Antonio Conte got a first look at how his Tottenham Hotspur players are shaping up after the World Cup break on Friday afternoon.
Spurs welcomed Scottish Premiership side Motherwell to their Hotspur Way training complex in Enfield for a first 90 minutes of action since the 4-3 win against Leeds on November 12. Antonio Conte got a long look at his non-World Cup players and what they have taken on board from his training sessions in recent days as they dominated in a 4-0 victory against their visitors.
While you cannot read too much into friendly encounters, here are five things we reckon the Italian will at least have taken from the training ground game.
READ MORE: Dejan Kulusevski hints at new Conte Tottenham changes as Djed Spence passes first audition
Fitness levels
Some might have expected the first team players to have played just 45 minutes or an hour of this game before the mass of changes from the bench arrived. However, Conte was clearly happy with what he saw because the first teamers remained out on the pitch until the 74 minute when he made nine substitutions.
It says plenty about Tottenham's fitness work that they looked fitter than a Motherwell side that returns to Scottish Premiership action next weekend, while Spurs are not back in action for another two weeks.
While this is a pre-season of sorts for the non-World Cup players, many of them only got two weeks off before they returned to Hotspur Way for fitness work.
"[This kind of break] hasn't happened before but we were only off for two weeks, so it's not like we lost a lot of fitness or sharpness. We're obviously training hard again as if it's a mini pre-season to try and improve and get even better at that," said Matt Doherty, who scored twice.
"We're taking it as if it we did in pre-season. Whatever they tell us to do we're going to work hard and try and get better as we know we've got a game in two weeks against Brentford that we need to be ready for for the second half of the season. We took the two weeks off, we took the rest and come back and taken training very seriously."
Djed Spence giving his all
A friendly match is not going to hugely shift Conte's perception about his various first team squad members but it did represent an opportunity for Djed Spence to show him that he's taking on board what he's asked for.
The 22-year-old put in a performance that was taken right out of the Conte wing-back playbook. He defended well and got high up the pitch creating chances for others and acted as an auxiliary striker when required, getting into the box whenever Doherty had the ball.
He also had a big chance when Dejan Kulusevski put him through on goal but the keeper saved well as he tried to lift his shot past him. Spence's footwork and pace mark him out as an exciting wing-back if the chances to play come.
The key for Spence right now is take any minutes afforded to him by Conte to show that he's taking on board the mass of tactical instructions the Italian dishes out and that he offers something more than his rivals for the role. Every good display will also increase the pressure from the fans and behind the scenes at the club for Conte to give him a chance.
Sharp Kulusevski
Dejan Kulusevski promised before the break that after a month out with a hamstring injury he would use the pause in the season to get himself back to his peak match fitness.
On Friday's evidence, the Swede looks to have been true to his word and it's not an understatement to say he ran the game at Hotspur Way. Everything went through Kulusevski and he ended up with a goal and two assists as Motherwell were left chasing his shadow for much of the encounter.
Conte will have learned just how much his Spurs team needs Kulusevski during the attacker's absence last month and now from this friendly he will have seen a player ready to make up for lost time.
Youngsters are tactically intelligent
Conte is not known as a man who often turns to young players but it's helpful to know that in case of an injury crisis he might just be able to trust those few he selects.
He named Harvey White and Charlie Sayers in the starting line-up to face Motherwell due to a missing a few first teamers to knocks. Midfielder White, who has received praise from Conte at times in the past year but no game time, showed his versatility with a role as a false nine.
The 21-year-old, who can play across the midfield and at left-back, demonstrated another string to his bow with a hard-working performance which included a terrific first-time pass to Kulusevski in the build-up to Spurs' first goal.
At the back, 18-year-old Charlie Sayers, who was a late call-up on the summer tour to South Korea before he suffered a serious eye injury a couple of months ago, showed that he is back and the teenager put in a very composed performance on the left of the back three. He also showed an ability to spray repeated crossfield passes which were somewhat reminiscent of those trademark Toby Alderweireld balls.
White and Sayers won't be holding their breath for first team chances any time soon but they certainly did everything they could to push their claims for minutes if they are ever needed.
Bissouma and Skipp in the right roles
Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg are set firmly as Conte's chosen midfield duo, but with the Uruguayan suspended and injured for the game at Brentford someone else will get a chance.
One of the strangest things about the Spurs head coach's use of Yves Bissouma and Oliver Skipp in recent months is that the Mali international, who Conte said needed to improve defensively, has been used as the anchorman with the naturally defensive Skipp pushed into a more attacking role, almost as a winger at times down the right.
Against Motherwell and in a pairing, the roles were flipped back to normal. Skipp mopped up everything in his more natural anchorman role and Bissouma was a machine in a box to box display, setting up chances for others and pressing high up the pitch in an impressive, energetic performance.
Brentford and Aston Villa will provide far sterner tests in the weeks ahead but this might have just reminded Conte that Bissouma and Skipp are very good players when they're used in the right positions.
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