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Great result.
Our Under-18s produced a superb performance to dump holders Liverpool out in the third round of the FA Youth Cup on Monday night.
On the front foot at every opportunity, we deservedly went ahead at Stevenage's Lamex Stadium when striker Troy Parrott won and converted two penalties in 14 first-half minutes, only for Conor Bradley to pull one back for the visitors shortly before the break.
Layton Stewart curled home to bring the visitors - second in the northern section of the Under-18 Premier League - back level but we maintained our focus and stunned the Reds with two goals in as many minutes to effectively end the tie at 4-2. First, Max Robson made amends for a couple of spurned opportunities earlier in the game when he powered home J'Neil Bennett's cross, with substitute Chay Cooper making sure on the break within 60 seconds.
With Liverpool's defence of the trophy ended at the first hurdle, we now go to either Wigan Athletic or Croydon in round four.
We really took the game to the Reds in an open, exciting first half. A rip-roaring first quarter-of-an-hour yielded eight chances - five for us and three for them - before we took the lead. Parrott was denied by last man Remi Savage as he ran through the middle inside three minutes, the excellent Dennis Cirkin's shot was deflected over, Bennett - often outstripping his marker down the left - had an effort ruled out for off-side and then set up Robson with a golden chance in the box, but his side-footed effort went straight at keeper Harvey Davies. Kallum Cesay then sent a half-volley fractionally wide while Thimothee Lo-Tutala twice denied Tom Hill at the other end, following Jake Cain's early rasper that flew wide.
Parrott, though, was all over Liverpool's back four and after running onto Tarrelle Whittaker's pass down the right, he was fouled by the advancing Davies before drilling home the resulting penalty on 17 minutes. And it was the same again 14 minutes later, Parrott this time showing great awareness in the box to pounce on a loose pass before being wiped out by Davies, the Republic of Ireland international powering his spot kick into the roof of the net.
We were well worthy of our two-goal lead but a lapse in concentration on 44 minutes saw Liverpool get themselves back into the tie. Midfielder Harvey White went to ground and appealed for a free-kick but play continued, the ball was cut back from the left and it evaded everyone except the arriving Bradley, who ran onto it and sent the ball spinning inside the far post with a sweet strike. There was one final chance for us in first-half added time when Bennett picked out Robson with a cross from the left, but it seemed to catch the midfielder by surprise and he wasn't able to turn it on target.
You sensed that chance might come back to haunt us as Liverpool put the pressure on after the restart but we stayed composed and refused to succumb. Lo-Tutala brilliantly saved Hill's header in the box, although when Leighton Clarkson switched play to Stewart on the left side, he found a pocket of space and fired across the keeper into the far corner to level it up on 63 minutes.
We showed great maturity to rebound and regain the upper hand, however. Cirkin went on a dazzling solo run before forcing a fine save from Davies with a shot on his weaker foot, with Cooper firing over the top as he ran onto the loose ball, but when Bennett advanced down the left once more and sent in a cross, Robson headed home to restore our lead with 14 minutes left. And in a flash, we were two goals to the good once more as we suddenly poured forward, Cooper one of three players racing clean through on goal and he rolled it home to the delight of our players and fans alike. Managing the game to stay ahead in the last 10 minutes, it was an encouraging all-round display from our young players.
Coach's view
Under-18s Coach Matt Taylor said: "I thought we started quite quietly and reserved but scored two good penalties from Troy, who probably didn't have one of his greatest nights - although he still got two goals, which was positive - and then we conceded a really disappointing goal towards the end of the first half. We made a bad decision, started playing across the pitch as opposed to in the opposition's half, we got punished and it was a really good finish. We spoke at half-time about expecting a reaction and I thought Liverpool were excellent for the first 20 minutes of the second half, they quite deservedly got their goal but we found a way to win the game. That was what was really pleasing for me tonight - at times we stayed in it when we had to, the substitutions worked really well, Chay Cooper came on and got a good goal, Max Robson, from missing a similar chance in the first half, got himself in an area to get on the end of an excellent cross from J'Neil (Bennett) so it's really pleasing that we won tonight and that in itself, against a really strong Liverpool team, was a very good result.
