Why Rodrigo Bentancur was replaced in the Tottenham starting XI at last minute

Rodrigo Bentancur was withdrawn from the pre-season friendly against Wycombe Wanderers just before kick-off, and Alasdair Gold has now revealed Tottenham’s reason behind doing so.

Tottenham Hotspur play two pre-season friendlies today, with their clash against Wycombe at Hotspur Way now finished and a different team set to travel to Luton Town later this afternoon.

Thomas Frank has confirmed that two evenly matched Tottenham teams will play against Wycombe and Luton, and that is demonstrated by his team selection.

The Dane named a strong side to take on the League One side, but curiously, even though Rodrigo Bentancur was named in the starting line-up, the midfielder did not take to the pitch.

Alasdair Gold reveals the reason for Rodrigo Bentancur’s Tottenham absence

It was academy midfielder George Abbott who took to the field instead of Bentancur against Wycombe, with the Uruguayan removed from the matchday squad.

Football.London’s Alasdair Gold has now revealed that the former Juventus star missed out on the game after coming down with an illness.

He explained that Abbott was initially expected to be part of the Spurs squad which travelled to Luton this afternoon, but after Bentancur fell ill, he was swapped for the 19-year-old around half an hour before kick-off.

Does Thomas Frank’s Spurs team selection shed light on his plans?

The team selection for the two friendlies does not give too much of a hint on who is ahead in Frank’s pecking order, with two very evenly matched teams being named for both fixtures.

However, it is interesting to note that Tottenham have once again been set up in a 4-2-3-1, which seems to be the formation that Frank will predominantly employ next season.

We have seen from the Reading clash that Frank wants to build up with three at the back, with one full-back tucking in and the other pushing up and wide.

With the system requiring one full-back to be conservative in possession and have the ability to play centrally, Ben Davies could prove to be a good fit for the role, which means that signing another left-back may not be a huge priority this summer.

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