Tottenham's pre-season tour of South Korea is brought to you in association with Nord VPN, sponsors of football.london's coverage.
A very different atmosphere
This was a very different kind of friendly and that's because the 64,100 people in the crowd in Seoul ensured it was never going to be a quiet affair.
The South Korean fans are as passionate a set of supporters as you'll come across and the most striking thing about the way they watch a game is their appreciation of every little moment, however small a UK fan might think it is.
The Seoul World Cup Stadium announcers played their part in the whole process, often saying the names of players after they have completed a task, be it a shot, save or sometimes even just a basic piece of play. For instance, Pierre-Emile Hojberg went into one slide tackle and put the ball out of play in the second half. Suddenly his name was said out of the tannoy system and the entire crowd applauded. It was all about respecting what the players were doing, a far cry from the way football is watched in most other parts of the world.
READ MORE: Every word Antonio Conte said on Bissouma and Forster Covid tests, Richarlison and Son decision
The natural knock-on effect of having roars of appreciation around the ground for dribbles, tackles and good passing was that it did push the players on to increase their intensity. With the Team K-League players all looking to give a good account of themselves and being fitter and sharper as they are mid-season, it resulted in plenty of energy being injected into the game and ultimately nine goals.
It also brought some feisty tackles, many of them seemingly delivered by Davinson Sanchez, who had a strange night at the office. He looked too pumped up, lunging into challenges that could have brought yellow cards on each occasion and in the first half he started to shove one K-League attacker after what he felt was a dive. The replays showed it probably should have been a penalty for the home side. He also gave away the free-kick that led to the hosts' third goal.
A hyped up Sanchez aside, it was a good workout for Antonio Conte's side and most of the senior stars got their 45 minutes and some more. The Spurs boss himself was also the focus of the fans' attentions.
He was shown in the dugout on the big screens on one occasion and the crowd roared. He was unaware on that occasion of what the fuss was about, but the second time it happened after looking around and noticing the screens, he waved, which sent the crowd into a frenzy.
It summed up the night. Enjoyable, a good fitness exercise, not too much that could be read into the actual play other than a few positives but ultimately it was the first step on the way to the Premier League's opening weekend.
"I think it was a good game and to play in front of 64,000 people is very exciting for the players," said Conte. "Then to find this atmosphere was great and for this reason I think also the players tried to push themselves even though we've just started pre-season for many players only three days of training session. Other players have started since 10 days ago.
"It was a good game. I have seen positive things. Other situations that we can improve but we have just started this season. Now the most important thing to try to bring all the players to be fit for the first game, because in three weeks we have to start the Premier League and for now my first target is to bring all the players to be fit and to be ready to start the league but I repeat I'm satisfied with the game. We enjoyed the atmosphere and we take positives from the situations."
He added: "It was a friendly game but the mentality of my players has to be to play every game and get the win. The first half was a good intensity. I didn't ask for a high intensity from my players because I repeat in this period it is very difficult for players, especially those who have just started to have training sessions after one month of rest.
"For this reason we must try to manage very well the training sessions, especially the physical aspect and then to give minutes and time during the game. I'm satisfied with the commitment, the attitude, the intensity that the players put but honestly I didn't ask anything today. I asked them to play with the right mentality, to enjoy the game, to enjoy the atmosphere, to respect the people, to play in front of 64,000 people.
"You have to give respect for this reason, to put commitment and to score six goals was positive, to concede three goals is the negative aspect that for sure we have to improve."
Richarlison promise
Tottenham's £60m man got his first run out in the club's colours and on the whole Richarlison showed plenty of promise as the big extra option he's going to bring to Conte's attack.
The 25-year-old fulfilled almost every attacking role on the evening and was involved in a lot of the good things Tottenham did, even if he could not quite find the finishing touch himself.
Richarlison began the game in a central striker role, with Lucas Moura and Bryan Gil either side of him. He brought plenty of energy to the position, held the ball up well and liked to push on and dribble during a match that brought 76 minutes for the newcomer's legs.
Tottenham will continue to monitor opportunities to sign a striker but Richarlison showed that he's a good option for the role.
One first half run into the Team K-League box took him past a couple of players and the goalkeeper and it was only a loose last touch that prevented him from finishing off what would have been a lovely first goal for the club. In the end the ball rolled to his compatriot Emerson Royal, who somehow sent his shot wide from six yards out on the slide.
In the second half, Richarlison became the support man, spending moments on both the right and left of the pitch as well as in a role just behind Kane, to show off the full range of his versatility.
Richarlison is essentially the Steven Bergwijn replacement, who Conte also saw as a striker when required but the new man brings more to the role with his size and ability to play as a more natural focal point for the team's attacks.
