Tottenham in talks for potential post-season friendly in Melbourne
Tottenham are in talks about playing a post-season friendly in Ange Postecoglou's home city of Melbourne after being eliminated from the FA Cup.
The club is exploring another trip Down Under for an exhibition match on Wednesday, May 22 -- three days after they finish the campaign at Sheffield United.
Nothing has been agreed and plans were on ice while Spurs were still in the FA Cup, with this season's final on May 25, but Friday's 1-0 home defeat to holders Manchester City ended their hopes of winning the competition for the first time since 1991.
A visit to Melbourne would generate huge buzz given the interest in Postecoglou in Australia -- dubbed 'Ange-mania' -- but is unlikely to be well received by senior players and international managers preparing for the summer's European Championship, which starts on June 14.
Gareth Southgate is certain to select James Maddison in his England squad and will want not want the playmaker risked in a friendly on the other side of the world, while Radu Dragusin, Timo Werner, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven are also likely to be involved in the tournament.
Postecoglou's side, though, will play just 41 games this term after their FA Cup fourth-round exit, having been knocked out of the League Cup in the third round by Fulham.
In May 2015, Spurs played post-season friendlies in Malaysia and Sydney, while they also visited Australia last summer as part of a tour with stops at Perth, Bangkok and Singapore.
Though Spurs will play fewer matches this season than in any campaign since 2005-06, post and pre-season tours are widely considered to be increasing the strain on players in an ever-more congested elite calendar.
Earlier this month Postecoglou said: "The concern moving forward is the load players have to carry on these days in the number of games, tournaments, representative football they have to play and coming up with a calendar which allows them to play at their best without too much attrition from a physical perspective."
