Respect and disrespect
This was another friendly perfectly in the vein of what Antonio Conte needed to push on his Tottenham players' fitness.
The Italian wants the pressing to begin in pre-season in readiness for the season ahead and once again it was in effect for long periods against Rangers, helped by a raucous atmosphere at Ibrox which drove on the home side to try to impress.
The Scottish giants are at a further stage with their fitness levels as their season begins next weekend and Conte pushed many of his players to play longer in the match than they had before to ensure they can last 90 minutes when August 6 and the Premier League opener against Southampton arrives.
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"We are trying to exploit these friendly games to give the opportunity to the new players to come in and play in our idea of football," he explained. "For sure, about Clement Lenglet it was the first week to work with us. Also Yves Bissouma, he was with the Covid in Korea, but it's ok.
"I'm happy because the game wasn't a friendly game, it was a real game. You know very well that the last game they played against West Ham they won 3-1 and you know the fitness of Rangers is higher, in front of us, but despite this I think that we played with a good intensity, a good pressure and a good quality.
"If I have to find a situation that today was to improve it was because we created a lot of chances, especially in the first half and we didn't score, but I understand we are still improving and are also a bit tired because the pre-season is also important for us to make the fitness at the high level.
"But I'm happy because I repeat the tactical aspect I'm very pleased. For sure we can improve because we conceded a goal that we can avoid, but I'm delighted with the attitude and the will and desire that the players are showing me in this pre-season. I'm very happy."
Harry Kane and Son Heung-min look sharp already and that is huge for Conte that his star duo do not require as much tuning up as they might have. Kane now has five goals in his three pre-season games so far and Son has been a creative force.
The Rangers fans took a moment to acknowledge them both, the entire stadium rising to applaud the pair when they came off with about 10 minutes to go. This could have been an Scotland vs England day, and Fraser Forster certainly felt the boos reverberating around the ground as an ex-Celtic man, but Kane and Son enjoyed a moment of real respect from 43,036 fans, including some noisy Spurs supporters, who just appreciated having the chance to see them in action.
Son set up both of Kane's goals, the England captain's first a trademark stunning curler of an effort, in which he used the defender expertly to line up his shot the far right corner of the net.
There was even time for Conte to slap down comments about Kane from Germany this week with both Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn and manager Julian Nagelsmann discussing their admiration for the striker and refusing to rule out a future move.
"Honestly I didn't hear this. For sure I'm a coach who doesn't talk about players from other teams. I don't know why [this happened]. The situation at Tottenham is very clear. The plan is very clear with the club. Harry is a part of the project. He is a very important part of the project and yeah only rumours," said the Italian.
"At the same time I repeat I don't like to speak about players from another club. If I want to do something I go to speak to the club, not through the media. I think maybe it's a bit disrespectful for the other club. This is my way. This is my way to face the situation with other players."
Kane and Son are going nowhere and they even got their hands on a trophy - of the friendly kind - as former Spurs and Rangers striker Jermain Defoe handed Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris The Walter Tull Memorial Cup, named after another ex-Spurs and Rangers man, one with a remarkable life story.
Pre-season trophies always bring that awkward moment when the players must decide exactly how much celebrating is enough to be respectful to the occasion without acting like they have landed the biggest prize of all only to be mocked by their rivals. Spurs just about got the balance right.
Emerson Royal and the wing-back situation
Matt Doherty stood on the pitch with Yves Bissouma long before kick-off, chatting as the duo surveyed the Ibrox surface. Little did the Irishman know that he was going to spend the day continuing to look out over it as the only outfield player not to get to play a minute of the game.
Conte's right wing-back choices were unexpected on Saturday. He started with Emerson Royal, the man least suited to play in the role among his now plentiful options.
The Brazilian is enjoying his time at Tottenham, he's a popular member of the squad and has no real desire to leave. However, while he is a solid defensive full-back, his attacking ability and decision-making is simply not at the required level to be a top level wing-back.
Emerson is only 23 and you can train young players to improve in a lot of areas but you cannot give someone that innate ability to attack the ball in the final third and teach them to continuously make the right decisions in areas that they do no feel at home in.
At Ibrox, the Brazilian lasted only the first 45 minutes with the bulk of Tottenham's attacks coming down the right flank stuttering to a halt when Emerson touched the ball. A corner for Spurs still remains the best case scenario for a man who has just one assist and one goal to his name in his 41 matches for the club.
Enter either Doherty or new signing Djed Spence - the club's most natural right wing-backs? No, once again Conte turned to Lucas Moura, as he did in Seoul, to take on a makeshift role.
It feels like a message from Conte to someone, in whatever form that may take. It could be one to Lucas to say that he will constantly find ways to give the Brazilian minutes. Conte recently spoke to the Brazilian and told him he will be important for him and the team this season.
Using the two Brazilians could also be a challenge to both Doherty and the new boy Djed Spence. The Irishman has been in this position before, having to fight for his place last season and eventually winning it before his unfortunate knee injury late in the season.