The Italian likes a big, physical team and it's no coincidence that his replacements since joining seem to be with bigger, stronger players. Richarlison replacing Bergwijn, Kulusevski taking Bryan Gil's position, Ivan Perisic in for Sergio Reguilon, Yves Bissouma for Harry Winks and so on.
Richarlison will fit in well at Tottenham with his hunger to impress and win as well as his personality. The Brazilian has quickly become a popular player within the squad in only a week at the club and most players use the same words when describing him - 'a character'. It was similar at Everton where he was loved in the dressing room and with the fans after declaring he would save the team from relegation and doing just that with his goals in the run-in.
Conte is clearly already taken with his new man and lauded him after the game.
"Today I've seen a lot of positive things about Richy. The first half he played like a number nine and the second half he played on the right, behind the striker. I think he can play in all these three positions," he said.
"I think he is strong physically and a good personality, good character, good quality. For sure also for Richy in this period he is working and we are working on the tactical aspects with him because he has to go into our idea. At the same time we have to work on the physical aspects for him to be fit. But for sure he is a player that gives me important positions up front.
"He's a player that is a good player, strong and very good to protect the ball and attack the space. Also he made a good assist [for the attack that led to the red card], I'm very happy that we signed him."
Gil, Sarr and the youngsters
It was a night for some of the younger Tottenham players to come in and grab Conte's attention whenever they could.
Bryan Gil had been sent packing back to Spain within six months of joining with the Italian's criticism of his signing no doubt ringing in his ears and he has looked eager to impress in pre-season. The 21-year-old is one of the fittest players in the squad, among those leading the way in the dreaded 42 pitch-long runs to end the gruelling training sessions.
He was one of Spurs' brighter players in the first half on Wednesday evening, showing good technique and movement and it was his one-two with Eric Dier that led to the defender's left-footed rocket into the top left corner of the net.
Unless a big permanent offer comes in for Gil, with four years remaining on his contract, he is likely to head out on loan this summer if he cannot somehow change Conte's mind about him in the coming weeks with his performances. Richarlison's arrival does his cause no good at all though.
Pape Matar Sarr finally got to take to the pitch as a Spurs player, a year after signing for the club and heading back on loan to Metz for the season.
The 19-year-old has also proved to be one of the fittest players in the squad so far this pre-season, another leading light in the pitch-long runs and he brought plenty of energy to the pitch alongside Hojbjerg in the second half.
The Senegal international has the frame to be a powerful player but the teenager just needs to naturally bulk up in the months and years ahead in order to handle the physicality of the Premier League.
It will be interesting to see what Conte does with Sarr this season. His versatility in being able to play in most midfield positions means he could be a very handy squad player during this campaign across the competitions and he does need to adapt to the country and culture, with his English language skills still in the basic category.
However, with the large overspill of foreign players, he might find himself off the list for the Champions League squad. Conte will have to juggle whether a stay without European football is more helpful to either the team or the player than a loan with which he could play week in, week out.
Academy product Brandon Austin made his debut in goal in the first half, making one save and getting beaten by Gue Sung Cho's well-executed looping header.
Oliver Skipp was back in the midfield for the first time since January following his pelvic injury and the 21-year-old brought his usual industrious play in the first half. Ryan Sessegnon, 22, enjoyed a few good forays down the left-hand side in the opening 45 minutes and he will be looking to impress Conte as much as possible before Perisic is fit enough to take part.
Then there was the young quartet coming off the bench in the final 15 minutes of the match. Harvey White worked hard down the left-hand side, the midfielder showing his ability once again to also play as a left wing-back. Troy Parrott showed some nice touches and curled one shot at goal that was well saved while young defenders Charlie Sayers and Malachi Fagan-Walcott both slotted into the backline comfortably in the final stages.
Conte is bringing in proven older players this summer but the squad's young stars are all vying for his attention and that only be a good thing for the future.
The Son and Kane show already in production
The crowd in Seoul were treated to the sight most Premier League defences dread as The Kane and Son Show quickly began its run for the 2022/23 season.
The two star attackers entered the fray in the second half, both getting huge cheers whenever they had been shown on the big screen while warming up. Conte gave Son his own special moment, bringing him on a minute into the second half rather than with the other six half-time substitutes and the sound as he came on was exactly what you would have expected for one of Korea's icons and international captain.
In the minute before he had come on, Kane had immediately charged back into action, forcing Jin Hyuk Kim into sending his low cross into his own goal. Then moments after Lars Veldwijk had made it 2-2, Kane restored Spurs' lead with a fine driven finish from 25 yards.
