Telling Lankshear moment, Bergvall and Gray excel – Five things spotted in Hearts vs Tottenham
Here are five things we spotted in Tottenham’s 5-1 win against Hearts in their first pre-season friendly ahead of the 2024/25 season
came into the team but there was to be no start for Lucas Bergvall who took his place on the bench. It was Hearts who had the better openings early on as Kyosuke Tagawa wasted some good chances on goal and Brandon Austin was needed to produce a fine reflex save to deny Yutaro Oda from point-blank range.
However, it was Spurs who took the lead in the 39th minute as Dejan kulusevski and Madison teamed up superbly to tee up Brennan Johnson to convert from a matter of yards out. The visitors wouldn’t be ahead for too long as Lawrence Shankland restored parity one minute after the restart following some poor play at the back from Tottenham.
The setback didn’t hold Spurs back, though, as Will Lankshear marked his first-team bow with a goal before Mikey Moore gave the team a two-goal cushion on 66 minutes after linking up well with Bergvall. That wouldn’t be the end of the scoring as fellow second-half substitute Djed Spence got a goal to his name after converting Timo Werner’s low cross at the back post and then Ashley Phillips added a fifth with time running out.
Very much a worthwhile exercise for Postecoglou and his team, here are five things football.london spotted in the match at Tynecastle Park.
Gray’s impressive bow
New signing Gray was handed his first start in a Tottenham shirt against Hearts. A midfielder by trade but having plenty of experience of operating at right back in Daniel farke’s Leeds team, the 18-year-old played in an entirely different role against the Scottish side.
Due to a lack of available centre-backs, Gray operated at the heart of defence alongside fellow midfielder Oliver Skipp. Postecoglou did have Phillips as part of his squad but he elected against starting the 2023 summer signing.
Maybe not Gray’s position of choice, he did look rather comfortable there and produced some good tackles as well as utilising the ball well when in possession. There was a slight mix up with goalkeeper Austin inside the first 15 minutes as he controlled the ball rather than leaving it for the goalkeeper, thus seeing the shot-stopper pass the ball out for a corner after receiving possession on his line from the new man.
That, however, was a rare blip in what was an otherwise extremely promising showing. One moment midway through the first half demonstrated that Tottenham do appear to have an outstanding player on their hands as Gray was extremely calm and composed on the ball when facing a number of Hearts players as they looked to attack after dispossessing Yves Bissouma.
The summer addition was not fazed by the danger facing him as he advanced with the ball and turned before calmly playing the ball back to Skipp when other players may have panicked.
Missing players
Already missing a host of players due to their involvement in this summer’s international tournaments, Postecoglou also had to make do without some of the other members of his first-team squad in Edinburgh. Destiny Udogie, as expected, was not available for selection as he works his way back to fitness after undergoing surgery to his left quadriceps towards the end of last season.
Question marks also persisted over Richarlison heading into the game after his absence through ingury in the final few games of last term. The Brazilian was also not part of the matchday squad at Tynecastle Park on Wednesday evening.
Sergio Reguilon, Bryan, Fraser Forster, Pape matar sarr and Ben Davies were also absent for the Hearts fixture as Postecoglou named a rather youthful squad against the Scottish Premiership side. Foster, Udogie, Davies and Richarlison certainly don’t appear to be at the required fitness levels just yet following the injuries they suffered in the second half of last campaign.
Spurs are rather short on left-backs at present with Udogie and Davies not included in the squad for the trip to Edinburgh. Rather than start with Emerson Royal at left-back as was the case at times last season, Postecoglou opted for Jamie Donley in the position instead.
The academy ace did in fact play in the role last weekend in the behind closed doors game against Cambridge United. Given a go in the position once again by the head coach, Donley looked right at home down the left flank and teamed up well with Manor Solomon.
The role did appear to suit the Spurs youngster as it allowed him to come inside and operate in central areas at times. Donley may have had an assist to his name on another day later in the first half as he sent in a delicious delivery from the right side from a short corner that Solomon unfortunately couldn’t finish off.
Telling Lankshear moment
Some Tottenham fans have been calling to see Lankshear in action for quite some time after his incredible record for the club’s Under-21s. Spotted boarding the flight to Edinburgh on Wednesday afternoon with the rest of the squad, a first-team bow at Tynecastle always looked likely with Postecoglou always going to ring the changes.
Introduced at the beginning of the second half as the Spurs boss changed his full XI, it didn’t take long at all for the highly-rated strike to take his opportunity as he put the visitors back in front on 55 mini. The goal all came from a brilliant run and pass from fellow substitute Spence, with Lankshear then finding the bottom corner of Zander Clark’s goal confidently from inside the box.
It was a brilliant moment for the youngster as he kissed the Tottenham badge and celebrated in front of the travelling faithful. Looking the part in his short amount of minutes and demonstrating his strength in the box, it was perhaps rather telling that he was brought on before Dane Scarlett and Alejo Veliz who are ahead of him in the pecking order.
He may in fact leapfrog the duo in the pecking order over the course of the summer if he continues to net on a regular basis in pre-season if given the chance by his head coach. Lankshear would only be on the pitch for 22 minutes but it was all he needed to make a huge impression.
Bergvall makes his mark
The long wait to see Bergvall take to the pitch in a Tottenham shirt is finally over. Named on the bench at Tynecastle Park but introduced at the start of the second half, the Swede had an impact on proceedings and duly got an assist to his name after teeing up Moore.
Perhaps a tad nervous in the opening moments of his Spurs bow, the Swede soon settled into the game and influenced play going forward. Lining up in a midfield three containing Tyrese Hall and Alfie Devine, the youngster wanted to make things happen for the team and attempted an effort from distance after linking up with Werner but it was rather tame and drifted wide of the target.
Seeing plenty of ball in the middle of the park, Bergvall did extremely well to set Moore free in the final third after managing to win the ball on the slide and slip in his teammate. His biggest contribution was to come just after the hour mark as he again linked up with the 16-year-old.
Receiving the ball in midfield, the new arrival took a touch of the ball and slipped Moore through with the outside of his right boot. His teammate duly cut into the area and arrowed the ball into the bottom corner.
Bergvall was to have a say in Spurs’ fifth goal of the evening as he swung in a sublime ball from the right that Scarlett headed straight at Clark, with Phillips then on hand to poke the ball in at the back post. It wasn’t a bad debut at all for the Swedish star.
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