Tottenham Hotspur trained in front of a packed WACA crowd in Perth on Monday night, ahead of the Premier League club’s friendly pre-season clash with West Ham at Optus Stadium.
There was a buzz in the air as Ange Postecoglou and his Tottenham Hotspur squad arrived Down Under, with 6,500 fans who flocked to the WACA to watch the Premier League outfit train on Monday night treated to a taste of what’s to come in the first game of their pre-season and a new era under the Australian manager.
There were new signings playing in a new system, a rousing Postecoglou reception, a fear of injury to a returning midfielder and a familiar sight for Australian football fans all on show on Monday night – to go with a particular Spurs player who went above and beyond to send as many fans as he could home happy.
ULTIMATE GUIDE: Everything you need to know for Premier League teams in Perth
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ANGE’S ARRIVAL: Postecoglou called me out over one word in 2017 – it sums up his ‘best weapon’. Spurs fans will love it
AUS FOOTBALL VERDICT: David Moyes was asked about Aussie football. His answer was fascinating
Big Ange gets big reception
Ange Postecoglou fever turned up a notch in Perth on Monday night, as the Tottenham Hotspur head coach strolled out onto the turf of the WACA.
The Australian manager preparing for his very first game in charge of the North London club received a rapturous reception as the first man out to greet the fans.
He was the man of the hour – or perhaps the moment, because attention did shift somewhat as the players came milling out of the tunnel.
The crowd was brimming with enthusiastic young fans – and the majority of them had eyes for two players in particular: Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min.
You could hear the screams all night, many of fans who held signs asking for shirts, boots and signatures from the two star forwards.
They were the main attractions on a night when every fan in attendance hoped to get close to at least some of their heroes, but in truth, that right was saved only for some, while one Tottenham player went above and beyond to please the masses.
READ: What Moyes told Ange in Perth & his Premier League secret Aussie should heed
Ivan Perisic, take a bow
Ivan Perisic did not need to stay out as long as he did, or venture as far away from the rest of the Spurs squad as he did either – but the Croatian veteran did it anyway.
The open session had wrapped up, and the Spurs group signed autographs and took pictures with a select portion of the crowd. But the fans hanging over the hoardings at the WACA stretched far beyond the section that received the squad’s attention.
Perisic made sure he gave as many of the fans in the stands as he could a moment to remember, staying out far beyond the rest of the squad and jumping ropes to get to the fans who, due to his attention, were whipped into a frenzy.
Croatian international kits draped over the fence as he made his way along signing autographs; it was the section of the WACA crowd with the biggest population of fans – and the majority were unable to see their favourite players up close as the bulk of the signatures and photos were preserved for but a slice of the crowd.
Left-back Sergio Reguilon was another member of the Spurs squad who should be commended for his time spent greeting the fans and providing signatures away from the main group.
Jedinak’s still got it!
Postecoglou wasn’t the only Aussie to land in north London this off-season, with the new Spurs manager calling on his former Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak to fill an assistant coaching role in his Tottenham staff.
Jedinak took part in the Spurs open training session, working vigorously with defensive quartet Harvey White, Joe Rodon, Eric Dier and Djed Spence, who were practicing build-up play from the back with goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman.
The drill required the back four to transition from one side of defence to the other, with the full-back unleashed down one wing called on to cut back and find the feet of their nearest centre-back, who would swing the ball out to his central defensive partner, and so on.
Jedinak’s fellow assistant Matt Wells played the role of the pressing attacker in the drill, putting each pass under mild duress. Jedinak, meanwhile, slipped into the middle of the drill to aid the defenders in building out from the back, showing feet to collect from central defenders and help knit possession from one side of the drill to the other.
The 38-year-old retired in 2020, but clearly still possesses the touch and poise that made him a Premier League stalwart and Aussie legend.
A portion of the defensive group involved in Jedinak’s drill are on a different training schedule to the remainder of the group, hence their seclusion for this particular portion of the session.
Ndombele treatment a big scare as 11v11 lineup unleashes dream front four
When Tanguy Ndombele hit the deck, there was cause for concern. It’s last chance saloon for the central midfielder at Spurs, who has failed to live up to his hefty price tag since arriving as the club’s then-record signing in 2019, and a hefty knock during the open training session brought a number of trainers scurrying over to assess the health of the Frenchman.
He gingerly got to his feet and reintroduced himself into the session, and within moments played a pass through to Kane to whip a strike into the top-left corner.
Ndombele and Kane lined up in the same starting lineup as Spurs finished the night with an 11v11 match. Their team featured a front four Tottenham fans will be craving to see from the get-go on Tuesday night: James Maddison in behind Kane, with Son and Dejan Kulusevski on either wing.
The two teams lined up like this:
Guglielmo Vicario (GK), Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Japhet Tanganga, Sergio Reguilon; Yves Bissouma, James Maddison, Tanguy Ndombele; Dejan Kulusevski, Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min
Brandon Austin (GK), Emerson Royal, Davinson Sanchez, Ben Davies, Destiny Udogie; Oliver Skipp, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Alfie Devine; Manor Solomon, Richarlison, Ivan Perisic
The Premier League juggernaut rolls in
At the end of it all, you could sense that a percentage of the fans in attendance left feeling underwhelmed at the lack of access to the stars of the show.
It was a stark contrast to the open West Ham United training at Macedonia Park at the start of the Perth tour, with the Hammers squad members all allowing ample time at the conclusion of the session to make their way around to every corner of the venue to greet the fans.
It was the same for the sizeable press pack that, for a large portion of the training session, were confined to the opposite end of the oval-shaped pitch to where the main group were being put through their paces.
It was a sign of the perceived step up in importance of the new boys in town; access was at a premium for both the media and fans on a night that could have catered for far more of those that had hoped to get that little bit closer to it all.
