Think you're thinking of Mikey Moore
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Sorry I thought this was the Mikey More Thread Donley did sign a new contract.
If we are playing shit there will be chances. (I mean if we are mid table and not playing European football at the highest level - we might actually need to play younger players then)
But the reality is putting a 18 year old boy up against the best professionals in the world isn’t going to increase spurs chances of winning the league.
Parrott, Scarlett and White all currently showing how difficult it is to step up from youth to the very highest tier of adult football.
Saw a comment the other day saying that the premier league is at a higher level than international football. And I would 100% agree with that.
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No one learns without be given a chance. Look at Kane if Soldado didn't turn out to be awful and Adebayor lazy he would never been given a chance in the Europa League. The fact is if you never get given a chance to learn you will forever stuck at a level.
How old was Kane? Where did he play first? Was he anywhere near the finished article at 18?
You lot talk about throwing in 17 and 18 year olds to the first team. 99 out of 100 times that won’t work.
Dane Scarlett has started the journey down the Harry Kane loan route.
He was very good early on at Pompey, & their fans loved him, then IIRC a change of manager & some injuries has led to him hardly playing.
Kane's early loans weren't hugely successful either in pure stat terms, but he clearly learned loads and matured as a player and person.
I would hope our new Head Coach looks at our young strikers in pre-season - Scarlett, Donley, Parrott etc - assesses their level, and then works with the DoF on a development plan.
The player nearest first team level could stay as a squad player, getting minutes off the bench, and the DoF should identify the best loans for the others.
In passing, remember Mourinho tipped Scarlett to play for England, calling him "phenomenal".
Jose Mourinho tips Spurs' Dane Scarlett to be 'phenomenal' for England
Was Saka a finished project at 17 when Emery first played him? It is not a 99/100 times but if there is no route to the first team youngsters will not stick around and we end up keeping Tanganga or Winks 1 extra season.
Think with Scarlett, he hit “the wall”, starting well, then the week on week grind has worn him down.
Gives him a bar, for next season.
Saka is an interesting one.
Do you thinks he’s significantly better than Phil Foden?
Both given a lot of first team opportunities at a very young age
Foden made his debut for City at 18 or 19. While we have Romaine Mundle about to leave at the age 20 and he has not made any appearances.
Deleted member 15314
Guest
I think people underestimate how many players are making their first team debuts at that age.
- Sarr was 19 when he started against Milan.
- Skipp was 18/19 when started making sub appearances in cup games (IMO, he was ready for more but Poch let him down), and at 20 he was one of the most pivotal players in Norwich's dominant season in the championship.
- Camavinga is a star at RM and only 20.
- Musiala was already establishing himself at Bayern by 18.
- Sancho got his Dortmund debut at 17 and by was already a star.
- Foden got his PL debut at 17
- Gavi made his debut at 17
- Pedri also debuted at 17
- Bellingham goes without saying
Of course not all players burst on to the scene at that age, and you shouldn't just thoughtlessly throw young players into the deep end, but this is not an unusual age for a player to start breaking into the first team. We're also not man city, Bayern etc. surely we can be more proactive in bringing through our most promising academy players at that kind of age.
Yes, but Dane Scarlett & Alfie Devine both made their first team debuts for us as 16-year-olds.
Cynically, I've always wondered if this was Mourinho creating a narrative "look the Special One gave these players their debuts" in case they become superstars.
Anyway, the key developmental question is how do Spurs (& all clubs) then help these young players to develop & fulfil their potential during those crucial late teen / early 20s years?
Would Harry Kane have become such a great player if we'd stuck him in the first team at 17? Or did he benefit from numerous loans, and fighting to climb the striker pecking order to get ahead of Soldado and Adebayor when he was 20-21 years old?
I agree with those who argue that young players need to play competitive football. But to play for Spurs (or any top PL team), the Head Coach needs to believe the player can contribute & commit to them, as Guardiola did with Foden but wasn't prepared to do with Sancho (hence his move to Dortmund to play regularly).
- all those players you list were absolutely outstanding at 17. First time I saw Pedri, he was the best player on the pitch. At 17, at Barca, that is ridiculously good.
Kane is a fantastic player. He wouldn't have been the best player on the pitch at 17 in a PL game.
As
Spursidol
has stated, what we can't repeat is the KWP & Foyth experiments, where talented young players were essentially starved of competitive match football at crucial developmental times.
Not really why I was asking it.
But you would need to ask why Mundle has not impressed Mourinho or conte internally.
Or been highlighted as needing a loan from the development team.
Back to Foden v Saka. Foden also made his debut at 17. He also started a CL game at 17 as well.
However this season he has only played about half the game time of Saka in the premier league. Whose development this is helping / hindering only time will tell though. My point being developing players is never purely a linear thing.
Went through this in the youth thread recently.
Circa 95% of players coming through the elite clubs academy systems don’t ever play top level football.
So when you think that out of that remaining 5% how many get thrown into the first team at 17/18 you are really talking the best of the best.
And also they are physically and mentally ready for it too.
So just based on that 5% figure I would say it’s actually quite unusual rather than the norm.
Deleted member 15314
Guest
My point is that if you think you've got some especially talented players in the academy, you've got to let them dip their toes into proper football, not rotting away in the bowels of the academy. The Pedri, Bellingham, Musiala tier of player will quickly show what they're worth.Yes, but Dane Scarlett & Alfie Devine both made their first team debuts for us as 16-year-olds.
Cynically, I've always wondered if this was Mourinho creating a narrative "look the Special One gave these players their debuts" in case they become superstars.
Anyway, the key developmental question is how do Spurs (& all clubs) then help these young players to develop & fulfil their potential during those crucial late teen / early 20s years?
Would Harry Kane have become such a great player if we'd stuck him in the first team at 17? Or did he benefit from numerous loans, and fighting to climb the striker pecking order to get ahead of Soldado and Adebayor when he was 20-21 years old?
I agree with those who argue that young players need to play competitive football. But to play for Spurs (or any top PL team), the Head Coach needs to believe the player can contribute & commit to them, as Guardiola did with Foden but wasn't prepared to do with Sancho (hence his move to Dortmund to play regularly).
- all those players you list were absolutely outstanding at 17. First time I saw Pedri, he was the best player on the pitch. At 17, at Barca, that is ridiculously good.
Kane is a fantastic player. He wouldn't have been the best player on the pitch at 17 in a PL game.
As
If not, they can go back to the academy or find a loan to develop more. What we can't have is situations like Mundle who turned 20 without a hope of first team football or a loan, and now wants to go somewhere that will give him a fair shot.
We need a constant flow of talented 17, 18, 19 year olds going into the first team every season, given a few chances here and there to see if they can step up. Otherwise, we'll only ever produce a Skipp and a Winks here and there.
On the other hand dier
Why is my die leaving? His not any good?
Donley's Dad
Fair play
Fair play