Tottenham's Unbeaten Preseason: Williams-Barnett Shines in Hoffenheim Draw
Tottenham Hotspur’s preseason ended behind closed doors, on a training pitch rather than under stadium lights, but the themes were big enough for any arena: fitness, depth, kids stepping up, and one nagging worry at centre-back.
A 2-2 draw with TSG Hoffenheim, less than 24 hours after a 3-0 win over the same opponents, wrapped up an unbeaten summer for Roberto De Zerbi. This one was looser, more experimental, and at times chaotic. It still told plenty.
A penalty wake-up, then a response
Hoffenheim struck first. Spurs tried to play out, were punished, and James Maddison wore the consequences.
Dropping deep to receive from Brandon Austin, Maddison was caught on the ball by Leon Avdullahu. As the winger broke into the box, Maddison pulled him down. Adam Hlozek rolled in the penalty. One-nil, and Spurs’ rust was there in plain sight.
The response came from an unlikely source. From a short corner routine, Mateus Fernandes whipped in a superb cross and Ben Davies met it with a firm header to level. A centre-back’s goal, but born from a midfielder’s imagination.
The pressure then shifted. Pape Matar Sarr, operating as a No 10, slalomed past Albian Hajdari and slipped a delicious reverse pass into the path of Luca Williams-Barnett. The teenager didn’t snatch at it. One touch, guided finish, 2-1 Spurs at the break. Calm, clinical, and another marker laid down by a youngster who refuses to treat preseason like a friendly kickabout.
Valentin Gendry’s thumping second-half volley hauled Hoffenheim level and closed the scoring, but the real story sat beneath the scoreline.
De Zerbi’s ‘Frankensquad’ experiment
Look at the team sheet and you’d be forgiven for thinking De Zerbi had lost his mind and picked a midfielders-only XI. Three recognised central midfielders, two attacking midfielders, one winger, no striker. It read like a coaching drill, not a matchday plan.
On the pitch, though, the structure stayed familiar: a 4-2-3-1 in all but name. Fernandes and Rodrigo Bentancur anchored midfield, Sarr played as the 10, with Williams-Barnett and Damola Ajayi out wide. Maddison, nominally the false 9, drifted deep so often that Spurs at times looked like they were playing with no one up top at all.
It wasn’t smooth. Maddison, short of sharpness, kept dropping into zones already occupied by Sarr, clogging the middle and leaving the box empty. But this was less about fluid attacking patterns and more about minutes. De Zerbi had a cluster of returning players to reintroduce and not enough games left to do it neatly.
The shape survived. The experiment served its purpose.
Maddison back, but clearly short
Maddison’s return matters. His passing range and creativity transformed Spurs when he arrived last season and their drop-off without him was stark.
Here, the touch was still there in flashes – a clever pass into a pocket, a quick combination around the box – but the legs and instincts were half a beat off. The penalty incident summed it up: slow to the ball, then forced into a desperate foul.
He lasted only the first half before being replaced by Reiss Elliot-Parris, a more orthodox centre-forward. No alarm bells yet, but it underlined what everyone at Spurs already knows: Maddison needs minutes, and he needs them quickly, if he is to hit the level required when the real stuff starts.
The Micky van de Ven question
One name stayed missing. Again.
Micky van de Ven has not played a single preseason minute. He returned late after the World Cup with the Netherlands, but others in similar situations have already featured. For a player with his injury history, every silent absence starts to sound louder.
Spurs have managed to get most of their key figures on the pitch at some stage this summer. Van de Ven remains the glaring exception. If there is a knock, no one is rushing to spell it out. If there isn’t, the mystery grows. Either way, Tottenham’s defence is weaker without him, and the season is almost here.
Hoffenheim press the weak spots
Hoffenheim had clearly done their homework. They went after Spurs’ build-up with aggression, and they picked their targets.
Right-back Tye Hall and goalkeeper Brandon Austin were pressed hardest. Whenever Austin tried to thread a pass into midfield, Hoffenheim sprang the trap, hunting any slightly loose touch. That pattern led directly to the opening penalty and repeatedly put Spurs on edge.
Austin, to his credit, responded with his hands. He produced a sharp near-post save from a Nathan De Cat flick and then stood up brilliantly to deny Adam Daghim one-on-one. The distribution wobbled at times, the shot-stopping did not.
Across the goalkeeping group, Spurs look deep if not spectacular: Austin, Martin Dubravka and Antonin Kinsky form a trio with few obvious weaknesses between them, even if none currently sits in the league’s elite bracket. And that’s before you mention Guglielmo Vicario.
Fernandes finds his range
If the first half slightly muted Mateus Fernandes’ reputation as an aggressive passer, the second half restored it with interest.
Early on, his quality came in the final third: a low, skidding cross that Sarr was inches from converting, then the perfectly measured delivery for Davies’ header. After the interval, the game opened up and Fernandes began to show his full catalogue.
Crossfield switches, punched diagonals, looping passes that forced Hoffenheim to shuffle and stretch. He moved the ball with intent, not just for the sake of it. For a Spurs side that lacked line-breaking passing for long stretches of last season, his emergence as a genuine distributor feels significant.
Just as important: he went the distance. Ninety minutes in the legs, and plenty of influence on the ball.
Williams-Barnett steals the show
Among all the senior names and returning internationals, the standout performer wore the shirt of a teenager.
Luca Williams-Barnett tormented Vladimir Coufal repeatedly, beating him on the outside, then on the inside, then with pure acceleration. Earlier in preseason, he occasionally ran with his head down, chasing the spectacular finish. This time, he showed he’d been paying attention.
Once past his man, his choices improved: simple, crisp passes, cut-backs into dangerous areas, the right decision more often than not. The goal crowned it. Timing, movement, composure – he met Sarr’s reverse ball first time and passed it into the corner with the ease of a player who thinks he belongs.
On this evidence, a loan feels premature. With Spurs still light in attacking depth, it would be no surprise to see Williams-Barnett edge his way into senior minutes when the competitive fixtures begin.
Academy doors stay open
De Zerbi has leaned heavily on the academy this summer, but this game went a step further. The names were new even to many who follow the youth ranks closely.
Fifteen-year-old goalkeeper Mikel Jack made the bench, son of former Trinidad and Tobago stopper Kelvin Jack. Reiss Elliot-Parris and Miracle Adewole both stepped onto the pitch in Lilywhite for the first time.
They didn’t change the match. They didn’t need to. The sight of two 18-year-olds getting their first taste of senior football says enough about the pathway under the current regime.
Minutes, management, and what comes next
The pattern of substitutions told the real story of the afternoon. Fitness first.
Maddison was hooked at half-time. Souza and Ajayi, both returning from injury, were carefully managed and withdrawn around the 70-minute mark. Fernandes played the full game. Sarr and Williams-Barnett logged heavy minutes before finally making way.
Across preseason, Spurs have had the luxury of mostly one game a week ahead of the campaign. De Zerbi has used that space to build conditioning methodically rather than chase perfect performances in July and August.
An unbeaten run, returning stars, a couple of breakout youngsters, one big question at centre-back, and a squad that looks ready to run.
Now comes the only test that matters: can this version of Tottenham carry that optimism into a season that suddenly feels there for the taking?
