Melbourne fixture a cash grab? Tottenham’s friendly raises concerns
Tottenham Hotspur are set to visit Australia in a post-season friendly, as they are scheduled to play Newcastle United at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a venue with a capacity of 100,000 spectators, per The Athletic.
While a clash between two Premier League rivals is expected to be a promising spectacle, multiple pundits have raised concerns about running players to the ground with a friendly scheduled just days after the conclusion of the season, complemented by the long flight down to Australia. The flights down south have also been pinned with environmental concerns owing to the carbon footprint and CO2 emissions.
Pundits Alasdair Gold question Tottenham’s Post-Season friendly
Tottenham Hotspur correspondent journalist Alasdair Gold has spoken about the controversial fixture, citing sporting reasons that don’t make sense for Daniel Levy to schedule such a friendly barely hours after the season ends. He insists on how such a friendly would go down in the dressing room and whether it makes sense for the club to travel this far just days after the season concludes.
Speaking on the Gold and Guest Talk Tottenham podcast, Alasdair Gold said:
“I mean, overall, when you look at it, you can’t get past the Melbourne friendly against Newcastle, which is, I’m intrigued to know how that’s gone down with the players, because they are kind of getting whisked away straight away after the Sheffield United match for a 22-hour flight or so straight down to Melbourne to play a game. I think they’re only there for about 36–48 hours, and they’ll kind of come back again, which is going to be an experience. But certainly Melbourne will go mad for it, because that’s Ange’s city, where he grew up.”
While Australian supporters would be excited about hosting Tottenham and Newcastle, especially after the season both clubs have played, there are many red flags to the fixture from a sporting point of view. It adds to all the drama that players go through around the season, and the intensity of ‘Ange’s City’ would be another scene of exhaustion for players, especially with Copa America and Euro 2024 to be played in the off-season.
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This fixture showcases how players are treated as mere assets for financial gains and how they are run to the ground till they put their hands up only to serve sidelines for an extended time.
However, to look at the positives from an Australian fan perspective, this is an opportunity for all Spurs faithful down in the hemisphere to feel part of the season after having to wake up at 4 in the morning to follow Tottenham every weekend.
