Attention now turns to the 2022/23 Premier League campaign after Tottenham's pre-season came to an end at the weekend. Taking in three different countries and playing four games in total, Antonio Conte's men were only on the losing side once.
That defeat came on Saturday, with Jose Mourinho's Roma clinching a 1-0 victory over the Lilywhites in Israel. Prior to that, Spurs had secured wins over Team K League and Rangers and played out a draw against Sevilla.
Although their summer preparations finished with a defeat, confidence is very high in N17 at present and hopefully that will result in three points on Saturday afternoon when Southampton are the visitors to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Ahead of this weekend's Premier League opener, we take a look at the winners and losers from pre-season.
READ MORE: Antonio Conte discusses his Tottenham contract and staying for years with Harry Kane to join him
Winners
Antonio Conte
Daniel Levy and Tottenham quite simply had to back Conte this summer amid all the uncertainty surrounding his future in the final few months of last campaign. Tottenham have so far brought in six new players for the head coach and they don't appear to be quite finished in the transfer market just yet.
Tottenham made big strides on the pitch when they had time on the training field with Conte last season and they will undoubtedly benefit from a full summer with him. Conte has been unhappy in the past with how pre-seasons have gone at his previous clubs but he has taken plenty of positives from Spurs' preparations this summer.
Speaking to football.london after the Roma defeat, the boss did indicate that he will have "zero problems" in continuing as Tottenham boss for the long term if they continue on their current path. Given the previous question marks over his job, Spurs are certainly going about things the right way in keeping him happy.
"I have to be honest. In my career the contract was never important. I didn't need to sign contracts for one, two or three years. For the club it could also be a weight," he said. "I'm happy, I'm happy. We're working really well together. It's not that one year on the contract more or less can change the situation.
"For sure we want to continue to improve, to build something important for this club. If the idea continues to be in this way, there will be zero problems to continue my life in Tottenham because I stay well and I like this group of players and I have a good relationship with Paratici and with Daniel Levy.
"I repeat that I'm not a coach who needs to sign a contract for money. I don't need that. In this moment I don't need this. I need to have enthusiasm and the passion for this role."
Harry Kane
Premier League defenders will be very fearful of facing Kane over the coming months after a very good pre-season. Not having the longest of breaks with England in action until the middle of June, Tottenham's No.10 has looked incredibly sharp in pre-season and the goals have flowed as a result.
Netting a goal from distance and a free-kick in the 6-3 win over Team K League, the 29-year-old then followed up his double with a well-taken strike against Sevilla. Hitting a further two against Rangers, including a stunning first goal as he found the top corner, he again struck in the defeat vs Roma but it was ruled out for offside.
You certainly wouldn't bet against him scoring against Southampton on Saturday considering his red-hot form in front of goal.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
If Conte's Tottenham team selection is anything to go by in the last two friendlies, Hojbjerg will be starting the season in midfield. Forming a good understanding with Rodrigo Bentancur in the final four months of 2021/22, the Dane now has Yves Bissouma to contend with after his move from Brighton and Oliver Skipp is now back to full fitness.
Perhaps slipping down the pecking order in the eyes of some Tottenham fans following the addition of Bissouma, Hojbjerg has in fact played the most amount of minutes this summer out of the midfield quartet. Conte's midfield general started three out of the four games and playing 289 minutes in total, Bentancur was next in line but his 180 minutes were 109 behind his teammate.
So is Hojbjerg now first choice in midfield if pre-season is anything to go by? We'll find that out over the next few weeks.
Richarlison
A goal may have been missing but Richarlison has had a good first pre-season at Tottenham. Starting up front in the first game against Team K League, the Brazilian has operated out wide in the other fixtures and got a taste of playing alongside Kane and Son Heung-min.
Showcasing his brilliant footwork and ability in the final third, the £60million signing wasn't far off from scoring a fine goal against Roma but he unfortunately couldn't get his shot off after dancing between players to make his way into the box. He's definitely made an impression on Conte, who hailed him after the 1-0 defeat against the Giallorossi.
"Richarlison I liked a lot the way he impacted the game. We need this type of player," explained the 53-year-old. "Richarlison to start the game or go into the game, he can have a big impact. For us it’s very important. We need him behind Sonny, also Kane and Kulusevski. He is an important player because we have a lot of games to play."
Losers
Djed Spence
It may be harsh to put Spence in this category but he really could have benefitted from having more time with his Tottenham teammates this summer. That isn't his fault of course, with his transfer from Middlesbrough dragging on a lot longer than expected given many believed it would be wrapped up in the weeks after the EFL campaign had come to an end.
Training with his new teammates at Hotspur Way leading up to the Rangers game and getting 19 minutes in the tank at Ibrox, the youngster was then an unused substitute last weekend in the Roma defeat. A big jump for the player going from the Championship to the Premier League, Spence could have done with a lot more than the 19 minutes he got in pre-season.
Oliver Skipp
Putting in the hard work over the summer to ensure he was back to fitness for the South Korea tour, Skipp looked like he hadn't been away when he took to the pitch against Team K League. Getting more minutes under his belt in the draw with Sevilla, that was the last time he featured in pre-season due to a foot injury picked up in training on the eve of the Rangers fixture.
The problem stopped him from making the trip to Israel at the weekend and all will be hoping to see him back in the squad on Saturday against Southampton. A blow for the player that he didn't play in the last two games given he has missed so much football in 2022 so far, thankfully it was only a minor issue.
Ben Davies
Davies is another who has had limited minutes in pre-season due to injury. Unavailable for the first game against Team K League, the Welshman came on at half-time against Sevilla but was only on for 40 minutes after sustaining an ankle issue.
The 29-year-old was back in the squad last Saturday for the Roma game but Conte admitted after the defeat that he didn't want to risk his player as he still feels "a bit of pain". Now having Clement Lenglet to compete with for the left-sided centre-back role, as well as Davinson Sanchez who played there in all four pre-season games, Davies needs to put himself in the best possible position over the coming days as Conte gets his plans in place for Southampton.
The four not in Conte's plans
It hasn't been a good summer for Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, Harry Winks and Sergio Reguilon as they have played no part in Spurs' pre-season. With the writing pretty much on the wall for Ndombele and Lo Celso in January as they were allowed to depart on loan, the other two have discovered that they have no role in Conte's plans going forward.
"I think that we spoke with the club and the players are informed about the plans for the next season," the Italian told football.london when asked about the quartet ahead of the Roma match. "We are talking about really good players and the club and I, we think they deserve to play games regularly. For this reason these players are not here."
Tottenham now have to find moves for all four sooner rather than later as it's no good for them to remain in N17 and play no football at all.
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