Tottenham Hotspur lost 2-1 to Watford in their final pre-season friendly game.
The first goal came in the 19th minute through Domingos Quina, who picked the ball up, drove towards the Spurs goal, and fired a rifle past Joe Hart, who will be disappointed he didn't save the effort.
The Hornets doubled their lead just before half-time, Andre Grey slotting his penalty home after Dennis Cirkin brought down Tom Dele-Bashiruin the box.
Spurs looked out of ideas, but a late Heung Min-Son penalty made sure the last ten minutes were tense.
Here are the main points we learnt from the affair:
Back-up striker must be a priority
Harry Kane, the only recognisable striker in the first team, was away on International duty so the role came naturally onto Son.
Despite having obvious bags of quality, it’s a fairly common theme that Spurs lack something when a natural forward is not present.
The Korean international often drops into pockets and veers out into his more comfortable position on the wing – leaving a big gap and no vocal point to orchestrate the attacks from.
This was on show today. The Lilywhites were woeful in the final third, creating next to nothing and when a rare chance appeared, they could not convert.
Their only goal came from a penalty after Glen Murray took Erik Lamela down, and Son converted.
Spurs fans will show today’s 90 minutes as massive evidence that a backup striker is very much needed going into next season.
Jose Mourinho appears to agree with these statements, with a striker reportedly being the next position Spurs want to sign.
Defense is still a problem
A clear fault of Spurs’ 2019/2020 season was their defensive fragilities.
Mourinho could not settle on his favoured four, and too often individual errors would cost them games.
This performance will not encourage Mourinho’s to think that those times are behind him - the defence looking very shaky and vulnerable against Watford's lively attack.
No one committed to the challenge and numerous players continued to let Quina run at them, and he eventually thumped in Watford’s opener.
New signing Hart will also be disappointed he didn’t save the long-range attempt.
Albeit powerful, it did not nestle into the top corner and was in a part of the goal you would expect the keeper to get too.
Cirkin was next in line, making a rash challenge on Dele-Bashiru to give away a penalty, which Grey converted.
Spurs will take some comfort, knowing that this will be way off their strongest defence, but Cameron Carter-Vickers and Cirkin will be frustrated they didn’t fully take the opportunity to make their case for the first team.
Ndombele is in the plans
Tanguy Ndombele, to the delight of most Spurs fans, started the match.
This was his first appearance in pre-season, due to contracting the Coronavirus, therefore having to self-isolate for 14 days which covered the Ipswich, Reading, and Birmingham friendlies.
He looked fairly tidy and grew with confidence as the half went on but struggled to make a true impact in the final third.
He was one of many who got axed at half-time, but this was expected as he will be behind on fitness.
There was clear delight at his name being in the starting 11, due to the absolute admiration of his clear abilities.
However, his time at Spurs has been unstable – struggling to embed his talent consistently under Mourinho.
This has led to strong rumours over his future in North London – Inter Milan are strongly rumoured with the 23-year-old.
However, he is reportedly set to stay at the club and will be given a chance to prove himself – hence getting 45 minutes under his belt against Watford today.
Rose's time looks to be over
Danny Rose once again did not feature at all.
The likes of Kane, Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg and Steven Bergijwn and others missed out due to being called up to their respective national sides.
However, Rose was not one of them, making him available to be selected for today.
Mourinho opted not to even pick him for the squad once again and the 30-year-old has yet to be seen in the pre-season friendlies.
Cirkin, 18-years-old, was the starting left-back while the bench was filled with academy players.
It speaks volumes about Rose’s situation that he is not even the matchday squad.
It appears that the latest episodes of the All or Nothing documentary, coming Monday, highlights Mourinho and Rose’s breakdown of communication.
He was shipped out on loan to Newcastle United in January and today was a further reminder that his 13-year-stay at the club is nearing its end.