Motherwell (Home) 09.12.2022

A side that featured players not involved in the tournament in Qatar as well as fringe squad members was strong and Motherwell matched that with their best available starting XI, although they, like Spurs were missing players through injury.  Spurs played a 3-4-3, but of the front three, Harvey White played a withdrawn number 9 role, looking very similar to Harry Kane in the way he played.  Employing a high press from the start, it soon paid dividends.  Pushing up on the Motherwell right back Stephen O’Donnell, he was forced to play the ball back into his own penalty area, but straight to Dejan Kulusevski.  Taking a touch to kill the ball, Dejan then put his right foot shot wide of Kelly to give Spurs the lead just after two minutes of the game.  It was sloppy defending and good pressing from Spurs to force the error.

Motherwell had their first effort on target after 15 minutes, when Penny hit a shot from 20 yards straight at Brandon Austin, but Spurs broke away three minutes later, with Kulusevski freeing Spence through the inside right channel.  However, his shot was blocked by Kelly, who closed him down quickly.  Skipp then picked up a loose clearance ten yards outside the box, played it through Gil to Kulusevski and his pull back couldn’t find a white shirt.  Motherwell almost got back in the game when Shields blocked a clearance by Austin, with the ball going a yard or more wide in what was a worrying moment.  However, Tottenham played the ball out from the back down the left wing and Doherty’s cross was just out of Spence’s reach with his head at the near post.

Twenty seven minutes in and Tottenham went 2-0 ahead.  A neat move with Bissouma and Kulusevski moving the ball into the Motherwell box, with a return pass to Yves saw him pass left to Bryan Gil.  With Matt Doherty outside him, he fed the Irishman, who was surrounded by four defenders, but shifted the ball onto his right foot to shoot low under Kelly from a narrow angle wide of the keeper’s right-hand post.  It was a well-worked passing move that exposed the Scottish team’s defence and Doherty took his chance well.

Spurs were soon testing the visiting keeper, with Gil popping up on the right corner of the box to curl a shot towards the keeper’s top right corner, but Kelly did well to move his feet quickly and push the ball wide for a corner.  37 minutes were on the clock when Spurs scored a great goal breaking on Motherwell.  Spence played a pass inside to Harvey White and his first-time pass around the corner put Deki in the clear on the right side.  He took the ball right up to the keeper in the box and then squared it to an area just beyond the near post, where Bryan arrived to turn the ball home from five yards out with his right foot.  It was a decisive move that showed how devastating the side can be when they move the ball rapidly.

Skipp won the ball on the press just outside the ‘Well area, passing to his right for White who looked for Kulusevski in the box, but his pass was a bit too close to Kelly.  Skippy was spoken to by the ref for a second rash tackle and while it was a friendly, Motherwell had been putting in strong challenges in the early stages, so a couple going the other way wasn’t out of keeping with the match. 

While Tottenham dominated possession in the second half, it was seven minutes in that the first effort on goal came, with White driving a shot in from 20 yards out but it was straight down substitute keeper Aston Oxborough’s throat.  A sweeping move between Gill, White and Kulusevski switched play to the left for Matt Doherty breaking forward and from a position just outside the D, tried to shape a shot around the defender in front of him, but skewed it well wide to the right.

Just before the hour, Motherwell changed almost the rest of the players who had not been subbed so far, with Spurs making good progress on the right wing with Kulusevski putting a neat pass inside the full back for Spence, who put a ball across the keeper, but there was no team-mate to finish it off.  Twenty minutes from the end, Deki played a pacy corner in with Doherty rising just beyond the near post to head the ball down into the net.

The nature of the game changed with the Spurs team being replaced in the 75th minute by Development squad players and Motherwell came into the match a bit more.  Josh Morris almost capitalised when Sanchez lost the ball in the Spurs box, but his low shot saw Alfie Whiteman get safely behind it.  They had a free-kick in the 78th minute that deflected off the wall with Whiteman going the other way, but it fortunately flew wide.  From the corner the Well manufactured another shot that was deflected over the top, but Tottenham hit back when Mundle’s left wing cross was headed down by Will Lankshear, but it was too far down, allowing Maguire to clear from in front of the goal.

As the sun got lower in the sky and the tree shadows lengthened over the pitch, the game came to an end and a useful exercise came to an end.  There were good performances from Spence, Tanganga, Gil, Kulusevski and Doherty, with Harvey White looking like he might be able to make the step up if called upon, as he seems to have bulked up a bit.  Skippy did well, but still looks a little rusty in his tackling, but alongside him, Bissouma looked comfortable on the ball and worked to get it when Motherwell were in possession.  Neither Brandon Austin or Charlie Sayers had much to do, but did what they had to do well, while Davinson Sanchez looked a little shaky at times.  Very few of the subs had time to make much of an impact, but Romaine Mundle looked lively and nobody disgraced themselves.

The match against OGC Nice on 21st December will be another opportunity to get some match time into the legs, although I imagine not many of the World Cup players will be involved or if they are, then not for too long, however, this gives a chance to the other squad players to impress the manager.

The Heathrow Spur