Tottenham boarded a plane to Australia for a post-season friendly just hours after their 3-0 victory over Sheffield United in their final match of the Premier League season on Sunday.
Ange Postecoglou’s team have travelled to play Newcastle at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the city the Spurs head coach calls home.
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The fixture has drawn criticism from climate change campaign groups, and raised questions over the extra demands it places on players amid a congested fixture calendar.
Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier has said on Thursday that the friendly on the other side of the world was “not ideal.”
“It’s not ideal because it’s a tournament year. I understand why the club are doing it. I’ve done it at Tottenham and [Atlético] Madrid but from my own experience of it, in a tournament year it’s not ideal.
Asked about Trippier’s comments, Postecoglou said: “Our situation is a bit different from Newcastle’s. They’ve had a European season, Champions League, it’s been a big season. We haven’t. It’s no secret part of this [is] exposure but also revenue for us.