"For a period in the second half we were second best but we slightly changed the formation and managed to keep a foothold in the game and then we were ruthless in the latter stages where we got two chances - ultimately that's what we had to do. I'm really pleased for the young men in the dressing room."
Match data
Goals: Spurs - Parrott 17 (pen), 31 (pen), Robson 76, Cooper 77; Liverpool - Bradley 44, Stewart 63.
Yellow cards: Spurs - Cesay 40, Lusala 85, Binks 87, Bennett 89, Parrott 90+5; Liverpool - Cain 41, Clarkson 69, Hill 90+5.
Referee: Daniel Simpson.
Venue: Lamex Stadium, Stevenage.
Weather: Light cloud, 0 degrees.
Attendance: 865.
Our Under-18s produced a superb performance to dump holders Liverpool out in the third round of the FA Youth Cup on Monday night.
On the front foot at every opportunity, we deservedly went ahead at Stevenage's Lamex Stadium when striker Troy Parrott won and converted two penalties in 14 first-half minutes, only for Conor Bradley to pull one back for the visitors shortly before the break.
Layton Stewart curled home to bring the visitors - second in the northern section of the Under-18 Premier League - back level but we maintained our focus and stunned the Reds with two goals in as many minutes to effectively end the tie at 4-2. First, Max Robson made amends for a couple of spurned opportunities earlier in the game when he powered home J'Neil Bennett's cross, with substitute Chay Cooper making sure on the break within 60 seconds.
With Liverpool's defence of the trophy ended at the first hurdle, we now go to either Wigan Athletic or Croydon in round four.
We really took the game to the Reds in an open, exciting first half. A rip-roaring first quarter-of-an-hour yielded eight chances - five for us and three for them - before we took the lead. Parrott was denied by last man Remi Savage as he ran through the middle inside three minutes, the excellent Dennis Cirkin's shot was deflected over, Bennett - often outstripping his marker down the left - had an effort ruled out for off-side and then set up Robson with a golden chance in the box, but his side-footed effort went straight at keeper Harvey Davies. Kallum Cesay then sent a half-volley fractionally wide while Thimothee Lo-Tutala twice denied Tom Hill at the other end, following Jake Cain's early rasper that flew wide.
Parrott, though, was all over Liverpool's back four and after running onto Tarrelle Whittaker's pass down the right, he was fouled by the advancing Davies before drilling home the resulting penalty on 17 minutes. And it was the same again 14 minutes later, Parrott this time showing great awareness in the box to pounce on a loose pass before being wiped out by Davies, the Republic of Ireland international powering his spot kick into the roof of the net.
We were well worthy of our two-goal lead but a lapse in concentration on 44 minutes saw Liverpool get themselves back into the tie. Midfielder Harvey White went to ground and appealed for a free-kick but play continued, the ball was cut back from the left and it evaded everyone except the arriving Bradley, who ran onto it and sent the ball spinning inside the far post with a sweet strike. There was one final chance for us in first-half added time when Bennett picked out Robson with a cross from the left, but it seemed to catch the midfielder by surprise and he wasn't able to turn it on target.
You sensed that chance might come back to haunt us as Liverpool put the pressure on after the restart but we stayed composed and refused to succumb. Lo-Tutala brilliantly saved Hill's header in the box, although when Leighton Clarkson switched play to Stewart on the left side, he found a pocket of space and fired across the keeper into the far corner to level it up on 63 minutes.
We showed great maturity to rebound and regain the upper hand, however. Cirkin went on a dazzling solo run before forcing a fine save from Davies with a shot on his weaker foot, with Cooper firing over the top as he ran onto the loose ball, but when Bennett advanced down the left once more and sent in a cross, Robson headed home to restore our lead with 14 minutes left. And in a flash, we were two goals to the good once more as we suddenly poured forward, Cooper one of three players racing clean through on goal and he rolled it home to the delight of our players and fans alike. Managing the game to stay ahead in the last 10 minutes, it was an encouraging all-round display from our young players.
