Tottenham veteran Ben Davies has spoken glowingly of his younger teammates — some of whom he coached in Spurs’ very own academy a few years ago — after a “good test” against Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium on Wednesday.
The Spurs defender was one of the only starters over the age of 30 for their penultimate friendly in Sydney, playing at centre-back alongside two 18-year-olds in Malachi Hardy and Tye Hall, with 21-year-old Rio Kyerematen filling out an experimental back four.
“They’re all very young lads, but in the world of football, you’ve got to grow up quick and you’ve got to get into the swing of things as early as you can,” he said after their penalty shoot-out win.
“They’ve been really good. They’ve helped us a lot on the training pitch, and they had a good opportunity to start tonight. And I thought they stood up very well.
“It bodes well for the club, I think. These are boys when I did some coaching a couple of years ago that I was coaching at 16, 17 levels. So to have them playing [with] me now, it’s a credit to the academy and the coaches, the good work they’ve done down there.”
He was particularly impressed with 17-year-old Luca Williams-Barnett, who came off the bench to hit the post before scoring a confident panenka as the first penalty-taker in the shoot-out.
“He’s a really top player,” Davies said. “He’s got a lot of potential. I think you can see the qualities that he’s got.
“I think now the next step is developing his habits in the game. But to have a player like that who’s got no fear, that has the confidence to try things in games, who doesn’t get affected if he loses the ball, I think he’s got a bright future ahead of him.”
Tottenham emptied almost their entire bench against Sydney FC, giving the majority of their squad minutes across their two first two friendlies, with the exception of a few senior players carrying injuries.
Head coach Roberto De Zerbi took a more conservative approach to this second match in Australia ahead of their biggest preseason test against Chelsea on Saturday, where it’s expected a number of their travelling stars will make an appearance.
“It’s not so easy because we have to be focused and not take risks,” he said afterwards.
“We have to manage the minutes to give the players; every player has a different plan, but I think we are working well.
“The young players, they are doing very well. They give us more solutions. This period of the season is very important to improve the physical condition, the quality of the play. But we can’t take risks to lose any players because now would be bad to lose [anyone.]
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“Danso, Van De Ven, Solanke, JP Van Hecke… I thought they were not ready yet to play without risk. Maybe some of them can play the next game on Saturday against Chelsea. Maybe not the beginning.
“But it’s the management of the players, no? Especially after the World Cup or after big, big injuries. They suffered long injuries last season and after a long trip, after the jetlag, after the beginning of the preseason, I wouldn’t like to take any risks.”
Tottenham face Chelsea at Accor Stadium on Saturday, kick-off 7:45 p.m. AEST (10:45 a.m. BST.)
