Opinion: Three winners and one loser from Tottenham’s mid-season friendlies

Due to the unusual mid-season break for a World Cup, football clubs from around Europe have been playing in friendlies and participating in training camps abroad.

Tottenham decided against this and stayed in North London, training with their usual surroundings.

Antonio Conte’s depleted squad, consisting of a mix of youth and old, played three friendlies, against Motherwell, Peterborough’s u21s, and Nice. Here we look at three winners and a loser from the mid-season break.

Winner – Matt Doherty

With four goals in three games, there was no way he could not make this list as a winner. Doherty showed his versatility, playing left wing-back most of the time, even featuring in the back three for a short period. He will be very disappointed if he is not starting against Brentford on Boxing Day, either on the left or in his preferred right-wing-back role

Winner – Harvey White

With both Harry Kane and Richarlison involved in the World Cup, Tottenham did not have a recognised striker to play in their friendlies. Perhaps surprisingly, Harvey White was the player chosen by Conte to fill in that role. Despite his only goal being against Peterborough’s u21s, White linked up with Dejan Kulusevski and Bryan Gil fantastically, especially in his first game. With an FA Cup home game against League One Portsmouth coming up, along with the busy schedule, White may fancy his chances of getting good minutes.

Winner – Dejan Kulusevski

Although many players played well during the mid-season break, Kulusevski still looked a class above the rest. Kulusevski got himself a goal and two fantastic assists in the opening game, perfectly setting up Gil and playing in the perfect corner onto Doherty’s head. He also cut open the Nice defence setting up Doherty for another goal. After missing a chunk of the season with injury, Kulusevski may just provide what Spurs have missed in some games this season.

Loser – Oliver Skipp

With Rodrigo Bentancur, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, and Pape Matar Sarr all away with their countries at the World Cup, it was Skipp’s chance to get game time and impress the boss. His first two performances were nothing outstanding, and, due to no fault of his own, he did not feature in the last game due to a fever. Yves Bissouma played in all three games and looked more comfortable and threatening than Skipp. With Bentancur suspended for the trip to Brentford, Skipp would have liked to impress more than he did, to try and get a start.

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