6 days ago
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Lucas Bergvall hopes he has some of that "magic" needed to be the number 10 in Thomas Frank's Tottenham system and admitted that the players "kind of knew" that Son Heung-min would be leaving.
It is a time of change at Spurs with a new head coach in Frank, captain Son departing for LAFC after 10 years at the north London club, a couple of new faces joining and now James Maddison suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury that will keep him out of action for most of the coming season.
With Dejan Kulusevski set for a long road back from his patella surgery and a failed attempt to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest, Frank has a vacancy in the number 10 role while the club attempts to sign a new recruit.
Both Pape Matar Sarr and Bergvall, more naturally central midfielders, have been playing in the role during pre-season and both got a half each in the position during Thursday's disappointing pre-season finale at Bayern Munich as Frank's side were comfortably beaten 4-0 by Harry Kane & Co.
"It was tough. We were not good enough today," Bergvall told football.london after the game at the Allianz Arena. "We need to go home and work, we have an important day next week in the Super Cup final. We need to do a lot better and go there and try to win the game."
The 19-year-old admitted that Maddison's injury was a tough one to take and that the England international was devastated in the dressing room after the draw with Newcastle in South Korea.
"It’s just so, so unlucky. He’s been working so hard to get back and then in his second game back that happens. Football can be brutal sometimes. We need to support him and for him to get back even stronger," said the Swede. "Yeah [he was inconsolable], especially as it was supposed to be a beautiful ending for Sonny as well, then it was just so brutal for Madders. Of course everyone at the club was upset about that. He’s an unbelievable player."
So is Bergvall ready to step up into a position he would play in on occasions for former club Djurgarden but on a Premier League and Champions League level?
"I’m just going to play in whatever position Thomas wants me to play, doesn’t matter if it’s six, eight or a ten. I’ll play there and do my best," he said.
"Of course there’s a difference [between the roles]. You’re further up the pitch. When you’re a six, you have to come out to get the ball more, be more in the build-up. When you’re a ten you need to have some magic and come into the box and score goals and assist."
So does the Swede have that magic in his boots?
"I don’t know, we’ll see!" the teenager said with a grin. "I feel like I can do a good job there. Maybe I’m not a typical ten but with Madders and Kulu injured, maybe I need to step up. Pape played there today so we’ll see. I’ll just play wherever he wants me."
Bergvall told football.london that Frank's training sessions are "a lot about pressing and clean sheets and mentality" and admitted that the pain of missing out on the Europa League final through injury was something that would motivate him to push on this campaign after being voted Spurs' player of the season in his debut year at the club.
“Of course I want to keep going. It’s really tough to get injured before the final. I needed to accept it and support the team," he said. "Now I’m fully back, I’m getting better every day, just training, I want to keep going, I want to win things, we have five or six things to win this year. I want to go for everything. I feel like of course I was a part of it but I didn’t play in the final, I still want to do that."
The man who lifted that trophy in Bilbao has now gone, with Son completing a MLS-record move to Los Angeles that will be worth more than £20milliion to Spurs. Bergvall admits it has already taken some getting use to with the popular South Korean not around the squad any more.
"He’s a legend at the club and probably the best player in the club’s history. So it’s a bit strange because he’s always been there. I don’t think we have fully realised yet but we probably will," he said.
"We kind of knew [he was going]. Of course everybody saw the conference before the game. We [officially found out] just before that.
"Everybody talked to him after the game and everybody was taking pictures and wishing him the best. He will probably come back to the stadium and see everybody."
Bergvall believes the other leaders have been looking to step up in Son's absence, with Frank set to make his captaincy decision in the coming days.
"Yeah, of course [they have]. We have a lot of good people in Cuti, Vicario, a lot of good people with good mentality," he said before expanding on Romero's style of leadership. "He’s got a strong mentality, you always need to work hard, to do your best, work as a team. Yeah, a really good player.”
Another experienced player has joined the club this week in 30-year-old Joao Palhinha, who played his first minutes in a while in the first half of the game in Munich after joining on loan from Bayern with an option for Tottenham to sign him permanently.
"Of course he’s played at a top level for years," said Bergvall. "So it’s good to have that knowledge come into the team and help us younger people in the side and be a part of the team. It’s really important."
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