TOTTENHAM ATTITUDE MADE IT SPECIAL NIGHT
Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy. You can be proud of your lads today. Tottenham's players were up for it right from the start. Harry Kane set the tone, charging down a dawdling Sebastian Ryall straight from kickoff. There was no goal chance. No defensive slip. It was just about Kane letting the Sydney defence know this would be no jolly. Spurs players pressed from the front. They gang tackled and broke at full pace. Only those inside the dressing room could tell us if that first hour was at full throttle. But it was certainly at a higher pace than Sydney would've experienced in the A-League.
For the final game of the season, a post-season friendly on the other side of the world, the attitude was first class. Tottenham wanted to win. Jan Vertonghen glared at Nabil Bentaleb in the opening minutes after Chris Naumoff had skipped away from him. Later in the first-half, Federico Fazio went one better, firing a verbal volley at Benjamin Stambouli and Ryan Mason after another Sydney attack.
Jose Mourinho and Chelsea have a lot to live up to on Tuesday.
HARRY KANE IS RUSHIE-LIKE
Harry Kane just had to sign off for the season with a goal - and the winner at that. It was a trademark finish. A powerful drive across the goalkeeper and into the far corner. He's just like Rushie. Kane always hits the corners with his shots - and with real power. Left-foot. Right-foot. He's a great example of English training ground coaching and a wonderful advertisement for everyone working at Spurs Lodge. In Sydney on Saturday, almost 72,000 fans turned up primarily to see Kane in action. At 21, Tottenham have a marketers' dream on their hands.
LAMELA RABONA BEST MOMENT OF THE NIGHT
Harry Kane was the matchwinner, but Erik Lamela produced the most memorable moment of the night. No-one saw it coming - including Sydney goalkeeper Ivan Necevski. Midway through the first-half, the ball broke to Lamela just outside the Sydney box. And out it came - the Rabona. The Argentine completely fooled Necevski, but the effort just floated the wrong side of the post. It took your breath away.
Lamela was enthusiastic, aggressive and full of trickery when in possession. He didn't look like someone with his mind elsewhere. Lamela looked a Spurs player - and he looked like he wanted to be a Spurs player. On this evidence, talk of a sale this summer could be wide of the mark.
DOES YEDLIN HAVE SPURS FUTURE?
DeAndre Yedlin. Did he get his Tottenham move because of his football ability? Or was it because he is a great athlete? Yedlin was again given a start by Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino on Saturday and turned in a hot-and-cold performance. Playing to his strengths, he was exceptional. He was the fastest player on the pitch - by some distance - and going forward left Sydney's players gasping. That pace was also put to good use when covering at the back - including errors of his own making.
But the USA fullback was sometimes clumsy in the tackle and careless in possession. Sydney's best chance came from a Yedlin schoolboy error, squaring a loose pass across the face of Hugo Lloris' goal. He was fortunate that it fell to Alex Brosque, not exactly a ruthless finisher, who had his effort cleared off the line by Vertonghen.
Tottenham's move for Burnley fullback Kieran Tripper must be a concern for Yedlin. Tripper won't be arriving to take Kyle Walker's place.
HAS CARROLL PLAYED HIS LAST TOTTENHAM GAME?
Were we seeing the final game in a Tottenham shirt from Tom Carroll? The England U21 midfielder enjoyed a late second-half cameo. It was a typical performance. Some great moments on the ball. Inventive with his passing. It's what Carroll fans have come to expect. But with Christian Eriksen, Mousa Dembele and possibly Erik Lamela ahead of him in Pochettino's thinking - and the manager insisting Alex Pritchard was not for sale this week - where does Carroll fit? He's now 23 and though insists he wants to prove himself to Pochettino, he must see the writing on the wall.