Coach's view
Under-18s Coach Matt Taylor said: "I thought we started quite quietly and reserved but scored two good penalties from Troy, who probably didn't have one of his greatest nights - although he still got two goals, which was positive - and then we conceded a really disappointing goal towards the end of the first half. We made a bad decision, started playing across the pitch as opposed to in the opposition's half, we got punished and it was a really good finish. We spoke at half-time about expecting a reaction and I thought Liverpool were excellent for the first 20 minutes of the second half, they quite deservedly got their goal but we found a way to win the game. That was what was really pleasing for me tonight - at times we stayed in it when we had to, the substitutions worked really well, Chay Cooper came on and got a good goal, Max Robson, from missing a similar chance in the first half, got himself in an area to get on the end of an excellent cross from J'Neil (Bennett) so it's really pleasing that we won tonight and that in itself, against a really strong Liverpool team, was a very good result.
"For a period in the second half we were second best but we slightly changed the formation and managed to keep a foothold in the game and then we were ruthless in the latter stages where we got two chances - ultimately that's what we had to do. I'm really pleased for the young men in the dressing room."
Match data
Goals: Spurs - Parrott 17 (pen), 31 (pen), Robson 76, Cooper 77; Liverpool - Bradley 44, Stewart 63.
Yellow cards: Spurs - Cesay 40, Lusala 85, Binks 87, Bennett 89, Parrott 90+5; Liverpool - Cain 41, Clarkson 69, Hill 90+5.
Referee: Daniel Simpson.
Venue: Lamex Stadium, Stevenage.
Weather: Light cloud, 0 degrees.
Attendance: 865.
Unless Tanganga is injured, if these 4 others are starting and Tanganga doresn't make an appearance, I'd guess that the player and club have got themselves in a standoff about a new contract with player wanting some assurance of playing.
Lets hope Tanganga is involved
And that only applies, if they end up getting game time for the 1st XI. Otherwise, send them out on loan no matter how exceptional they are.
Highlights from the Tottenham 4-2 Liverpool youth game the other week. Enjoy on your way into work or your lunch break ladies and gents:
WindyCOYS
The Fighting Cock
Onomah is not yet even close to a top six EPL club player, he had chance after chance and simply wasn't good enough, he's doing OK for Fulham which is a slightly lower level ... and good luck to the lad. Trying to reinvent the past and claim that somehow he is top tier standard ... on past performances that's nonsense.
Most young players will go the same way - across the EPL there are some 3,000 academy players, perhaps 1 in 200 will make it to the very top level - that means for every King, Hoddle and Kane there will be 199 Onomah, Skipp, CCV, Daniels, Smith, Bentaleb, Pritchard, Oxford, Fredericks, Bennetts, etc. good players who will make a living kicking a ball but will never grace the very top table ....
Comparing players at academy level to EPL regulars with 200+ appearances is plain stupid - Sissoko and Dier on their worst days (and they have had a few) are light-years in front of all our academy players there is simply no sensible comparison - Skipp, Marsh, Georgiou, Roles, Sterling, Amos, White, Copper, Pedder, Cesay, Robson, Carrington, Alonso, John, Craig, Mundle all MF academy players all have a huge mountain to climb to reach even championship level, the very real scenario is that none of them will ever make the EPL ... but let's hope there is a diamond in there somewhere.
In 20 years our academy has produced just 19 players who have made 25+ EPL appearances, and our academy is one of the very best .... to even pretend that there are half a dozen players in this year's batch who will make the grade is plain stupid ... if we're lucky one will step up per year Parrott? Skipp? Tanganga? Bennett? Maghoma? who knows ...
The absurd level of expectation placed on these kids is crazy - Onomah playing at championship level with Fulham is a superb achievement, it puts him in the top 10% of professional players, the fact he hasn't made the top 5% shouldn't undervalue just how good he is ... just not quite good enough (yet)
Most young players will go the same way - across the EPL there are some 3,000 academy players, perhaps 1 in 200 will make it to the very top level - that means for every King, Hoddle and Kane there will be 199 Onomah, Skipp, CCV, Daniels, Smith, Bentaleb, Pritchard, Oxford, Fredericks, Bennetts, etc. good players who will make a living kicking a ball but will never grace the very top table ....
Comparing players at academy level to EPL regulars with 200+ appearances is plain stupid - Sissoko and Dier on their worst days (and they have had a few) are light-years in front of all our academy players there is simply no sensible comparison - Skipp, Marsh, Georgiou, Roles, Sterling, Amos, White, Copper, Pedder, Cesay, Robson, Carrington, Alonso, John, Craig, Mundle all MF academy players all have a huge mountain to climb to reach even championship level, the very real scenario is that none of them will ever make the EPL ... but let's hope there is a diamond in there somewhere.
