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The Spurs Youth Thread – 2016/2017

Spursidol

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2007
12,636
15,834
Seems an appropriate time to refresh the youth thread with 30 June marking the end of the contract year for players and 1 July marking the start of the new Academy players scholarship contracts and any new professional contracts – plus players start pre-season on 1 July (or at least the first team players not on international duty do).

Following England’s surprise exit and following that the players are entitled to a 3 week break, I’m expecting to see a reasonable number of First team players back starting their pre-season in the 3rd week of July with most of the rest following around the end of July, but that should still mean a number of the development squad and possibly a few academy players a chance to play in pre-season matches for the first team.

This thread follows the u21’s, u18’s and other Spurs youth teams in the various competitions and tournaments throughout the season – the u18 league, u21 league (unless replaced by an u23 league, ‘UEFA Youth League’ for u19’s and possibly the ‘English Football League Trophy’ for u23 players, formerly the Johnson’s Paint Trophy, but it is unclear if we are one of the 16 Category 1 academies which are taking part (Edit - Spurs appear to have rejected an invitation to take part, along with ManU, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and possibly other clubs). So potentially lots more and varied tournaments, even than when we had the u19 Next Gen tournament.

For reference this is the old thread http://www.spurscommunity.co.uk/index.php?threads/spurs-u21’s-u18’s-and-other-youth-news-–-2015-16-edition.120448/

Players Likely to play in Pre-season for the first team and to go on loan – but may play a few u21 games

Luke McGee
(GK)),
Connor Ogilvie (LB,/CB),
Dominic Ball (CB/DM) ,
Cameron Carter Vickers (CB),
Harry Winks (CM/AM),
Joshua Onomah (AM/CM)
Grant Ward (Utility),
Nathan Oduwa AM/Fwd,
Shayon Harrison (Striker),

Spurs u21’s

GK’s
– Harry Voss, Thomas Glover, Thomas McDermott

Defenders
– Kyle Walker-Peters (RB/LB), Anton Walkes (CB), Christian Maghoma (CB), Joe Muscatt (LB),

Midfielders -
Anthony Georgiou (RW/LB), Cy Goddard (CM), Joe Pritchard (CM/AM), Luke Amos (DM), Filip Lesniak (DM), Charlie Owens (DM), Zenon Styliandes (CM/AM), Shilow Tracey (AM) Will Miller (AM)

Strikers -
Ryan Loft

Loans
Filip Lesniak has joined Czech side Slovan Liberec on loan until January (12 July 2016)

Academy Year 2

GK’s
– Alfie Whiteman, Brandon Austin

Defenders -
Joy Richard Mukena (CB), Jaden Brown (LB/CB), Nicholas Tsaroulla (LB), Japhet Tangana (CB)

Midfielders –
Dylan Duncan (AM), George Marsh (DM), Jack Roles (CM)

Forwards -
Marcus Edwards (no 10),Sam Shashoua (RW), Keanan Bennetts (Winger/Midfield), Aramide Oteh (Striker), Kazaiah Sterling (Striker)

Academy Year 1 (To Be Confirmed)

GK :
Charles Freeman, Jonathan de Bie

Defenders : Tariq Hinds (RB/LB), Timothy Joel Eyoma (CB), Jonathan Toko Lema Dinzeyi (CB), Matthew Lock (RB/RM)

Midfield : Tashan Oakley-Boothe (CM/AM), Jamie Reynolds (CM/AM), Moroyin Omolabi (CM/DM)

Forwards : Reo Revaldo Griffiths (striker/utility)
 
Last edited:

Spursidol

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2007
12,636
15,834
There was a Development squad friendly vs Wealdstone on 13th July announced, but the reference on Weadstone's website has disappeared, so I suspect its cancelled or postponed.
 

Spursidol

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2007
12,636
15,834
Worth brushing up on the player selection rules for the UEFA Youth League - the u19 version of CL which only CL clubs can play in.

We need to nominate a list of 40 players under 19 (born on or after 1 January 1998) who play in it plus 3 which are up to a year older.