Just two nights before, the England captain had been throwing up by the side of the pitch in the same stadium before slumping to the ground during those pitch-long runs at pace in the open training session, needing a cold towel to be put on the back of the neck and a physio rushing over to check on him.
It's all part of Conte's process though and Kane looked sharp from the off just 48 hours later inside the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Son also struggled with those runs, collapsing on the sidelines himself, both he and Kane having only returned to training at the weekend after their holidays. Yet the South Korean star also looked on the ball from his early moments.
When Jun Amano was penalised for handball, Kane told Son to take the spot kick in front of the Korean fans and he duly dinked the ball past the goalkeeper before delighting the crowd with his 'photograph' celebration.
Amano was able to earn his redemption with a 25-yard free-kick which somehow got through a two-man wall to catch out Hugo Lloris but Son was again causing problems. Put through by Richarlison, he sprinted on and was brought down by Dong Min Kim on the edge of the area, the home defender earning the dual infamy of fouling the national hero in front of the 64,100 fans and then getting sent off for it in a friendly.
Much has been made of Kane's lack of success with free-kicks but the 28-year-old drilled this set piece low and into the bottom corner. It's no coincidence that Spurs scored with one of their first free-kicks of the Gianni Vio era.
The set piece specialist, who has created 4,830 different routines which he tailors to certain players, has already been working with the players in Korea and there were corners and free-kicks in which you could see his input, with plenty of Spurs movement and names shouted as they organised themselves into different formations and walls in front of the kicker.
The match was rounded off with Son capitalising on a loose pass, rounding the goalkeeper and slotting the ball into the net. He sent the crowd wild with a trademark knee slide and that celebration.
It was ultimately only a friendly but he was giving the fans what they wanted and it was a show of the respect he always gives to the masses who adore him.
There will be tougher tests ahead but it's good news for Conte and ominous for defences everywhere that both Son and Kane look happy, sharp and already gearing up for a big campaign to come.
The missing players and Covid protocols
There were five players missing from Spurs' squad list for the match, which confused the organisers no end with a team sheet that had most of them listed among the substitutes for the visitors.
Ivan Perisic is nearing a return to ball work after his recovery from a calf injury on the final day of the Serie A season with Inter. The super-fit 33-year-old, who netted 10 goals and laid on nine assists last season in 48 appearances - most of them starts and 90 minute displays - is going to be a big addition to Conte's armoury.
It also became swiftly clear that Ben Davies and Dejan Kulusevski were not going to be playing any part in the match as they came out earlier than the rest of the team and were put through those dreaded pitch-long runs at pace with a fitness coach.
Both looked shattered during one brief break but appeared to complete their allotted amount while the team came out to warm up alongside them.
Then there was Yves Bissouma and Fraser Forster. Korea's Covid rules remain strict and to enter the country you must undertake a pre-departure test and then a PCR test within 72 hours of your arrival.
Both new signings returned positive results on those arrival tests. Korean rules dictate that they must isolate for seven days from the date of that positive result, within the team hotel, and if it is decided that those must be followed rather than the UK regulations of five days and a negative test that will mean the duo will need to fly back to the UK after the team travel home on Sunday.
It's not ideal preparation at all, particularly for Bissouma who will miss out on vital fitness sessions in the coming days as well as match time to start sharpening him up. The 25-year-old Mali international had looked good during training matches on Monday but he will now have to wait in his room to re-join his team-mates next week.
Conte explained the latest on all five of the missing players when asked by football.london on Wednesday.
"About Kulusevski and Ben Davies, you have seen that they had a good training session. Ben Davies also yesterday, for Ben it was the second training session and he needed to recover and run and do the same training as the players did in the last two days. It was the same for Kulusevski," he said.
"And yeah we had a problem with Covid, with Bissouma because the test was positive. Bissouma and Fraser [Forster]. For this reason they weren't here with us. Yes, [they are isolating].
"Perisic is working very well. He's very close. I think tomorrow he could have a part of the training session with us. Honestly we are satisfied because his recovery is going very fast and we are happy about this and when we come back in London he will start to have some of the training session with us."
Tottenham will be hoping that no further players or staff members show symptoms of Covid in the coming days, but the virus is going to continue to play its part in the weeks ahead as well as the season not to mention any longer term effects it might have on some individuals.
Conte, who had Covid himself in April, will have to work around it and for now it's just a case of getting everyone as fit as possible and continuing to stamp his idea of football across the squad, while hoping for another new signing or two.
The Italian is in his happy place right now, pleased with the project being built at Spurs to his exact specification and his happiness does not bode well for the Premier League.
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