoglou mentioned above that Richarlison – who is now back in training – “should be ready” come the big kick-off.
And there was a further boost on Saturday with Micky van de Ven (£4.5m), Cristian Romero (£5.0m) and Rodrigo Bentancur (£5.0m) getting their first minutes since returning from international duty. Destiny Udogie (£5.0m) was involved, too, after recovering from injury.
All of them were only handed 45 minutes but their manager again sounded confident of Gameweek 1 involvement.
“Destiny has already been training a bit longer than that. We’ve kind of protected him from games, but only because he’d been out for a while but he has been training, a little bit longer than the other guys [who have just returned]. But, yeah, look, the guys who came back this week from international duty, it’s a matter of trying to get them up to speed.
“They’ve all come back in good condition, which helps, but I think getting them 45 minutes today, against a really good opponent, I think they’ll feel better about that and we’ll use the next week, those 10 days, to gauge how ready they are. But again, I see no reason if they get through our training week that they wouldn’t be ready.” – Ange Postecoglou
Given the patched-up nature of the defence in the first half, there was mitigation for Bayern’s 3-1 lead at the break. The Bundesliga giants battered their hosts, in truth, missing other chances besides. Unsurprisingly, with Romero and co introduced at the interval, things settled down.
A feeble Leicester attack will be a different proposition to facing Bayern, too.
Tottenham Hotspur XI: Vicario, Porro (Gray 46), Dragusin (Romero 46), Davies (van de Ven 46), Spence (Udogie 46), Sarr (Skipp 46), Bissouma (Bentancur 46), Maddison (Bergvall 46), Kulusevski (Moore 66), Son (Lankshear 80), Johnson (Werner 46).
EVERTON 1-1 ROMA
- Goals: Calvert-Lewin
- Assist: McNeil
Sean Dyche may have thought he’d had his Gameweek 1 side picked but he may have to rethink one or two spots this week.
The side he sent out against Roma had opening-day XI written all over it. No surprise, either, that Dyche had gone with most of the old guard rather than new boys like Iliman Ndiaye (£5.5m) and Jesper Lindstrom (£5.5m). The Everton boss does tend to favour his trusted lieutenants.
Where there is fresh blood, in the form of Jake O’Brien (£5.0m) and Tim Iroegbunam (£4.5m), it is partly down to injury. Jarrad Branthwaite (£5.0m) still hasn’t featured in pre-season, while James Garner (£5.0m) is sidelined in midfield.
There wasn’t much of an update on either after full-time.
“Some of the other players, we’ll just have to wait on, manage wisely and get back as quick as we can.” – Sean Dyche
Dyche has a fresh concern from Saturday’s draw with Roma, too. Seamus Coleman (£4.5m) lasted just half an hour before coming off with a calf injury, so Ashley Young (£4.5m) will be on standby to start next weekend.
“Unfortunately, it looks like he’s nicked his calf. We’re not sure at the moment how serious that is, but I don’t think it’s too serious – the way he came off – but we’ll just have to hope for the best.” – Sean Dyche on Seamus Coleman
As well as a possible enforced change at right-back, Dyche may be tempted to unleash Ndiaye from the start.
Where Lindstrom had a limited impact (set pieces seem to be his forte), Ndiaye’s cameo was excellent. His dribbling was impressive, while one pirouette and shot was tipped wide.
Where to play him is the question. Here he was used on the left flank, with Lindstrom on the opposite wing and Jack Harrison (£5.5m) shifted into the ’10’ role. As a Fantasy asset, you obviously don’t want your forward out wide.
Just as eye-catching, and arguably Everton’s star of pre-season, was Iroegbunam. He’s now most definitely in the leading £4.5m midfielder conversation.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) finally scored from open play, taking his goal well. That cancelled out Roma’s opener, with Everton undone by a long ball over the top.
Everton XI: Pickford, Mykolenko, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Coleman (Young 32), McNeil (Lindstrøm 62), Gueye, Iroegbunam (Armstrong 80), Doucoure (Ndiaye 62), Harrison, Calvert-Lewin (Beto 80).
LENS 3-0 LEICESTER CITY
Pre-season is often a time of hope for football fans before the disappointment sets in. Positivity is in very short supply at Leicester, however.
They failed to score for the third successive friendly here, succumbing to three second-half goals in 10 minutes.
They were already without the injured Jamie Vardy (£5.5m), who hasn’t featured since mid-July. And against Lens, they lost Patson Daka (£5.0m) after just half an hour.
Steve Cooper provided a small update on both strikers after full-time – not that we believe much of what he says after his past truth-bending team news.
“We’ll see how Patson is. He’s in a boot at the moment. Conor [Coady] is going to be out for at least a month.
“Vards is still rehab-ing. He’s not back yet with the team and I think it will be a little while until that is the case. So we’re planning without those guys at the moment.” – Steve Cooper
The Foxes now only have £4.5m forward Tom Cannon as a senior striking option.
In a blow to Cannon, however, Cooper instead decided to bring midfielder Stephy Mavididi (£5.5m) on up front when Daka was crocked.
Creativity was in short supply, and it was just as bad at the other end.
Lens should have been in front before the interval, peppering the Leicester goal. They hit the bar after their three-goal salvo, too, registering 17 shots to the Foxes’ two. Spurs could have a field day on this evidence.
Cooper did not sound like a happy camper after the game.
“We know where we are with the level of the team in certain positions and we’re desperate to strengthen. The players are crying out for some fresh blood as well.” – Steve Cooper
Leicester City XI: Hermansen, Justin, Faes (Vestergaard 67), Okoli, Kristiansen (Ricardo 67), Fatawu (Cannon 67), Winks, De Cordova-Reid (McAteer 67), Ndidi (Soumare 80), Choudhury (Alves 80), Daka (Mavididi 37).
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