However any player who has played in 3 or more CL matches cannot play in UEFA Youth League - so if we play some of the eligible youngsters in CL they can't play in the UEFA Youth League.

So we need to be a little clever and far sighted in selecting our 40 players for the squad ! Particularly with the 3 over age players which could include the likes of Carter-Vickers, Walker-Peters et al,
 

Saoirse

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2013
6,143
15,550
There's some speculation that the Barclays U21 Premier League is going to rebrand as the English Premier League 2, and become an U23 format instead which also allows three overage outfielders and an overage goalkeeper - basically moving back to the Reserves system we abandoned a few years ago. This could just be confusion arising from the EFL Trophy stuff though, because that looks almost certain to use this format.

In terms of the Trophy, they're also planning to end any drawn matches in the group stages with a penalty shoot-out, with the winner getting 2 points and the loser 1. Meanwhile, drawn knockout games before the semi-final will also go straight to penalties, with extra time only used from the semi-finals or "area finals" onwards. Should these games go to extra time, a 4th substitute will be allowed.

In addition, there's been a change to loan rules for this season. FIFA, in their infinite wisdom, declared that emergency loans were to be banned except for goalkeepers, meaning all loans must start and end within a transfer window (so we only have whole-season loans, or from the start to January or January till the end). However, the FA has sought to mitigate this by allowing players out on loan to still play non-first team matches for their parent clubs - so we could loan someone out for the whole season, but just unofficially bring them back to play U21 football if they're not getting in the team or even to help improve the squad for an EFL Trophy match. I'm not 100% sure if we could register them for the UEFA Youth League as well, but I don't see why not.
 

Spursidol

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2007
12,636
15,834
There's some speculation that the Barclays U21 Premier League is going to rebrand as the English Premier League 2, and become an U23 format instead which also allows three overage outfielders and an overage goalkeeper - basically moving back to the Reserves system we abandoned a few years ago. This could just be confusion arising from the EFL Trophy stuff though, because that looks almost certain to use this format.

In terms of the Trophy, they're also planning to end any drawn matches in the group stages with a penalty shoot-out, with the winner getting 2 points and the loser 1. Meanwhile, drawn knockout games before the semi-final will also go straight to penalties, with extra time only used from the semi-finals or "area finals" onwards. Should these games go to extra time, a 4th substitute will be allowed.

In addition, there's been a change to loan rules for this season. FIFA, in their infinite wisdom, declared that emergency loans were to be banned except for goalkeepers, meaning all loans must start and end within a transfer window (so we only have whole-season loans, or from the start to January or January till the end). However, the FA has sought to mitigate this by allowing players out on loan to still play non-first team matches for their parent clubs - so we could loan someone out for the whole season, but just unofficially bring them back to play U21 football if they're not getting in the team or even to help improve the squad for an EFL Trophy match. I'm not 100% sure if we could register them for the UEFA Youth League as well, but I don't see why not.

The u21 league has not proved that successful in being a bridge towards the first team, so you are correct that PL is thinking about changing it to an u23 league - not the same as the reserves where players of all ages played, but often very few u21's - and its not confusion with the Football League Trophy (ex Johnson's Paints Trophy).

The reason by the way for change of age group is that few u21's become regular PL starters at u21, its more like 23. So the idea is that players can play an u23 tournament and then move to the PL team. I'm not entirely convinced it will work to have an u18 league and then an u23 league - the age difference is too great - but I guess they felt they need to do something.

There's about 24 Category 1 Academies (several more have been approved to be upgraded to Category 1 so I'm not sure of what the exact number will be) but only places for 16 of those to compete in the Football League Trophy against League 1 and League 2 teams, and its not yet been announced whether or not Spurs are to be one of the 16 Academies that do compete. I'm guessing that we do want to compete by the number of 'professionals' not in the First Team squad that we elected to retain rather than release at the end of their contracts which would otherwise have been today. I guess we'll find out in the next couple of weeks whether we will be fielding an u23 team in that trophy.

Good point on the changes in FIFA loan rules - effect will be to severely limit the number of players Spurs do loan out, and the ages of those we retained means we need to play them at u21 or u23 level.
 

