Vertonghen, Davies and scorers react to Juve win

Sun 06 August 2017, 09:11|Tottenham Hotspur

Jan Vertonghen hailed “our most complete performance” of the summer so far as we built ourselves the ideal launch pad ahead of the start of the Premier League season with a 2-0 victory over Italian champions Juventus at Wembley on Saturday.

Goals from Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen either side of the break sealed the deal in a match that came hot on the heels of our tour of the USA, where a fine 4-2 victory over Paris Saint-Germain was followed up with a last-gasp 3-2 defeat against another Serie A side in Roma, before an unflattering 3-0 loss to Manchester City.

Centre-half Jan, left-back Ben Davies and the two goalscorers spoke of their pride at the way we played against Juve, but underlined how the really serious business begins next weekend at Newcastle. Here’s what they had to say to us…

Jan Vertonghen

Thoughts on the game
“It was our most complete performance in pre-season. We did well, defended well, played as a team, created lot of chances, especially in the first half and I think we can be happy with that performance. It is still pre-season, we have to remember that, but they are a great side and I’ve always been impressed by them so to win today is a good feeling.”

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Another practice at Wembley – our home for this season…
“It was good to play a friendly at Wembley just before the season starts against a very good opponent in Juventus, who are champions in Italy and Champions League finalists twice in the last few years. We’ve proved, at this moment, we can compete with them.”

Ben Davies

On the team’s display
“It was a good game, a good performance, especially in the first half. It was a very good side that we played today and it was nice to get the win. It's a big confidence booster – when you play against a team like Juventus with the quality they've got in that side and you put in a performance like we did today, it definitely gives you confidence going into the start of the season.”

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A useful warm-up with most of our senior players starting…
“It's up to the manager who plays next week but it was nice to get some minutes under our belts and it's now about putting in good performances, starting next week. Personally I was happy, I thought it was a decent game. I thought the first half was probably a bit better than the second but overall it's another 90 minutes under my belt and now it's all about just getting fit for the start of the season.”

Christian Eriksen

What are your post-match feelings?
“It was positive, 100 per cent. I thought we played a strong game. We know it’s a friendly but it was our last test before Newcastle so it was a good finish. We’re a bit closer to the start of the season than them but we need to be in the right shape to play and perform next weekend. We did what we should, we ran the metres, got our condition and everything is in motion for next weekend.”

Talk us through your goal…
“It was the easiest option to take it around Buffon. I said to Dele before that I was open and this time he gave the pass, it was great timing and a good goal.”

How do you summarise where we are in pre-season?
“I think we’re in really good shape. You never know before the first game but with all the running and the games we’ve played, everything is building up to the new season. We still have a week to go to finish everything off and get everything in the right place but we’ve done really well and we can be happy with our pre-season.”

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Thoughts on 2017-18
“Everyone in the team wants to improve on what we did last season. We all know last season was an exceptional season for everyone and we need to do the same again. It’s the football world, you have to do the same or even better and that’s what we want to do, we want to be better.”

Harry Kane

On the outcome
“A lot of their players played in the Champions League Final last season and we dominated from the start, pressed high, got that early goal and controlled the game from there. It was a great performance and one that will give us a lot of confidence going forward into the new season.”

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On the width to our play at times
“It was a nice pitch for us, we could spread the play out, make space, we had runners in behind and our defence pushed up and made it difficult for them. It was a good performance. We have to work hard next week now and take that form into the first game against Newcastle.”