Spurs Youth 2018/19

[Guido 🇺🇦]

I've long held the belief that we should bring in Warburton to Spurs. I think the Club needs a CEO (even more so as we get bigger by the season). The two candidates would be Warburton and Nicola Cortese. I think the position becomes even more acute given the absence of a DoF too.

Warburton is Spurs through and through, a local lad who went to Latymer School (soft twats 'we' beat on with such glee). Apparently, I've been to Spurs with him a couple of times but have almost zero memory as there were a few of us going together (mates would bring their mates etc). Whilst not hitting the heights of his Brentford days there is clearly a clever man there on the football side of things whilst his previous City life gives a degree of business accumen too. However, having heard him interviewed a few times now it does appear that he's simply living his dream working on the football side of things, so maybe the business side wouldn't interest him.

Anyway, back on topic, this might be a good destination for our lads whilst QPR continue to go fully COYS.

 

[coughymachine]

Great stuff.

Are you able to give any more detailed commentary on the match, the starting X1 or players that stood out for you ?

I'm not very familiar with these guys, so it took me a fair while to put some names to the faces. I couldn't give you a starting XI, but, aside from Eddie Carrington (who really was electric on the left wing), some other players who made an impression included Alex Gibson-Hammond, Sashon Aird-Munn and Zanda Siziba.

In terms of the way the game panned out, it was all Spurs, with Bury sitting deep, looking for the chance to counter.

Bury got a very early goal. I think it was from a free kick (I was chatting at the time) near the right edge of Spurs penalty area. The ball was whipped into the box and Spurs failed to deal with it.

Carrington down the left, and Siziba and Aird-Munn down the right caused all sorts of problems for Bury, but Spurs lacked composure in front of goal.

The second half followed a similar pattern. Bury's counter attacking strategy nearly paid off midway through the half when the Spurs keeper came rushing out but was beaten to the ball by the Bury attacker. He lobbed the ball over the keeper from 25yrds out, but it went just over.

Late in the game, Spurs won a free kick just outside the area. They asked if they could take a quick one, which the ref allowed; the ball was slotted through to a runner whilst Bury were still getting organised and he scored.

Cue much bitching from the Bury dugout.

Then, in the last minute or so, the Spurs keeper dropped a simple catch and a Bury player beat him to the loose ball. The keeper brought him down - penalty to Bury, which was converted.

The game finished moments later: 2-1

 

[LilywhiteSonny]

GK, who were you on SC (or would you rather Pm me)?

Was under the same username mate, I literally only singed up to share any Youth Player info I heard because SC generally used to be a better place to talk about youth football than The Fighting Cock. Only posted a couple of times and then was banned - deleted my account and moved over here!

I can sense that changing now though - a lot of new posters have moved over here and are contributing to the youth football page, which is great.

 

[LilywhiteSonny]

Big fan of Liverpool TV's excuse for conceding to us...

"I think because we were finding it too easy, the defenders switched off"

 

[Smogz]

Great game yesterday between Swans and Leeds (on a championship level) I would love if CCV and Edwards wad loaned out to Swansea. Potter is great at making people grow and has during he's years in Sweden been buying young, very talented players with attitude and other problems and turned them into great (in Swedish measurements) players and actually better people. He plays a very possession based game with lot of form changes. He started last year with five different setups and never finished a game with the same setup as he started it. Impossible to read. A loan to Swans would be a massive education for the players.

A loan to Leeds with Bielsa would probably be tougher.

So my suggestion. Edwards and CCV (lack of defenders at Swans) to Swansea and Onomah to Leeds (needs to toughen up).

 

[WindyCOYS]

Great report of the U18 game from IG Spur on Spurs Community:

I started writing this when I got back, then got bored, but thought it would be good to give a classic breakdown so just finished it, so it may sound a bit rushed

Oluwayemi - I'd argue was largely responsible for the outcome of the game. He made 2 or 3 big saves at 0-0 that West Ham should have put away while we were finding our feet. They score those and it all changes. Made himself big and got out quickly. Also doesn't shut up, barking orders at the defenders telling them where they should be

Tainio - Growing on me, though I still feel he essentially a very basic footballer. Not intending to be too critical but he doesn't look out of place.

Lyons-Foster - As always composed at the back. Comfortable turning either way off the ball out of pressure, causing a few off their players to hit the deck though it was wet. Always looking for the forward pass. The penalty decision was soft. But the build up was great, and exemplifies the type of player he is that he found himself in the box after some one touch passing with others. Dropped the should, the defender dangled a leg I think he caught BLF but his fall was slightly delayed.