Spursidol

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2007
12,636
15,834
Reo Revaldo Griffiths.. what a name!

....and what a goalscorer last season.

But he's played over the last 2 seasons in a variety of positions including RB, RM, CB and striker - scoring in all of them. Hence he's a striker/utility player. Although why would you choose to play a goalscoring striker as a RB is a good question. !
 

Annekcma

Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2015
307
647
I really appreciate these threads as I love to keep up to date with what is happening in the youth set up. I get far more excited about the prospect of an academy player coming through than I do about £30 million signings.

But would it be possible to have a summary section at the start of the thread, running over the changes in personnel from one thread to the next? Perhaps just listing the players in each age group that have been released from those mentioned at the start of last years one.

Just an idea, if it's too much hassle or nobody else wants it just tell me to shut up!
 

Blake Griffin

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2011
14,133
38,225
I really appreciate these threads as I love to keep up to date with what is happening in the youth set up. I get far more excited about the prospect of an academy player coming through than I do about £30 million signings.

But would it be possible to have a summary section at the start of the thread, running over the changes in personnel from one thread to the next? Perhaps just listing the players in each age group that have been released from those mentioned at the start of last years one.

Just an idea, if it's too much hassle or nobody else wants it just tell me to shut up!

the only players that have been released are:

emannuel sonupe (u21)
charlie hayford (u18 - 2nd year)
chris paul (u18 - 2nd year)
armani daly (u18 - 2nd year)
 

Annekcma

Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2015
307
647
Cheers. The likes of Veljkovic, Coulthirst and McEvoy have gone too though right?

Is it usual to have so few players released from year to year or is this just a consequence of players such as Vardy or Drinkwater making it after being released at a young age and so clubs want to keep players for longer or is it just due to more focus being put on the u21/23 leagues?
 

longtimespur

Well-Known Member
Sep 10, 2014
5,830
9,949
Thanks @Spursidol et al for all the work you do with this thread. Always look in on it and am impressed by the knowledge shown by you all.
Great to keep a check on our youngsters and how they are progressing.
 

Blake Griffin

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2011
14,133
38,225
Cheers. The likes of Veljkovic, Coulthirst and McEvoy have gone too though right?

Is it usual to have so few players released from year to year or is this just a consequence of players such as Vardy or Drinkwater making it after being released at a young age and so clubs want to keep players for longer or is it just due to more focus being put on the u21/23 leagues?

yeah sorry, was only thinking of those let go at the end of last season. others who went were azzaoui to wolfsburg for £1m + sell on fee. veljkovic to werder bremen for £500k. coulthirst to peterborough for an undisclosed amount and mcevoy to york city after the club agreed to let him go. it's not really clear why so few have been released but the club probably feels the players they've kept on all have enough for us to profit from in the future - whether that's with us or elsewhere. it's also beneficial to the younger lads to play alongside more experienced players rather than them all making the jump together.
 

WindyCOYS

Well-Known Member
Feb 24, 2016
479
1,588
Thanks @Spursidol et al for all the work you do with this thread. Always look in on it and am impressed by the knowledge shown by you all.
Great to keep a check on our youngsters and how they are progressing.

Seconded. Great work, @Spursidol!

There was a Development squad friendly vs Wealdstone on 13th July announced, but the reference on Weadstone's website has disappeared, so I suspect its cancelled or postponed.
Yes, they announced it being cancelled: https://twitter.com/WindyCOYS/status/740637132277092352
 

Spursidol

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2007
12,636
15,834
Seconded. Great work, @Spursidol!


Yes, they announced it being cancelled: https://twitter.com/WindyCOYS/status/740637132277092352

Thanks for that - I missed it at the time.

The statement 'We regret to announce that the Spurs and Fulham friendly matches scheduled for 13 July and 20 July respectively have had to be cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control.'

sounds as if Spurs cancelled it. Wonder if we had thought it was a behind closed doors match, which might suit Spurs management watching it, rather than a public match - as I would have thought a match 2 weeks after the players get back would be a good test.

