There were no goals for Harry Kane and there were summer cobwebs to dispel as he returned to action but there was every reason to suspect he might relish Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham revolution.
Spurs were beaten 3-2 in Perth, Australia, punished for the high-risk nature of their approach by a West Ham side in ruthless mood, but new boss Postecoglou saw his team conjure chances galore and 30 efforts at goal.
Supporters will have been encouraged. Not least to see Kane lead out the team less than a week after reporting back for preseason training to play the first 45 minutes before making way for Richarlison.
And new signing Manor Solomon confirmed the players feel the same way, all hoping the England captain stays despite the swirl of speculation about his future and interest from Bayern Munich.
‘I am really excited to play with such a big player like Harry Kane,’ said Solomon, signed on a free transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk after a sparkling season on loan at Fulham.
Harry Kane captained Tottenham as they were beaten 3-2 by West Ham in pre-season
Spurs paid for defensive errors, but Ange Postecoglou will have been happy with a number of aspects of the team’s performance
Kane may now be tempted to stick around and be part of Postecoglou’s revolution rather than join Bayern Munich
‘It’s an honour for me. I want to help him and I want to learn from him. You see that he is a big character and everyone wants to follow him. He is really welcoming. He’s a big, big player and we hope to play with him.’
The first glimpse into Postecoglu’s plans was Solomon and Dejan Kulusevski flanking Kane with James Maddison, Yves Bissouma and Oliver Skipp, behind them in midfield.
There was a blur of movement going forward but clear vulnerabilities at the back as West Ham stormed into a 2-0 lead.
Kane created a couple of decent chances, which were unconverted and would have surely have loved to be on the end of one of the several squandered by Richarlison, who came on at half-time as Spurs made 11 changes.
West Ham’s veteran goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski made a series of fine saves.
‘They’re both quality strikers and if we keep creating those kind of chances I have no doubt that they will finish them,’ said Postecoglou. ‘For me the outcomes become secondary right now.
‘How we’re playing our football, what kind of tempo we’re playing at, our structures are much more important than the outcomes.
‘Obviously, there were some positive things, not all positive but certainly enough there to at least from my perspective say that the boys are willing, are trying to change the way we play.’
Lukasz Fabianski made a string of fine saves for West Ham to ensure they picked up a win
Postecoglou’s intentions were clear with a back-four that included both flying Spanish full backs Pedro Porro and Sergio Reguilon.
They were released to flood midfield and join the attack but the licence to thrill left them vulnerable to the counterattack against West Ham, lined up by David Moyes in an orthodox 442 formation and in good touch despite missing several senior players.
The opener scored by Danny Ings was a reminder of the defensive frailties of Porro, not closing down the cross, and Reguilon, defending tamely at the back post.
Divin Mubama headed in the second as Japhet Tanganga and Reguilon failed to pick him up at a corner.
Postecoglou took the blame for that. As he did for the risks taken in distribution from the back. ‘We haven’t done loads of work on those defensive areas and structures around set-pieces,’ said the Aussies. ‘I can’t expect the guys to take everything on board.
‘For the most part defensively the pressure was really good and we didn’t allow too many chances but we don’t want to be conceding goals from a small number of chances.’
Spurs looked more coherent in the second half, when goals by Giovanni Lo Celso and Destiny Udogie hauled them level before Gianluca Scamacca scored the winner.
These friendlies are glorified training sessions, intended for coaches to work on fitness and learn about their players and, at Tottenham, for the players to learn about the shape and rhythms expected by the new boss.
David Moyes was impressed by Tottenham’s performance in their first pre-season outing
Heung-min Son took no part as he is behind the others on his training schedule after an end-of-season operation. Nor did Tanguy Ndombele, who took a knock in training on the eve of the game.
Moyes, however, was impressed by his first look at the new Spurs and expects their new head coach to make them exciting to watch, and dangerous as long as they have Kane up front.
‘I’ve come across Ange a few times and what he did at Celtic was remarkable,’ said the West Ham boss. ‘How his teams play have a very good style. I think you saw bits of it tonight.
‘Tottenham are a very good side. They have an amazing centre forward, probably the best in the world. While you’ve got an amazing centre-forward, you’ve always got a chance of winning games. That’s before you even start talking about some of the others.’
