Among the 11 pre-season friendlies taking place on Saturday was Tottenham Hotspur’s trip to third-tier Reading.
The match at the Select Car Leasing Stadium (bring back Elm Park!) was Thomas Frank’s first game in charge of Spurs.
And there were new faces on show for the Lilywhites, including big-money signing Mohammed Kudus.
Here’s what we saw in Berkshire.
READING 0-2 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
- Goals: Lankshear, Vuskovic
- Assists: Vuskovic, Kudus
KUDUS DEBUT
Anyone who saw Kudus going through the motions at West Ham United last season would have no doubt been wondering what on earth possessed Spurs to shell out north of £50m on the Ghana international.
But Saturday’s display at Reading was a reminder of why he was sought-after.
Boy, he was good – even if it was just against a League One side.
Introduced at half-time and used on the right flank, he was a big upgrade on Brennan Johnson, who floundered there in the first half.
Pacy, fleet-footed and strong on the ball, the highlight of his 45-minute showing was a superb bit of trickery on the wing (even if the ball may have gone out…) to set up Jamie Donley for a chance in the 78th minute.
Another one of his match-high four chances created was an assist for young centre-half Luka Vuskovic.
He was on set plays, too, with his corners on point. One of his deliveries was nodded on by Vuskovic for Will Lankshear to head in.
An encouraging debut.
“He was exciting to watch. He had four, five very good actions where you could see what he’s about. His pace, one-on-one skills, the way he can twist and turn going forward. That was a positive.” – Thomas Frank on Mohammed Kudus
UDOGIE + PORRO POSITIONING
Arguably the most eye-catching aspect of Frank’s first match at the helm was his use of full-backs.
Pedro Porro has been the go-to Spurs defender in FPL in recent seasons, thanks to his attacking threat.
But on Saturday, it was Destiny Udogie who was afforded more attacking license.
While the formation was 4-2-3-1 on paper, the 3-2-5 build-up was common throughout the first half.
It was Udogie who was pushed high and wide up the field, however, not Porro. The Spaniard instead hung back more, trying to break the Reading defence with balls from deep.
Above: Spurs’ first-half set-up against Reading, via Sofascore. 31 = Kinsky. 13 = Udogie. 4 = Danso. 17 = Romero. 23 = Porro. 30 = Bentancur. 29 = Sarr. 47 = Moore. 45 = Devine. 22 = Johnson. 19 = Solanke.
But before we get too carried away, maybe this was just horses-for-courses. In the second half, the roles were reversed: Ben Davies hanging back at left-back, Djed Spence advancing more from the right. Perhaps if Porro is playing behind the drifting Kudus, he’ll be asked to get forward more.
Porro did retain set-piece duties in the first half, at least. And, with defensive contribution points brought in, who is to say that a centre-half stationing wouldn’t benefit him either…
ABSENCES EXPLAINED
There were some rusty performances elsewhere, Johnson aside. Dominic Solanke and Son Heung-min delivered two of them, the former skying over in the first half.
As for absences, Archie Gray, Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert were late back from the European U21 Championships and not involved. Richarlison should be back next week, meanwhile, James Maddison is training partly.
Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Dragusin look set to miss the start of 2025/26, however.
Tottenham Hotspur XI: Kinsky (Vicario 46), Porro (Spence 46), Romero (Vuskovic 46), Danso (Van de Ven 46), Udogie (Davies 46), Bentancur (Bissouma 46), Sarr (Bergvall 46), Devine (Donley 46), Johnson (Kudus 46), Solanke (Lankshear 46), Moore (Son 46).