In 20 years our academy has produced just 19 players who have made 25+ EPL appearances, and our academy is one of the very best .... to even pretend that there are half a dozen players in this year's batch who will make the grade is plain stupid ... if we're lucky one will step up per year Parrott? Skipp? Tanganga? Bennett? Maghoma? who knows ...
The absurd level of expectation placed on these kids is crazy - Onomah playing at championship level with Fulham is a superb achievement, it puts him in the top 10% of professional players, the fact he hasn't made the top 5% shouldn't undervalue just how good he is ... just not quite good enough (yet)
Still think he might have been better to move up a league (Mason went from a League 1 loan into PL but cannot recall anyone moving directly from a League 2 loan to PL).
But continuity, hopefully means more games played and more goals/assists to help his reputation.
Decent short videos of his Cambridge goals
What about Tracey, Windy, where do reckon he belongs?
Absolutely agreed 100%
Also worth bearing in mind that Spurs first team have benefited hugely from a number of the best prospects getting into the first team - the big one of course being Harry Kane, but Danny Rose (acquired aged 17 and played a year u18) was at one time verging on world class, Harry Winks fills a squad place well - as did Andros Townsend, Nabil Bentaleb, Tom Carroll et al) so the academy has given us £100m to spend on top class players (not far short of our record TW spend last summer) but a world class player (Harry Kane) and a number of others.
And that has all (bar the Harry's) been lost in the last few years, and will take a couple of years to rebuild - which is why I am keen for Mourhino to keep Tanganga in the squad and further develop Parrott and Skipp, plus next summer ensure half a dozen more youngsters are visible on pre season (and a couple more I think will make a real claim to the first team squad). That way we wont lose youngsters before the academy and we can start fulfilling the Academy purpose once again which I see as :
1. To bring top players through to the first team - expectation is one or more player per season, but that builds up over time, albeit some will move on after a few seasons as not being quite good enough.
2. To bring through other players who might spend time with Spurs first team and/or on loan at other clubs. These will ultimately be sold (as I say £!00m + raised before) with the proceeds re-invested in first team players and funding the academy
3. Not every academy player will play at the top levels of league football, but we hope that all will be suitably educated to be well rounded individuals and good citizens.
4. To use the academy to provide coaching and other youth services to the local community - that in turn can keep some youngsters off the streets and give them a purpose in life. All good corporate citizen stuff.
Incidentally to those who denigrate the quality of the squad players Spurs produce - look at ManU in their hey day under Fergie. The likes of John OShea was never a world class footballer but filled squad places for ManU, looked better alongside world class players and walked away at the end of their careers with PL champions medals etc. That's what Spurs can do too.
Glad he has escaped the Spurs youth bubble.
Just hope he flourishes at Stoke, he was a world beater (the go to midfielder in the E u17 side winning the world cup, more highly rated than the likes of Jadon Sancho, Callum Hodson Odoi, Phil Foden et al all part of that squad) yet after a very good preseason 2017 where he starred in all the games, he fell into the Poch 'non playing but training with first team' time warp where his development was stifled.
2018/19 was marked by multiple minor injuries - possibly the result of Poch intense training regime and back into 2019/20 with Spurs u23's nowhere close to the player of 2017/18 world beater that he was.
Hope he recovers his form at another club. IMO totally a victim of appalling youth development - no other words to describe it. And absolutely why Spurs have lost a number (even a generation) of potential world beaters who have avoided Spurs youth to go to other places such as former Spurs u16 captain and E u16 star Noni Mandueke who joined PSV, but the list is already long of 'Poch Spurs avoiders' who in the long term will cost Spurs dear in the cost of buying world class players not from the Spurs Academy.
Almost a case study in how NOT to develop youth players and the cost of not doing so is multiple millions of transfer fees to buy players who we should have developed and the costs of developing lost talent.
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He played 45 minutes in a friendly. Supposedly didn’t have much to do, but was composed when called into action. Apparently pulled off a very good save. He’ll be playing a game close to where I live, definitely going to go watch it
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