White - Incredible how he has transitioned from a no.10 to a DM/CM. Looked fairly solid for a midfield and generally slight guy, excellent at getting himself out of tight situations and quickish feet. Tucked away his penalty cooly.

Cirkin - seems to have really grown not that he is massive but he used to be quite small. Knows how to play the game, supported the attack well, generally calm at the back

Bowden - One of our best players. I have always liked him and but like a lot of the players last year he didn't seem to perform as well as I expected hence not being considered for England, but he was absolute quality today. Skill, very languid still got about, ridiculous compusre, intilligetn and movd the ball quickly when eh needed to and slowed it down on some occasions. The through ball for Parrott's 2nd goal was on the countre got the ball and just helped it through for Parrott. Would like to see a bit more create passing from him, but he is very Carrick like. There were a couple of sublime pieuces of skill from him to beat his man which I didn't expect, like he was having fun, but I guess that is to be expected whatever nil up.

Shashoua - Senior player, very quick in his thought and movement. Influential and helped to make things tick moving the ball quickly and linked up Bowden and Markanday. He is the captain and plays like it to always making himself available

Bennet - didn't have a great game. Beat the fullback a coupe of times but his final ball was lacking. His best moment was early on when he cut in on his right and hit the bar.

Richards - I thought he had a good comeback. I like him. I feel he is a player with a lot of time. He doesn't rush his decisions but is also a quick thinker. There will be times he will receive the ball and you think that he will quickly move it on to the wing, he almost shapes to do it, then out of the corner of his eye he will notice someone in a better position and deceive the defender and pick out a better placed player. Sometimes he can end up playing it too late, but I think it is good trait in general. He misplaced a couple of passes out to Bennet on the counter which was frsutrating but otherwise was good to see him back. He's very brave and will fly into challenges and his second goal was a curler from the edge of the box. He's a player I think would get more recognution from England were his age group not so strong.

Markanday - said a lot about him already, but I think he is our biggest threat. Very nippy, and hard to contain, a constant thorn for the opposition and a real team player. He has a lot of strength considering his size but also knows how to use his body. There is the argument he could be a bit more selfish, when on the edge of the box, as he gets himself into good positions, but he instinctively looks for the man in a better position and will lose his shooting opportunity. Quality player

Parrott - Held the ball up really well. I know he is big and their defence contained a number of u16s but with his facial hair too he looks like an overage player. As I have seen before he has some flair. Missed a sitter in the first half, but put away his 2nd chance, and his 2nd goal was a lovely dink over their keeper. Very promising

Sub

Statham - Did OK when he came on

Pochettino - even at 7-0 up he still never managed to beat a man or try to really do anything. Would love to see what he does in training. Don't want to be too critical of him, but he is very limited.

Clarke - excellent cameo. Wanted to see him start but everyone did so well so can't complain. Refreshing to see him going at the defence and trying to beat them. Could have had a penalty for Parrott's 1st goal as he was taken out by the keeper and the ball ended up rolling to Parrott who just tucked it into an open net. Very positive introduction and not what their defenders would want to see.

Overall it was an excellent game. Their team was very young, 3 of their 4 defenders were u16s, one was an u15 I think, but they are all experienced at this level and play regularly, one or two have also played for the u23s. Better than the 10-1 I saw against Stevenage.
Considering how well we're doing I'd expect a couple of our players to make an England squad.

Bowden, Bennet, Markanday, and Maghoma (who has started to do well for the u23s) may start to find themselves in contention for a call up for a good England age group. I think a reason this team is also doing well, is because it has been fairly uninterrupted. The only regular missing is Maghoma who would used to often play up himself, so generally they all know each others games. Also I think they are all on the same level, there is no outstanding player so they all take responsibility themselves, which contributes to the team dynamic I imagine. They've lost Madueke unfortunately but then it means the work load is spread evenly. Or it could just be down to how Wells has them playing.

Was speaking to an agent and he was very impressed with how we played, like it was a different level. Playing out of tight situations from the back under pressure and finding a man in CM who would attack. Also thought it was funny listening to the parent of a West Ham player say 'ye well Spurs look good, as they are technically better, but I promise you 2nd half we will beat them as they tire and they aren't strong physically' well he called that wrong. Apparently they had beaten us 6 games in a row in lower age groups. Which probably goes to show, how eventually the physicality will level out and technique is what shines. He also commented on how we play well as a team rather than individuals, which is the complete opposite to what I'm used to seeing, and definitely saw a change with this lot. All in all a good game​

 

[WindyCOYS]

Hopefully this will be of interest:

 

[Spursidol]

does that mean that we run teams off their feet at this level too? (or at least like the first team used to)

We have 24 players in Academy years 1 and 2, and the only player to appear in all games is the captain Armando Sashoua and whilst there are number of players who have appeared in most of the u18 fixtures, including todays match when Pedder made his debut from the bench, other than Skipp (who has played exclusively for u21's or travelled with first team) all the other 23 players have made one or more appearances for the u18's. And there have been about 15 different scorers for the u18's underlining the squad rotation

In short Wells has rotated the squad, so no two teams are identical, and this would usually lead to some inconsistent results.

