Lucas Bergvall injury update and five things spotted in Tottenham’s first day training in Tokyo
Tottenham Hotspur players were being put through their paces in Japan as their pre-season tour to Asia kicked off
Tottenham have kicked off their first day of training in Tokyo after landing in Japan for the first leg of their pre-season tour to Asia.
Spur touched down in the Japanese capital on Tuesday and after a first afternoon and evening spent trying to adjust to the very different time zone following their long flight from England, Ange Postecoglou and his players were straight out the following morning on to the training pitches in Tokyo.
Tottenham are preparing to face Vissel Kobe at the National Stadium in Tokyo on July 27 (11am UK time), following Saturday’s 2-0 win at QPR and 5-1 victory at Hearts last Wednesday. They also recorded a 7-2 scoreline against Cambridge United in a behind-closed doors friendly at Hotspur Way the previous weekend.
After their time in Japan comes to an end this weekend, Son Heung-min will lead his team over to his homeland South Korea to first take on Team K-League at the Seoul World Cup Stadium Then on July 31 (12pm UK time), Tottenham finish off their Asian tour with a game against Bayern Munich in Seoul on August 3 (12pm UK time), before returning to N17 to face Bayern again – this time with Harry Kane – at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on August 10.
Here are five things we noticed from Spurs’ first training session in Tokyo.
It’s hot
“It’s hot,” were the first words out of James Maddison mouth after he stepped on to the training pitches in Tokyo.
He wasn’t wrong either. For Spurs’ morning session it was roasting and temperatures were touching 36 degrees Celsius and the humidity was around 64%. In the early afternoon, the skies clouded over, the winds whipped up a fair bit and there were little spots of rain at times.
Back in England that would have been an unpleasant regular occurrence at the team’s Enfield training complex, but here in Tokyo it would have been a welcome relief from the searing heat.
Postecoglou working them hard
You might be forgiven for thinking that in those high temperatures, Postecoglou and his new bigger coaching staff might have gone easy on the players, especially on their first day amid the jet lag.
You’d be completely wrong of course. That’s not how pre-season works and the Australian’s system is all about high energy, relentless football and to get the fitness required for the performances the Spurs head coach wants, the players can’t afford to have light training days right now.
So it was straight back into double sessions after a day off on Tuesday thanks to their travelling. The players trained at Hotspur Way on Monday morning before their flight to Japan and then got the night off on Tuesday to recover after touching down in the Japanese capital.
With a bigger coaching staff this season with senior assistant coach Matt Wells, assistant coaches Ryan Mason, Mile Jedinak and newcomers Nick Montgomery, Sergio Raimundo, as well as goalkeeping coach Rob Burch, there was no place to hide for the players as the staff all took various parts of the sessions.
Lucas Bergvall returns
The sight of Lucas Bergvall lying on the floor 25 minutes into the win at Loftus Road on Saturday was a worrying sight for Tottenham fans who have had to deal with a lot of injuries as players adjust to the fast and frantic Postecoglou football, both in matches and training sessions.
Postecoglou’s first campaign at clubs always bring hamstring problems galore as the players and sports science staff adjust to the heavy load on the players that the fast football brings.
So when Bergvall had to come off in his first start as a Spurs player, following a sparkling display as he dictated Tottenham’s tempo in an all-action performance in the centre of the park, there was understandable cause for concern.
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