Only other alternative I can think of is that a better match came up (behind closed doors) with the first team who are back augmented by some of the development squad - think the England players from Spurs squad will start back at pre-season a week later.

NB. Spurs First team players who should start pre-season on 1 July are : Vorm, Trippier, Carroll, Bentaleb, Mason, Wanyama, Pritchard, Chadli, Eriksen and Clinton, So they'll probably need a match around 2 weeks after starting pre-season.
 

IGSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 11, 2013
7,939
13,758
Seems an appropriate time to refresh the youth thread with 30 June marking the end of the contract year for players and 1 July marking the start of the new Academy players scholarship contracts and any new professional contracts – plus players start pre-season on 1 July (or at least the first team players not on international duty do).

Following England’s surprise exit and following that the players are entitled to a 3 week break, I’m expecting to see a reasonable number of First team players back starting their pre-season in the 3rd week of July with most of the rest following around the end of July, but that should still mean a number of the development squad and possibly a few academy players a chance to play in pre-season matches for the first team.

This thread follows the u21’s, u18’s and other Spurs youth teams in the various competitions and tournaments throughout the season – the u18 league, u21 league (unless replaced by an u23 league, ‘UEFA Youth League’ for u19’s and possibly the ‘English Football League Trophy’ for u23 players, formerly the Johnson’s Paint Trophy, but it is unclear if we are one of the 16 Category 1 academies which are taking part. So potentially lots more and varied tournaments, even than when we had the u19 Next Gen tournament.

For reference this is the old thread http://www.spurscommunity.co.uk/index.php?threads/spurs-u21’s-u18’s-and-other-youth-news-–-2015-16-edition.120448/

Players Likely to play in Pre-season for the first team and to go on loan – but may play a few u21 games

Luke McGee
(GK)),
Connor Ogilvie (LB,/CB),
Dominic Ball (CB/DM) ,
Cameron Carter Vickers (CB),
Harry Winks (CM/AM),
Joshua Onomah (AM/CM)
Grant Ward (Utility),
Nathan Oduwa AM/Fwd,
Shayon Harrison (Striker),

Spurs u21’s

GK’s
– Harry Voss, Thomas Glover, Thomas McDermott

Defenders
– Kyle Walker-Peters (RB/LB), Anton Walkes (CB), Christian Maghoma (CB), Joe Muscatt (LB),

Midfielders -
Anthony Georgiou (RW/LB), Cy Goddard (CM), Joe Pritchard (CM/AM), Luke Amos (DM), Filip Lesniak (DM), Charlie Owens (DM), Zenon Styliandes (CM/AM), Shilow Tracey (AM) Will Miller (AM)

Strikers -
Ryan Loft

Academy Year 2

GK’s
– Alfie Whiteman, Brandon Austin

Defenders -
Joy Richard Mukena (CB), Jaden Brown (LB/CB), Nicholas Tsaroulla (LB), Japhet Tangana (CB)

Midfielders –
Dylan Duncan (AM), George Marsh (DM), Jack Roles (CM)

Forwards -
Marcus Edwards (no 10),Sam Shashoua (RW), Keanan Bennetts (Winger/Midfield), Aramide Oteh (Striker), Kazaiah Sterling (Striker)

Academy Year 1 (To Be Confirmed)

GK :
Charles Freeman

Defenders : Tariq Hinds (RB/LB), Timothy Joel Eyoma (CB), Jonathan Toko Lema Dinzeyi (CB), Matthew Lock (RB/RM)

Midfield : Tashan Oakley-Boothe (CM/AM), Nyra Kirby (no 10/AM), Jamie Reynolds (CM/AM), Moroyin Omlolabi (CM/DM)

Forwards : Reo Revaldo Griffiths (striker/utility)

Great stuff SI hope its a better year for the academy i both performance and opportunities than it was last year. I know academy players at other clubs have returned so ours should too. Just for uniformity as the post looks good, could you change Nyra to Nya and Omlolabi to Omolabi :D
 

Spursidol

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2007
12,636
15,834
Great stuff SI hope its a better year for the academy i both performance and opportunities than it was last year. I know academy players at other clubs have returned so ours should too. Just for uniformity as the post looks good, could you change Nyra to Nya and Omlolabi to Omolabi :D

Done !

