On Saturday afternoon, Spurs took to the field under Thomas Frank for the first time, as they defeated League One side Reading 2-0 in a friendly away from home.
The Danish manager was keen to give as many players as possible a chance, making 11 changes at half time – with just four of the 26 players included in the match day squad not getting any minutes at all.
One of the players to come on at half time was Croatian wonderkid Luka Vušković. By just the 53rd minute, he had already registered a goal and an assist.
Four minutes into his first outing for the club, he flicked a corner from fellow debutant Mohammed Kudus into the path of youngster Will Lankshear, who headed home from close range.
Then, four minutes later the Ghanian and the teenager linked up again, with the former laying a ball off for Vušković to strike a well taken left footed effort across goal and into the far bottom corner. A superbly taken goal.
There has been a lot of hype surrounding the Croatian’s name, and some have suggested he would have been apart of the first team at Spurs even earlier if not for Brexit rules.
Now he is 18, and with a full season of football at Belgian side KVC Westerlo under his belt, he feels ready. He played 2971 minutes in the Pro League last season, scoring an impressive seven goals whilst being applauded for his performances at the back.
His excellent performances were rewarded with a call up to the Croatia senior team, and he made his debut against Czechia in a World Cup qualifier last month. Former Spurs midfielder Luka Modrić, over 20 years his senior, had played in the same game.
So, it is clear we are not looking at any run of the mill teenager here. We are looking at a generational talent. Croatian media outlet Vecerni List suggested that Vušković is a player that “comes around every 100 years”.
Although Spurs did have serious issues in central defence last season – emphasised by teenage midfield Archie Gray starting a number of games there – they currently do have serious depth there.
Whilst there is the possibility that they could face another injury crisis, and the probability that there will be injuries of some sort – until that is the case, all we can do is analyse their central defenders as if they are going to be available.
When you look at those options, you see; Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Kevin Danso. Three brilliant players. Then you have Ashley Phillips, who had a productive loan spell at Stoke City in the Championship last season, and Koto Takai – who was a record J-League sale.
Beyond that, you have Radu Dragusin scheduled to return before the end of the year, and seasoned veteran Ben Davies. Quite a number of players to choose from.
Realistically, you would fancy Vušković to be ahead of Phillips, Takai, Dragusin and Davies – and too the aforementioned emergency option of Gray. Trying to push van de Ven, Danso, and Romero out of the side will be much harder.
At Brentford, we often saw Frank use a three at the back system as well as a four at the back. This could play into Vušković’s hands. Some fans have stated they would love to see a back three of (R/L) Romero, Vušković, van de Ven.
That does feel a little harsh on Danso, who put in an absolutely monstrous performance off the bench in the Europa League final against Manchester United. His box defending that night would be very useful in a three at the back – as he showed with Ange moving to a three when he came on.
Still, if Frank does play a three and goes with Romero, Danso, and van de Ven – there will be plenty of opportunities for the Croatian defender. Although many have attributed the injuries last season to Ange – Romero has only played more than 31 league games once in his career.
Furthermore, a cryptic social media post from the defender earlier this year suggested the injuries were more to do with the physios and medical department at Spurs, rather than Ange himself. So, those issues could still be there.
Over the last two seasons we have also seen van de Ven miss a lot of games, though it should be said that his hamstrings will surely benefit from not having to do quite as much running backwards under Frank.
Nevertheless, with Spurs in the Champions League – there will be plenty of games to go around. There won’t be any games against Ferencvaros or Qarabag where you can just throw in an academy player or someone out of position – quality squad depth will be needed, and Vušković provides that.
It remains to be seen whether or not the 18-year old can crack the starting XI this season, but you would be a fool to rule him out completely from doing so. He may play a lot more than you think.