There are now so many options for the right wing-back spot that someone surely has to go because it makes no financial sense or squad sense to keep them all, with Doherty, Emerson and Spence all available for the role with Lucas and Kulusevski both able to play there and presumably the both-footed Ivan Perisic as well if required.
Spurs will get more money for Emerson than they would for Doherty due to the age difference and the latter fits Conte's needs better than the former. If you could combine both Brazilians into one player you would probably have a decent wing-back, but individually neither ticks all the boxes.
Spence has the potential to do exactly that. Conte admitted to football.london during the tour in South Korea that the 21-year-old was signed as a player the club had wanted but that he gave the greenlight to the move because he felt the England U21 international had shown he could become "a great player".
While Conte did not identify Spence as an initial target - his knowledge of Championship youngsters is unlikely to be his strong point - Spurs' managing director of football Fabio Paratici has been watching Spence closely and went to see him in action before making a decision on the player.
football.london understands that the club's sixth signing was one very much tailored towards Conte's requirements as well as helping Spurs' homegrown player requirements.
There have been suggestions within the club that in previous seasons Spence would not have been signed for Conte's predecessors, but for the Italian the 21-year-old ticks all of the key skillsets that the current head coach requires in his wing-backs, including his height, pace, strength, fitness and ability to take on players with the ball.
The young wide man only made a 19-minute cameo from the bench at Ibrox but he showed there is plenty for Conte to work with. His first touch of the ball was a confident and strong last-gasp tackle in the Spurs box and he constantly looked to push forward down the right when he had the ball.
He had more take-ons last season while on loan at Nottingham Forest than all of Spurs' four wing-backs combined and he created chances galore for his team-mates during the campaign, even if their profligacy ensured his assists did not reflect that. Conte will work with him to improve that as well as his ability to get in at the back post to finish off moves from the left.
The presence of Perisic will be as beneficial to Spence as it will be for Ryan Sessegnon. The Croatian is a product of Conte's wing-back work and he knows exactly what the former Inter boss wants.
Sessegnon has already admitted that the 33-year-old newcomer has been giving him tips and pointers behind the scenes to help him improve and those will also be passed on to Spence, a close friend of Sessegnon, to ensure he succeeds under one of the most demanding managers in the game.
Spurs' line-up against Roma in Israel on Saturday will give a pointer towards which right wing-back will start the season for Conte against Southampton a week later and it's down to all four candidates to fight it out on the pitches of Hotspur Way this week to make their case.
The new boys and the squad level
One of Conte's first realisations when he arrived at Tottenham was the drop-off in quality from the main group of 12 or 13 players to those who could come into the team to replace them.
football.london has previously reported how the head coach would look at his bench at times last season and turn back to the pitch knowing that he could not make the changes he wanted without dropping the level of quality in the pitch.
That had to change and it's telling that the Spurs team that finished the match against Rangers contained only three players who ended last season in the squad.
Summer signings Richarlison, Perisic, Spence, Forster, Clement Lenglet and Yves Bissouma were all on the turf as was Pape Matar Sarr, who signed last season before heading out on loan, and there was Bryan Gil, who left for Valencia in January on loan.
Conte had to use five academy players on his bench for Premier League matches towards the end of last season despite only having a handful of first team injuries, and it's noticeable that not a single one of them was in the squad in Glasgow. There was simply no room in the 24-man travelling squad.
Of the new boys Perisic stood out the most in his first competitive action since injuring his calf after scoring in Inter's final match of last season.
The Croatian constantly contributed during a busy 30 minute display, pressing high up the pitch with some good tackles and sending one overhead kick over the Rangers crossbar. He also got to the byline and sent in a curling cross that Richarlison headed over.
It was a bright cameo from the bench and was immediate proof that the 33-year-old Champions League and multiple title winner has lost none of his energy or acceleration. It goes without saying that his experience will be invaluable off the pitch and in big moments on it.
Lenglet came on for a solid, no-frills first outing for his 19 minutes in a Spurs shirt on the left of the back three, while Spence gave a little glimpse of what he will bring at both ends of the pitch on the right.
Forster had little to do other than make one smart catch amid the boos from the Rangers fans, while Bissouma put in an industrious performance in the centre of the pitch, without much of the showmanship he possesses, as he got 45 minutes of fitness under his belt following his Covid-enforced pause to proceedings.
Unlike the others, for Richarlison it was his third game in a Tottenham shirt and the Brazilian is looking more and more at home in the Conte system.
His versatility means he came on with half an hour to go on the right-hand side for Dejan Kulusevski, who had been bright in the first half and faded in the second. Then the Brazilian moved into the central striker role when Kane left.
The 25-year-old worked hard and was a consistent threat for Spurs with his runs in behind the Rangers defence and he sent a header over from that Perisic cross late on.
Conte used Richarlison as the example for why Tottenham's strengthening has been so important this summer.
