Context is probably needed before too much judgement is made on this result. A lot of these Spurs players were playing their first 60 minutes of the season, with Luton further along in their preparations ahead of their League One opener on Friday night against AFC Wimbledon.
But Thomas Frank won’t have been happy with the number of attacking opportunities his side fashioned in a game they should be winning based on quality alone, even though the Hatters were always going to be a bit sharper to the ball.
There were a few mitigating factors. Destiny Udogie came off in the warm-up which wouldn’t have helped alongside Dominic Solanke’s minor ankle problem which ruled him out of this game. But £55m signing Mohammed Kudus showed extremely little on his first Spurs start, while the likes of Mathys Tel and Brennan Johnson did not add much more.
There were a few interesting tactical aspects from Frank based on his instructions from the sidelines. His constant shouting of “play” as his side had the ball in the defensive third showed a distance from his direct Brentford days.
The shape was interesting too, with Jamie Donley – who started at left-back in place of the injured Udogie – inverted into the midfield but also front three at times, showing Frank may have some interesting ideas for Spurs’ full-backs.
There was also a fluid front four – with it shifting from a 4-3-3 formation out of possession into a 4-2-4, with Tel and Mikey Moore becoming split centre forwards when flanked by Johnson and Kudus.
But despite the interesting tweaks, and this not being a complete Spurs squad, there are more questions than answers when it comes to the Spurs players who turned out at Kenilworth Road.
Another Spurs XI draw to League One Wycombe
Earlier on Saturday, a separate Tottenham XI – which included first-team players such as Pedro Porro and Heung-Min Son – drew to another League One team in Wycombe.
Pape Sarr gave Spurs the lead but a double from Wycombe’s Junior Quitirina either side of half-time put the third tier side ahead.
Sarr grabbed a second to avoid a defeat for Spurs. There was also a late withdrawal for Rodrigo Bentancur, who picked up an illness before kick-off and was replaced in the team by George Abbott.
Spurs XI: Austin; Porro, Romero, Vuskovic, Davies; Abbott, Bergvall, Sarr; Odobert, Richarlson, Son
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