Photo: TVSEI / CC BY 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi confirmed several senior players were absent from the club's pre-season win over Sydney FC on Wednesday, citing injury management and fatigue as the primary reasons.
Spurs won the match 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in normal time, their third win from three pre-season games. Mathys Tel opened the scoring with a free kick before Takehiro Sekine equalised in the second half, with Martin Dubravka's save proving decisive in the shootout.
Kevin Danso, Micky van de Ven, Dominic Solanke, Jan Paul van Hecke, Destiny Udogie and Mateus Fernandes all missed the fixture. De Zerbi addressed each case after the game.
"Danso, van de Ven, Solanke, Jan Paul van Hecke, I thought today they were not ready yet to play without risk," De Zerbi said. "Maybe some of them can play the next game, on Saturday against Chelsea. Maybe not in the beginning, maybe at the beginning Robertson and Sandro Tonali."
De Zerbi pointed specifically to the demands of the World Cup and long-term injuries as factors in his decisions. "It is about managing the players, especially after the World Cup or after big injuries like Udogie or Solanke had. They suffered long injuries last season and after a long trip, after the jet lag, ahead the beginning of the season, I wouldn't like to take any risks."
On Fernandes, De Zerbi indicated the issue is minor. "Fernandes is just fatigue, in the calf, and also for him, we took the decision not to take any risks," he said. "And next week, when we return to London, he will be able to work."
Fernandes joined Tottenham from West Ham earlier this month in a deal worth up to 92.5 million pounds. The Saturday fixture against Chelsea will be Spurs' fourth pre-season outing.