It was like a clash of Tottenham past and present in the area around the dugouts and the tunnel at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa on Saturday night.
Both locations showcased the difference in emotions before, during and after a match. Before the game, Davinson Sanchez sought out Roma fitness coach and former Spurs man Carlos Lalin and gave him a big hug, while Lucas Moura practically jumped into the Venezuelan's arms.
Jose Mourinho gave Lucas a big kiss on the head before the former Tottenham boss, and the job's current incumbent Antonio Conte hugged twice on the touchline.
READ MORE: Antonio Conte discusses his Tottenham contract and staying for years with Harry Kane to join him
Once the match had begun, so the pleasantries were paused as emotions came to the fore. You had Conte and Ryan Mason showing their very vocal displeasure towards the Roma bench after some feisty challenges, and the Italian side's dugout hit back with similar shouts after various tackles by Cristian Romero.
The term 'friendly' was very liberally used when it came to this final pre-season match of Tottenham's summer.
The Israeli fans were also not shy about coming forward, and two or three members of the crowd ran onto the pitch in an attempt to get a selfie with the players, Harry Kane in particular, the object of their affections.
One teenage fan made the mistake of running towards the Spurs bench without taking into account the very large presence of Allan Dixon.
Many Tottenham fans ask who the big guy is, the one always seen on the touchline or with the players, a tough-looking gentleman who looks from a distance like a cross between a nightclub bouncer and former Spurs goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
The answer is Allan Dixon. The ex-army man was a player liaison officer at the club for years, helping new signings settle and being there for the Tottenham stars whenever they need him, making him one of the most popular people within the club - a fixer of sorts. Think Ray Donovan but without the seedy undertones and dubious methods.
Dixon's role has evolved in recent seasons to become much more than that. His title nowadays is Team Manager - a very Italian position - and he's seen everywhere, even holding up the substitution board on the touchline during matches in front of the crowd and the watching millions around the world.
For the publicity-shy Spurs man, it's not exactly where he would choose to be and that young Israeli supporter on Saturday night probably wished he wasn't either. He didn't stand a chance.
Dixon showed off his fast footwork with a shimmy that confused the fan, and as the youngster wheeled around in an attempt to run in a different direction, so the Spurs man grabbed him and placed him carefully but unceremoniously on his backside so the stewards could lead him away.
Spurs could have done with a few Dixon clones around the club staff sat behind the dugout as fans also attempted to get past the stewards down the gangways to grab selfies with them.
Tottenham had put their trust in the stewards there, but with that not working and some fans getting through, some of their club security staff moved into action, blocking off the side next to the crowd and delivering some stern words to the unsuccessful stewards, one of whom appeared to walk out after his dressing down.
One Spurs staff member not in that area during the second half was managing director of football Fabio Paratici. The Italian had walked down to stand in between the two dugouts at the entrance to the tunnel.
While a calm operator in his everyday life, the 50-year-old transforms into one of the most emotional characters, you will find inside a football stadium. Whoever sits beside him during a match knows they are in for an afternoon of shouting, disapproving rebukes and celebrations.
Tottenham's former technical performance director Steve Hitchen had that role alongside him until his departure midway through the season, after which point Paratici's compatriot and the club's backup goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini often sat beside him and heard it all in their native tongue.
Nowadays, it is Paratici's new number two, performance director Gretar Steinsson, who will bear the brunt of the vocal Italian's tirades. On Saturday, though, in the second half, Paratici was right down in the thick of it.
After a bizarre refereeing decision saw Harry Kane penalised in the Roma box for a foul that never happened when in fact, it was the England captain who had been dragged to the ground, the entire Spurs bench started an angry exchange with their opposite numbers.
In the middle of it all, between the dugouts, Paratici let his feelings be known to one member of the Roma backroom staff and so wound up was the Spurs supremo that Mourinho had to come over and spend the next five minutes talking to him, one arm around his shoulders at times as they discussed their differences in opinion.
It was a nice touch by the Portuguese and diffused any potential for the encounter to ignite further between the two benches.
After the game, all was harmonious again. Lalin could be seen going between dressing rooms carrying things in his hands. Various Spurs players went to catch up with their former coaches around the Roma dressing room door while Ledley King, on the trip as a Spurs ambassador, caught up with those who gave him his first team coaching experience two seasons ago.
As for the UK media, there were only two of us who had made the trip to Israel, and our reward was a prime spot inside the wide tunnel which led all the way to the exit. It was well after midnight in Israeli time, and we were placed near the exit in order to interview Conte and various players - all new signings - who were brought over to us by the club's media team.
Such is human nature. As we waited, we began to play a little game among us as a pair - guessing which Spurs players and staff would look up and politely say goodbye as they left and which ones wouldn't. It was a daft little thing to keep us amused while we waited between interviews.
Many did say farewell and wished us a safe flight home, including the chairman Daniel Levy, perhaps recognising our weary faces from putting in the miles following the team around the world this summer.
Some players did keep their heads down, perfectly understandable with two journalists there and the fear that they might get collared for a midnight interview. They wouldn't have, but they weren't to know that.
Then there were the ultra polite ones, including Conte and the new signings we had just interviewed, including Yves Bissouma, Djed Spence and Clement Lenglet, who had only minutes before apologised for his poor English only to produce an insightful interview which proved it was anything but.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was a charismatic presence throughout the trip, friendly to everyone he met in the team hotel in Tel Aviv, and even after his no doubt knackering first 90 minutes of the season, he was there with a big grin in our direction, wishing us well on our travels home.
Then there was Ben Davies. You will never hear anyone who has met him say a bad word about the Welshman. He's a tough tackler on the pitch, but off of it, he might just qualify for 'the nicest man in football' tag.
Every manager Davies has had raves about his work and importance on the pitch but also his qualities as a person off of it in the dressing room and beyond.
During the pandemic, he and his now wife Emily looked after an elderly neighbour who did not have any family, preparing his meals and speaking to him every day from the bottom of his front garden to ensure he never felt isolated.
Davies also spent five years from the age of 23 studying for a degree in Economics and Business from the Open University, working away around his football exploits and graduating last summer. He's someone who goes the extra mile.
So, of course, as we predicted, when Davies walked through the centre of the wide tunnel, he was also going to do that little bit more, veering over to ask us when we were flying back to England, how we had found Israel and wishing us a good journey home.
It might seem the daftest little insight among all the many things that can happen in football, but sometimes it's just nice to acknowledge good people.
Spurs' summer has been a positive one, full of hard work, new experiences and new faces with only a few downsides provided by a couple of Covid cases and a freak injury on the training pitches at Hotspur Way for Oliver Skipp.
The mood, though, at Tottenham is good at the moment. Conte has got people excited inside Spurs again, and they are all pulling in the same direction within a club that felt more fractured than ever in previous years.
The club's biggest names all want to commit to the future, but the proof will be on the pitches in the weeks and months ahead. Conte wants this to be a Tottenham Hotspur like no other in recent memory. It's time to deliver.
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