OS has updated player details for last season's Development squad (although they haven't deleted Sonupe yet), so I'm hopeful that they'll get round to updating the Academy section, including putting up the new First Year Academy in the next few days.
 

Spursidol

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2007
12,636
15,834
Incidentally, I saw that Pritchard started his pre-season privately with a Southend coach a week or two ago, presumably to get ahead of the others !
 

spurs9

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
11,844
34,021
Thanks for that - I missed it at the time.

The statement 'We regret to announce that the Spurs and Fulham friendly matches scheduled for 13 July and 20 July respectively have had to be cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control.'

sounds as if Spurs cancelled it. Wonder if we had thought it was a behind closed doors match, which might suit Spurs management watching it, rather than a public match - as I would have thought a match 2 weeks after the players get back would be a good test.

Only other alternative I can think of is that a better match came up (behind closed doors) with the first team who are back augmented by some of the development squad - think the England players from Spurs squad will start back at pre-season a week later.

NB. Spurs First team players who should start pre-season on 1 July are : Vorm, Trippier, Carroll, Bentaleb, Mason, Wanyama, Pritchard, Chadli, Eriksen and Clinton, So they'll probably need a match around 2 weeks after starting pre-season.
I could see us using Wanyama as a CB in pre-season, as we have 3 other CMs (plus Winks & Ward) but only really Ball and CCV at CB that are anywhere close to the first team. With Trippier here, I can see KWP getting some game time at LB. Unfortunately, I think this means that Poch, Wanyama and KWP are going to come in for some undeserved criticism from our fans, who can't see the bigger picture and circumstances.
 

IGSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 11, 2013
7,939
13,758
Think it might be useful to give a little preview and description of the new first year intake for those who are not aware. I am also bored...

9 have been confirmed but I expect all 10 to be sorted out by now.

Charlie Freeman - Agile, brave goalkeeper. Seems to be quick off his line and happy to throw himself at the ball. Looks to be a good shot stopper. Been to England camps

Tariq Hinds - Energetic fullback, Can play either side. Excellent with the ball at his feet, very composed. Decent dribbler , strange style from what I've seen. Has also been known to play CM and well. Health problems prevented him from representing England

Jon Dinzeyi - Tall and imposing CB. Has hisotry coming through the academy as a winger so is ocmfrotbale with the ball at his feet. I assume he has had a massive growth spurt which lead to him being moved to CB. Conducted himself excellently for the u18s last season, and seems to understand what hee needs to do at the back considering he hasn't played there for long

TJ Eyoma - A CB who loves the ball at his feet. Seems very natural happy to have the ball and loves to dribble out from the back and take on players. Very good defender as well first and foremost, regular England player

Moroyin Omolabi - Tall CM/DM who at the end of last season started to play at CB a bit. Plays the water carrier roel well, making challenges and passing the ball off. Similar in stature to Vieira.

Matt Lock - Can play at RB or at RW, Very good close control and dribbler, has a very good work rate and can be creative.

Jamie Reynolds - Haven't seen enough of him to give a description @edson could assist

Tashan Oakley-Boothe - Big talent. Very good dribbler and excellent user of the ball. Knows how to use his body and strength to maintain possession, but also attacks well and makes good decisions in the final third. Can play anywhere in CM and also on the wings, very similar to Dembele. Regular England international. Hope we may see him get some u21s games during the season.

Nya Kirby - Goal scoring midfielder who can find space well. Can pick a pass and move on play and is also very progressive. Happy to take the ball under pressure, and loves a ball roll. Excellent long range shooter. England international

Reo Griffiths - Atheltic CF/Winger. Has a history as a FB and his willingness to get forward and find space combined with his finishing, has seen him move further up the pitch. Has taken his good form with him and looks to have fitted in well as a striker. Has a good long shot, finish and jump on him. Also has pace to run in behind. Doesn't look like a natural player to me but has ability, and determination
 
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