"Richy for sure is a player that we signed to improve the quality of the squad. Also the possibility to make rotations with players that don't drop the level. If you want to be competitive and become a strong team, the squad has to be with at least 16, 17, 18 players that has to keep the same level, not the level up and then the other level medium, otherwise you are not competitive," he explained.
"I think with the club we have started, but we have just started to do this improvement, to try to have the possibility during the game, with the five substitutions, and in between one game and another game with the Champions League to make rotations.
"The situation I think it's too vital for me and especially if we want to have ambition. Then one game we're going to play one player and another game another player, but they need to be able to play 90 minutes, 70 minutes, 30 minutes, the most important thing is that when they go on the pitch they are effective.
"The impact has to be terrific for the opponent, not for us. I think that we worked in this aspect with the club but you know that we have just started this process, to bring and to improve step by step the squad."
Among the other substitutes, Sarr came on with just nine minutes to go, which was not really enough time to make much of an impression in the midfield but a word must go to Joe Rodon, used so sparingly last season, as the Welshman, who is gathering interest in Italy, stepped in seamlessly to replace Eric Dier for the final 25 minutes or so.
Spurs' squad is far stronger now than the one Conte took to fourth place in the Premier League and it is now bloated in some areas. That's where phase two needs to begin if Tottenham are to continue to bring in any more new faces.
Conte building his house and Parrott developments
Antonio Conte is building his house at Tottenham and currently he has a crowded ground floor.
"In comparing last season I think numerically we improved the squad and I think that we worked with the club to improve the quality as well as that numerical aspect," he said. "When you have to play four competitions, like Premier League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup and especially Champions League, you need to have an important squad and honestly last season I think that we reached a big achievement with 12, 13 players. I think we tried to do our best, for sure and this is the start.
"You can build in one year a great building but I think last season we put in a good foundation and now, this summer, we tried to build the first and second floor but we know that we need a bit of time.
"At the same time we have ambition and the players are working very hard because they believe in what we are doing. They feel that we are building something important with the club."
Conte wants more additions and told football.london in Korea that the club will continue to look for opportunities to improve.
The key to phase two of the Spurs summer transfer project is to start clearing out the players who need to be elsewhere. That the club have operated a 'buy first, sell later' policy for a change this summer will benefit Conte hugely in his preparations but now they need to prevent the squad from remaining a bloated one.
This is not a financial thing - although any funds raised by sales can be pumped back into the team - it's more a case of removing unhappy players from the equation and ensuring the squad is balanced for the season ahead, not least to comply with the various registration limits for the foreign and homegrown players.
It's worth noting that every Spurs player in the 24-man travelling squad was a senior one despite not including the injured Ben Davies and Oliver Skipp as well as the unwanted quartet of Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, Harry Winks and Sergio Reguilon.
Davies injured his ankle against Sevilla and is in a race against time to be fit for the Premier League opener against Southampton on August 6 despite Conte's hope that he will be ready.
football.london understands that Skipp suffered a minor foot injury in training on Friday and while he may remain a doubt for the match against Roma next weekend, depending on how his foot reacts in the coming days, he is expected to be pushing to feature at the start of the season.
Dier also suffered a heavy knock during the match against Rangers and was replaced with Rodon as a precaution, but the centre-back was seen undertaking post-match interviews and is not believed to have required any immediate post-match treatment.
It is not just the quartet left behind in England once again who are expected to move on this summer. Only Steven Bergwijn, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jack Clarke have so far departed as well as Pierluigi Gollini's loan spell ending.
Both Rodon and Tanganga are the subject of interest from Italy, while Emerson and Gil have admirers in Spain and the latter also in France.
A decision will also be made by Conte over whether Sarr requires another loan move to continue his development and the head coach hinted at that prospect when speaking to football.london in Korea last week.
Similar decisions must be made over Dane Scarlett, Alfie Devine, Harvey White and Kion Etete while football.london understands that Troy Parrott was not taken with the squad to Glasgow because he is set to seal a season-long loan move and pen a new contract with Spurs, with Preston North End among the clubs keen to bring him back into the Championship, a group of admirers that has included Swansea, Middlesbrough and QPR.
For Spurs, the aim, as it always should be at a football club, is to continually attempt to upgrade Conte's squad during this window and future ones.
The focus for now is on outgoings - although sudden movements in the market can always cause an unexpected deviation from that - and then Spurs will look at remaining opportunities in the window.
The departure of Rodon or Tanganga - and perhaps a surprise move for Davinson Sanchez - will result in a second centre-back signing this summer while Spurs are continuing to look at potential attacking midfielders and strikers if the right deal emerges in the remaining six weeks of the window.
Conte is happy with the progress being made at Tottenham off the pitch and the work he is being able to do on it. His star men are looking sharp and those around both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min have spoken about the happiness of the duo and the squad despite the gruelling pre-season training.
There is a positivity around Spurs this summer, among those inside the club and among the expectant fans. In contrast to last year's chaos, this time the season cannot come soon enough.
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Antonio Conte admits club wanted Djed Spence but he greenlit deal as he can become 'important'
