Hotspur Way is not so quiet now with a number of Tottenham players making their return to the club's training base at the start of the week. Handed a mid-season break following the 4-3 win over Leeds United as 11 of the squad jetted off to Qatar for the World Cup, Spurs' preparations have now restarted ahead of their Premier League return later this month.
Clement Lenglet, Yves Bissouma and Dejan Kulusevski were among some of the first-team players to return on Monday, with shot-stopper Alfie Whiteman also back after his time on loan in Sweden with Degerfors IF. Not all those not taking part in their World Cup were there, however.
Matt Doherty, Davinson Sanchez and Bryan Gil, all of whom played in friendlies for their national side during the break, were not spotted at Hotspur Way as they have a bit more time off after their international exploits. Lucas Moura, Ryan Sessegnon and Japhet Tanganga also appeared to be missing from the training photos released by the club even though the trio were not involved in international football in November.
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There may have been a lack of first-team players present at Hotspur Way but the numbers were soon bolstered by a host of academy stars, including Alfie Devine, Malachi Fagan-Walcott and Charlie Sayers, making the step up. As is the case when players return in the summer for pre-season training, the squad began Monday's session by undergoing a variety of tests and exercises that they go through on the first day of training.
That has been the theme to the players return with the focus very much on their fitness rather than ball work as they work closely with the club's fitness coaches in the first few days back. Their work with the fitness team has allowed head coach Antonio Conte to have some extra time off and it meant he didn't need to come back for the start of training, leaving the players in the capable hands of Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason instead.
This is nothing new, however, as it is has been the way in the summer with previous managers in years gone by. Going through a mini pre-season of sorts, the focus on the fitness and ensuring the levels are still there will of course mean there is not so much emphasis on the ball.
This was evident in the training video released by the club with the players going through a laidback passing exercise as they worked in fours and moved to the next mannequin once they had passed the ball. It wouldn't be a Tottenham training session without a rondo, with the players competitive as ever as they tried the win the ball back.
Tottenham's training return will allow Conte the opportunity to work very closely with a number of the players over the coming weeks as he looks for the team to make a big improvement ahead of the second part of the season. Early World Cup exits for Ben Davies and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg will see the numbers increase further, with Son Heung-min and Rodrigo Bentancur others who could potentially return sooner than expected depending on how South Korea and Uruguay fare on a pivotal day in the World Cup on Friday afternoon.
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