Instead of which we have won 7 of the 8 games played (including todays) drawing the other versus Reading despite dominating in that game. And we have a goal difference (including todays result) of 40-9 meaning we are averaging scoring 5 goals a game. So results this season are excellent.

But looking at the south table we are hotly pursued by both Woolwich and Chelsea (who we have beaten 2-0) who have lost or drawn a game more than we have. And in the north table Everton lead with similar results (although fewer goals scored) with Liverpool and ManU in hot pursuit. 2018-19 Under-18 Premier League - YouthHawk. So whilst ahead of the rest of the pack, its not like there is necessarily a big gulf in difference between our results and those of our closest rivals.

So whilst I think we have an excellent crop of players, with maybe half a dozen stand out stars, given the squad rotation there has to be a lot of credit to Wells, the coach, and his team in getting all the players to play in a consistent manner, allowing individual players to seamlessly slot into the team, and simply outplay/overwhelm the opposition continually with Spurs players generally seeming to be a lot fitter than the opposition. Very Poch like ?

 

[DerryLennon]

Great report I believe Rolses goal was superb anybody able to put it on here for us to see ?

 

[Wallander]

Some great posts in here.

I have to say I don't think dropping to the Europa League after Christmas will be the end of the world.

1) It's a realistic chance of silverware

2) It's a great competition to bed in youngsters. The last time we brought through academy players was because of this competition and while we aspire to be in the Champions League, compete with the best and try be the best, in the current moment we are far off. We couldn't get solutions in through the market because of financial permutations, so now is the time to look internally for solutions. Players like Walker-Peters, Skipp, Oakley-Boothe, Roles have a greater chance in that competition given the Thursday-Sunday implications.

Imagine we win the competition and in doing so a couple of players breakout and earn their stripes. It might reduce our need to spend if Walker-Peters as an example does really well which in turn makes him good enough to be a actual first team player playing in all competitions, rather than someone who trains and gets the odd cup game every few months.

 

[Spursidol]

That's a great result with Wells rotating the squad to rest a few players before the u19 game in mid week (plus of course Maghoma and Bowden played u21's last night with Richards on the bench) allowing Clarke, Cirkin, Okedina and Cooper fairly rare starts for u18's whilst the entire bench again are not regular u18's (in fact the GK has yet to make his debut).

Really emphasises how good and deep the u18 squad is at the moment.

Great to be back on top of the table as well

 

[DerryLennon]

My piece on Spurs’ young midfield mercurial talent Paris Maghoma and his excellent start to the 2018/19 season:

 

[WindyCOYS]

Interesting snipper from Paris Maghoma's dad: Had this pro offer since U15. After clear reassurance about 1st team pathway at highest level he signed few months ago. We didn’t want it to be announced because that’s not important. What’s important is to break into spurs 1st team. So work hard & keep the focus on main prize.



Intrigued by 'reassurance about 1st team pathway'.

 

[Spursidol]

Given the lengthy time Austin was tended on the field (the main reason for 12 minutes of injury time in the u23 match), its reassuring to see this :

Brandon Austin‏ @baustin__
Thanks everyone for the messages Glad to say I am fine and all that happened was just precaution

I would also like to thank all the medical staff for their help

pic.twitter.com/H0etocLBs7

 

[Spursidol]

Our match schedule over the next 10 days :

Chelsea (tonight, 24th Jan) - League Cup
Crystal Palace (Sunday 27th) - FA Cup
Watford (Wednesday 30th) - PL
Newcastle (Saturday 2nd) - PL

The following are fit attacking players - Llorente (striker), Moura (AM), Lamela (AM), Eriksen (AM), N'Koudou (AM).....and at a push (as we are very light at CM with only he, Winks, Dier and Skipp) Sissoko. So 5 or 6 (if you count Sissoko) to cover 4 positions (unless we play 3 at the back all the time)

After those 4 games we get Son back, but neither Kane or Dele are back for another month so we are still very stretched

Llorente won't play all 4 games, just not fit enough
Lamela won’t be able to play 4 games, as his injuries need managing
Eriksen already looks shattered through playing every game - I'm really worried he might be another hamstring if he plays all 4 games.

