Today is July 1, which means it’s the first official day that Ange Postecoglou and his coaching staff are in charge of the first team at Tottenham Hotspur. Of course, it’s not like Ange hasn’t been working since the day his appointment was announced — he’s been consulted on every transfer move Spurs have made, and has apparently been seen in and around Hotspur Way a fair few times as he and his family move and get settled in North London.
But as of today, the work begins. And that starts with players who were not involved in international fixtures returning for preseason training. On social media, Spurs posted a quick video of players walking into the building, and it included a fair number of people we haven’t seen in a year.
In this video you can see (in order): Ryan Sessegnon, Fraser Forster, Bryan Gil, Alfie Whiteman, Tanguy Ndombele, Rodrigo Bentancur, Sergio Reguilon, Pedro Porro, Japhet Tanganga, Hugo Lloris, Djed Spence, Emerson Royal, and Yves Bissouma.
You can certainly view this video as a Rorschach test of your Spurs fandom and your preconceived notions of players. Bissouma, for example, was giving off some strong positive vibes in his first interaction with the cameraman. And why not — Yves is a player who quite possibly could benefit significantly from Postecoglou and his tactics over the next period.
Then there’s Tanguy. Dude’s got the drip for sure, but while I hesitate to go all Body Language Analysis™ on you he sure didn’t exude an aura of excitement to be returning to training at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
But this is unfair of me. There has been background reporting that states Big Ange wants to take a look at Tanguy and other players before making a final decision on whether or not he stays at the club, and anyway it’s raining and I’m sure Tanguy’s not thrilled about having to train in London weather.
That said, it’s safe to say that a number of the players you saw on this video won’t be playing for Spurs this season, either because they’re sold or shipped off on loan. I look at players like Lloris, Forster, Tanganga, Gil, Whiteman, Reguilon, and Tanganga and wonder about their future. It’s going to be very interesting to read the rumors and the stories about outgoing players after this first week or so of training.
Anyway, football’s back, everyone! Rejoice!
