Tottenham's Pre-Season Preparations: Balancing Caution and Ambition
Tottenham shut the gates at Hotspur Way this afternoon, but the work inside could shape the start of their season.
A behind-closed-doors meeting with LaLiga side Getafe marks the latest step in a pre-season that has already taken Roberto De Zerbi’s squad to the other side of the world and back. The jet lag has barely worn off; the intensity will not.
From Down Under drama to quiet graft
Spurs return from New Zealand and Australia unbeaten, four games without defeat and with a statement finish: that breathless 2-1 win over Chelsea, sealed by Richarlison with virtually the last kick of the tour. Ten men, late winner, London rivals. De Zerbi could hardly have asked for a better emotional jolt to end the trip.
Yet the mood at Hotspur Way now is less about adrenaline, more about calibration. Two weeks remain before the Premier League opener away at Brentford. This is the stretch where managers either sharpen a team or lose key players to overreach.
De Zerbi knows which side of that line Spurs lived on last season. Their campaign frayed under the weight of injuries. He has not forgotten.
Caution on the treatment table
The Italian has been careful this summer, sometimes frustratingly so for those desperate to see a full-strength XI, but understandably wary of repeating old mistakes.
Destiny Udogie has not kicked a ball in pre-season. James Maddison has also yet to feature, his hip problem now serious enough that there are suggestions he is racing the clock to make that Brentford curtain-raiser. These are not fringe figures; they are pillars of how Spurs want to play.
Micky van de Ven, on the verge of signing a new contract, has been kept on ice since returning from the World Cup. Dominic Solanke only just tasted his first minutes of the summer in that win over Chelsea. De Zerbi is easing some back, shelving others, and refusing to be rushed.
He has reason. Spurs spent heavily again and the squad has a new spine to bed in, but there is no point forging relationships in July if the key actors are broken by October.
Glimpses of long-awaited returns
There was a different kind of lift at Hotspur Way this week. Long-term absentees Mohammed Kudus and Dejan Kulusevski were spotted running together in training, a small scene that will have felt enormous inside the camp.
Kudus has been missing since January with a serious quad injury, his explosive edge removed from Spurs’ attacking options for months. Kulusevski’s absence has been even more stark: more than a year out after a patella injury in May 2025.
The club is treating the Swede with particular care. He is not yet in full team training and remains some distance from a competitive return. No shortcuts, no sentiment. After so long on the sidelines, the margin for error is zero.
Kudus is further along. He has rejoined the main group and is closing in on full fitness, but even here Spurs are resisting temptation. It seems doubtful he will feature against Getafe. Risking a setback in a closed-door friendly would undermine months of careful work.
Big price tag, big decisions
One player who could step back into the frame is Mateus Fernandes. The £85million midfielder missed the last two games with a calf issue but has returned to training and is in contention to play on Saturday.
For De Zerbi, getting Fernandes on the pitch now matters. With Sandro Tonali, Conor Gallagher and the rest of a remodelled midfield to blend, Spurs need minutes together, angles rehearsed, patterns repeated. This is where understanding is built, away from the cameras and the noise.
The predicted XI for Getafe underlines that balancing act between protection and preparation: Kinsky in goal; a back line of Gray, Van de Ven, Van Hecke and Robertson; Fernandes alongside Tonali; Williams-Barnett and Gallagher supporting Tel and Solanke. Strong enough to resemble a Premier League side, experimental enough to offer answers.
Maddison, Udogie and Kudus remain doubts. Their absence keeps a lid on any sense that this is the finished article.
Quiet test before the real thing
Getafe at Hotspur Way will not generate headlines. There are no TV trucks parked outside, no roar from the stands, just the hum of internal scrutiny. For De Zerbi and his staff, though, this is a vital checkpoint.
After this, a double-header against Hoffenheim next weekend provides the final public dress rehearsal before Brentford. Kick-off against Getafe is set for 3pm BST on Saturday August 8, 2026, streamed on SPURSPLAY for those looking in from afar.
By then, De Zerbi will want more than fitness data. He will want signs that the injuries that wrecked last season are being handled smarter, that the new signings are stitching themselves into the fabric of the team, that the late winner in Australia was not a one-off surge but the start of a harder, more resilient Spurs.
Behind closed doors at Hotspur Way, those answers start to emerge. The question is whether they will still look convincing when the gates open at Brentford in two weeks’ time.
