We’ve arrived at the final installment in our evaluation of Tottenham Hotspur’s 2025/26 season preparations. Thus far, we’ve looked at the winners and the losers in the run-in to Spurs’ Premier League season kicking off. Some have shone. Others have struggled.
Today we take a look at some of the unsolved mysteries of preseason. The players who maybe found themselves in unfamiliar territory, looked sharp but struggled for playing time, or struggled but with some heavy caveats attached.
These are the questions to which only Thomas Frank and his staff have the answers, and in some cases, not even them. Let’s get quizzical.
I’d earmarked Archie Gray as part of the fullback rotation this season, with perhaps some emergency minutes played at midfield to continue his development. When he’s played there previously, he just simply hasn’t been very good – but he’s young, with time on his side. Preseason, however, put paid to that theory, with Gray spending nearly all of his minutes in midfield, even playing there in one match while midfielder Jamie Donley was pushed into a wide defensive role.
His performance in those appearances was mixed, too: he was fantastic against Newcastle, but looked well off the pace against lower division Luton, and ineffectual in his other sub appearances. He’s a bit of an enigma: quite quick but reasonably easily physically outmuscled; a great passer with the whole pitch ahead of him, but someone who struggles to turn with players on him to open up that space for said passing. Him coming on late for Joao Palhinha in the PSG match (where he also struggled) potentially indicates he could be the primary cover in the defensive midfield role, even though I would think Bergvall or Bentancur should be taking the lion’s share of those minutes. Is he going to have the requisite quality to play a high number of minutes? It’s putting a lot of faith in somebody who hasn’t shown much more than effort at this level thus far.
Ben Davies has been a faithful servant to the club for over a decade now. Unfortunately, that also means he is old. With his contract expiring this summer, the club opted to trigger a one-year option rather than let him leave on a free; not the worst option considering the other center back rotation options outside of Kevin Danso were very much unknown quantities in the form of Luka Vuskovic and Kota Takai.
That all makes sense – if Davies was being kept as center back cover. Instead, it seems that Frank views Davies as a fullback, which makes much less sense. Ben has never been the quickest, and time has taken an even bigger toll on his athleticism. Though Frank’s lopsided use of fullbacks offsets this somewhat, I’m worried we’re going to end up finding ourselves in a situation where Davies is out of his depth having to mark a tricky winger.
That said, with links to other defenders with the ability to cover both center back and fullback in the last couple of days, maybe we still sell him? That’s a question yet to be answered.
In my last piece, I mentioned my concerns around Mathys Tel. This should mean Wilson Odobert is primed to capitalize, right? How I wish it were that simple. Wilson started preseason off well, with an excellent performance against Wycombe and a solid albeit unspectacular appearance vs. Arsenal. The starting berth in a derby, as well as a number of reports around the club indicated Thomas Frank was a huge fan of the young winger.
Wilson then came off the bench against Newcastle, only appeared as a substitute in a losing cause vs. Bayern Munich, before not seeing the pitch at all in the UEFA Super Cup. That’s a strange trajectory for a player that is apparently rated highly by the coach. Spurs are now targeting further attacking reinforcements as well, so with limited spaces up for grabs in Spurs’ squad (especially if Frank opts to play a back three) Wilson’s time on the pitch could dwindle even further.
Maybe he goes out on loan to continue his development elsewhere?
Boy, I don’t know. Going into preseason, it seemed like Richy was a lock to leave the club. Instead, he’s still here, with a distinct lack of rumors as to his exit. With Dominic Solanke also pushing for a starting role, strangely it was the English striker who spent the majority of preseason injured rather than the oft-unfit Richy. Sometimes the best ability is availability, and though Dom has historically had that in spades, as well as being a clever presser and good in buildup, Richy is potentially the more natural finisher.
With all that said, the attack largely looked all at sea through preseason, with Richarlison in his first few appearances a big part of that, the Brazilian looking tentative and potentially a bad fit for Frank’s tactics. That all changed against PSG, where he was one of the best players in the pitch and key to a lot of the positive work Spurs did in that match.
So, what’s the truth, and which Richy are we going to get this season? The one who spends most of his time on the treatment table? The one who struggles to impose himself on a match? Or the lethal forward who gives everything on the pitch and can turn a half-chance into something more? And when Solanke is fit, does Richarlison retain his starting role up front as he has done through a chunk of preseason?