Italians Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Mancini, both former Premier League title winners with Chelsea and Manchester City respectively, returned to England to watch the Tottenham v Newcastle match on Saturday evening and to monitor a number of players from the Italy and Brazil national teams. But most of the names they had hoped to see were missing, and the trip turned into a disappointing one, particularly for Ancelotti.
Mancini was tracking Sandro Tonali, who started for Newcastle, while Destiny Udogie came on as a substitute for Tottenham. The Brazilian players he had expected to watch were all absent, chief among them Richarlison, Savio and Sousa, along with Newcastle’s Joelinton.
Injuries and circumstances denied Ancelotti the chance to assess them up close.
Savio missed out through injury, despite scoring on his first appearance for Tottenham against Charlton following his 85 million pound move from Manchester City. Joelinton was sidelined for the same reason.
Richarlison, meanwhile, did not feature amid ongoing speculation about his future in London, while Sousa remained outside the plans, behind Robertson and Udogie in the pecking order.
Ancelotti had gone to considerable lengths to make it to the match. He spent Friday evening in France watching his son Davide, the Lille manager, take on Paris Saint-Germain, before heading to London for the Tottenham v Newcastle fixture.
His night in France was not ideal. Lille led by two goals until stoppage time, before Vitinha pulled one back in the 91st minute and Marquinhos grabbed the equaliser in the 95th, snatching away a win that had been within his son’s grasp.
At Tottenham, Sweden’s Anthony Elanga settled the contest in Newcastle’s favour with the go-ahead goal in the 60th minute. It handed his side a fresh advantage, and left Ancelotti and Mancini without the chance to watch most of the players they had come to see.