Surely makes sense to involve Roles, for example at the weekend v Palace to help rest some of the attackers (and possibly add more goalscoring), and possibly one or two other youngsters ?

 

[Totti]

Anyone know if this kids got a chance, any chance at all of making it? Would be lovely to see him or Parrott come through and clear up the whole nobody wants to play second fiddle to Kane scenario.

PS, would be interesting to know what the score was with Reo Griffiths as well. Left the club very young so guessing all was not great behind the scenes

I don't think he has a chance at making it at Tottenham - but I think he has a good chance at making a good professional footballing career perhaps around the Championship.

Hopefully the loan goes well for him and Sunderland can get promoted and sign him permanently. It's a great move for him.

 

[Spursidol]

Dennis Cirkin seems to be an ever present in this age group's squad (many others change in each call up), which suggests that as well as being judged to be good at this age group, there are no other LB's of even similar quality. Will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of years.

Cirkin was LB in the E u17 team today beating France 3-2

 

[Spursidol]

Is anyone able to give me a bit more insight into the academy setup - the 1st Year/ 2nd Year/ Development Squad etc.

I have absolutely no clue what the "standard" path for a player would look like.

The term 'standard path' really doesn't exist, but to illustrate 2 types of player :

1. The Fast track
Some 15/16 year olds play a fair amount for the u18's as schoolboys and therefore when they progress to joining Academy Year 1 whilst they may play some u18 matches, even whilst they are in the Academy Year 1, they start to play u23 matches.

By the time those players get to be in Academy Year 2, most of these players will play few if any u18 games and almost exclusively play u23 matches.

2. The 'Standard' Player
Many, if not most, youngsters will have appeared for u18 sides a couple of times before they join Academy Year 1. Depending upon competition they might either play a lot of u18 football in Year 1 or might only play a little (possibly due to them being relatively slow to physically develop) and might drop down into u16's to get games.

By the time the players are in Year 2, the majority will be playing mostly u18 football with a handful getting promoted to u23's during the year.

A smallish number may have played a relatively few u18 matches by the end of Academy Year 2, some of which are released at the end of that year whilst others get pro contracts (often due to them being physically less well developed in the expectation they will be 'late developers'

The u23's (Development Squad)
By the end of the Academy Year 2 all players will be on one of 3 categories :
a) Released
b) Offered a 3rd Year Academy (usually due to injury having limited their playing time in the academy), which is analogous to 're-sitting an exam'
c) Offered and accepted a pro contract (some even get a pro contract in Year 1 of the Academy)

Categories (b) and (c) play u23 games.

Thereafter there is no career path (something which most youth watchers think needs to change) other than :
- Some players catch coaches eye and they hope to get on a pre-season tour (usually 6-8 players do) with a view to getting involved in first team squads during the season (eg Oliver Skipp - even though he's just ended his second year Academy so has 'fast tracked' the 'fast track' route explained above), usually after being involved in first team training during the season (but I am not sure Skipp was involved prior to pre-season)
- In the last year or two some players have been on loans to other clubs with a view to developing them away from Spurs. Until recently Poch was very anti this, but his attitudes seem to be mellowing as its just impossible to develop all the youngsters at Spurs. It will be interesting as to how the likes of Sam Sashoua (loan to Spanish tier 3 side) progress next season. Does Poch indicate they have a chance at Spurs or otherwise, are they included in this pre-season ?

As a general comment one year of u23 football helps players development, after that it does not. Probably the most worthwhile games are the Checkatrade matches (minimum 3 a season) against mens sides from League 1 or League 2.

So the million dollar question is - how do Spurs develop their youngsters from the age of 18 to 21 or 22 when Poch wants them to be capable of playing first team football, when the u23's are a 'graveyard' after one year ? (nb and how does Poch develop 18 year old Oliver Skipp from this point onwards)

 

[Spursidol]

White and Binks also started.

Ended as a 2-2 draw

J'Neil Lloyd Bennett goal - from the man himself !​

 

[WindyCOYS]

I tweeted this about Edwards yesterday:



And then this got me thinking:

We so obviously should be developing Edwards. You only have to look at that video to see there's masses of potential there (even ignoring everything we already know). If we were linked with an unknown 20-year old and they were the only highlights and numbers we had on them we'd be so excited! But not only that - he's already at the club! And he's homegrown! So we don't need to spend a penny and he has the potential to fix a CL and PL squad issue with a bit of investment in him.

If we let Edwards go without a battle we're making a big error IMO.