The Tottenham U21 side were taught a harsh lesson about the challenges of football at the senior level as they were thrashed 5-2 by a League Two side in their first pre-season friendly of the summer.
The Thomas Frank era at Tottenham Hotspur is now underway, and the fans are eagerly waiting to watch the Dane’s Spurs side in action for the first time.
Spurs are less than 10 days away from their first pre-season friendly against Reading and the supporters will be keeping a keen eye on that fixture to see the tactical set-up that Frank employs.
In the meantime, the academy youngsters have already been in action, with Wayne Burnett’s side taking to the field against League Two side Bromley at Hayes Lane on Tuesday, and it was not far from the ideal start to the summer.
Bromley stun Tottenham U21s with a sensational comeback
Tottenham’s youngsters had a positive start to the game, with midfielder Reiss Russell-Denny giving them the lead from the spot before Tyrese Hall doubled their lead after latching onto a long ball from goalkeeper Luca Gunter.
However, there were worrying signs before the break as the home side started dictating proceedings and Soul Kader reduced the deficit just before the interval.
Bromley’s Marcus Dinanga then stole the show in the second period, scoring four goals as the League Two outfit ran out 5-2 winners, leaving Burnett with plenty to mull over.
Goals for Reiss Russell-Denny and Tyrese Hall, but it ended in defeat for our Under-21s in their first pre-season outing.
Read the match report 🗞️👇
— Tottenham Hotspur Academy (@Spurs_Academy) July 8, 2025
Some notable absentees for Spurs Under-21s
Frank will have an extremely bloated squad to work with in pre-season, and one would imagine that not all the young players will make the trip to Asia with the first-team.
Some might have thus expected the likes of Jamie Donley, Luka Vuskovic, Alfie Devine, Yang Min-hyeok, George Abbott and others to be given opportunities for the U21s so that they can be assessed in a match scenario.
However, at the same time, Frank and his staff may have wanted to assess them closely for the first few weeks of pre-season before deciding on their futures.
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