Mauricio Pochettino says Tottenham's younger players have 'massive opportunity' on US tour
Tuesday 24 July 2018 09:12, UK
Mauricio Pochettino says Tottenham's tour of the United States is a "massive opportunity" for the younger players to prove they are good enough for the first team.
Spurs trained on Monday for the first time since arriving in Los Angeles ahead of their opening International Champions Cup match against Roma on Thursday.
That game is followed by matches against Barcelona on Sunday and AC Milan next Wednesday.
Many internationals are still missing following the World Cup although Colombia defender Davinson Sanchez was back in training.
"It's a massive opportunity for our younger players to show their quality and for players to show they are in condition to fight for a place in the first team," Pochettino told the club's website.
"We have three very good tests and more than results, it's about how we are going to approach the games and both collective and individual performances," added Pochettino.
"It's about players showing they are in condition to fight for a place in the starting 11 and to share that with our fans in America will be fantastic."
"We're looking forward to playing, looking forward to a nice Tour and sharing [time] with our fans, that's important too."
Spurs had nine players involved in the World Cup semi-finals including World Cup winner Hugo Lloris as well as the England contingent of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Kieran Trippier, Eric Dier and Danny Rose.
They are not expected to return until much nearer the Premier League opener against Newcastle on August 11 live on Sky Sports.
But Denmark's Christian Eriksen has been included in Tottenham's 25-man squad for the International Champions Cup along with Heung-Min Son and Moussa Sissoko, who missed out on the World Cup with France.
All three trained in California as Spurs look to get their pre-season campaign off to a winning start against last season's Champions League semi-finalists.
