Spurs U21’s, U18’s and other youth news – 2015/16 Edition

[thinktank]

It's comments like that and the previous one that will make THFC think twice about live streaming of U-21 or U-18 matches in thew future.

Academy games are part of the learning process for young players and in this case it was a 16-year old playing at U-21 level.

Or they just realise that people like jari17 have retard whacked right up to 11.

 

[newbie]

Not one player in this U21 will make it at Spurs

Dam it, why is there no Dick head rating.

You might be right you might be wrong but you don't have to be cruel everyone's entitled to there opinion but these are very very young men. At there age most of us were drunk and care free they have basically given up a lot in the hope they make it, so
Let's be constructive rather than horrible.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I know this U21 team isn't the Bentaleb, Carroll, Onomah, Pritchard, Kane ensemble, and even now is missing that bit of creative flair that Oduwa could bring so I can understand why they are lacking match winners, and results accordingly, but it also doesn't seem to have that tactical cohesion, zip zip press pass that is the hallmark of most of our best development sides whenever you watch them.

Not sure whether Ehiogu is just unlucky in that he's got this group in transition with most of the best players elsewhere, or whether he's not a great coach, but I have thought the same most U21 games I've seen of his teams.

 

[Spursidol]

I know this U21 team isn't the Bentaleb, Carroll, Onomah, Pritchard, Kane ensemble, and even now is missing that bit of creative flair that Oduwa could bring so I can understand why they are lacking match winners, and results accordingly, but it also doesn't seem to have that tactical cohesion, zip zip press pass that is the hallmark of most of our best development sides whenever you watch them.

Not sure whether Ehiogu is just unlucky in that he's got this group in transition with most of the best players elsewhere, or whether he's not a great coach, but I have thought the same most U21 games I've seen of his teams.

Agreed tonight's performance didn't seem to have the zip or pressing football that Spurs can play, and it didn't seem they really performed well as a team. Not sure if that is partly being 'rusty' or not - and if rusty they should have been playing more Spurs X1 matches in the month between the u21 games.

Also, part of the problem is that we have too many cm's who we are trying to shoe-horn into the side - Amos at LB and Walkes at no 10 with Winks/Lesniak as actual cm's

Amos has played LB before and he's not bad, but didn't make many runs forward tonight (and generally doesn't in that role), so Georgiou had to do all the running on the left side,

Walkes has scored a few goals for u21''s this season - which may have flattered our results a bit - but I don't think he's a good no 10, just not creative enough. Better as a CM - but that's where we are overloaded.

And at CM we have Lesniak who is a DM and Winks who's a good all round midfielder but not creative enough if we were relying on him for that whilst playing Walkes.

Probably not too many alternatives for Ugo to choose - though Miller might have been a better option to play as no 10 (but with Walkes scoring goals, he's difficult to drop) or Joe Pritchard maybe. We don't have any natural LB's in the u21's with Ogilvie on loan - which is one of the reasons why Ugo wants to try out Tangana I guess.

Think that the numbers of CM's in u21's - and coming up from the academy - will be a problem for the rest of this season and maybe the start of next one, until some of the current Academy Year 1 players are drafted in. Technically those guys are good and provide a good array of creative/attacking talent plus a couple more defenders (but also a couple more CM's). A much better all round year group than Academy year 2 which is Ugo's other possible source of players.

 

[Spursidol]

A few changes in the Academy set up with a new group set up mirroring McDermott's title of Coach & Player Development. Not quite sure what it all means, but Gibbs and Allpress seem to be 'more mature' guys in their 40's/50's and presumably brought in to share McDermott's workload - and if that's the case, its good news as the loss of Inglethorpe, Ramsey and Sherwood (I know BC wasn't a fan but a lot of the kids parents respected him for his work with the kids) seemed to result in a big loss of experience and hence an increase in dependence on McDermott.

Head of Coaching & Player Development - John McDermott

Academy Manager - Dean Rastrick

Assistant Head of Coach & Player Development - Nigel Gibbs
Assistant Head of Coach & Player Development - John Allpress
Assistant Head of Coach & Player Development - Justin Cochrane
Head of Academy Football Development - Gary Broadhurst

Under-21 Head Coach - Ugo Ehiogu
Under-21 Assistant Coach - Matt Wells
Under-18 Head Coach - Kieran McKenna
Under-18 Assistant Coach - Ledley King

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Agreed tonight's performance didn't seem to have the zip or pressing football that Spurs can play, and it didn't seem they really performed well as a team. Not sure if that is partly being 'rusty' or not - and if rusty they should have been playing more Spurs X1 matches in the month between the u21 games.

Also, part of the problem is that we have too many cm's who we are trying to shoe-horn into the side - Amos at LB and Walkes at no 10 with Winks/Lesniak as actual cm's

Amos has played LB before and he's not bad, but didn't make many runs forward tonight (and generally doesn't in that role), so Georgiou had to do all the running on the left side,

Walkes has scored a few goals for u21''s this season - which may have flattered our results a bit - but I don't think he's a good no 10, just not creative enough. Better as a CM - but that's where we are overloaded.

And at CM we have Lesniak who is a DM and Winks who's a good all round midfielder but not creative enough if we were relying on him for that whilst playing Walkes.

Probably not too many alternatives for Ugo to choose - though Miller might have been a better option to play as no 10 (but with Walkes scoring goals, he's difficult to drop) or Joe Pritchard maybe. We don't have any natural LB's in the u21's with Ogilvie on loan - which is one of the reasons why Ugo wants to try out Tangana I guess.

Think that the numbers of CM's in u21's - and coming up from the academy - will be a problem for the rest of this season and maybe the start of next one, until some of the current Academy Year 1 players are drafted in. Technically those guys are good and provide a good array of creative/attacking talent plus a couple more defenders (but also a couple more CM's). A much better all round year group than Academy year 2 which is Ugo's other possible source of players.

You're bang on and that was another thing I meant to mention, I don't think Walkes is a No.10 either (in a funny way he reminds me of Alli playing there recently - scoring goals but just not got the rest of the game to go with that position, i.e. the ability to operate in tight spaces quickly and quick wittedly) and I also thought (and said the same last time) Amos just isn't helping the balance of the team at LB. We do seem to feel like a team of CM's at times.

I think Coulthirst, Georgiou and Sonupe are possibly not exceptional - but I haven't seen enough of them to say that for sure, especially Giorgiou who I have seen have decent games - and people like Edwards, Bennetts and a couple of others might find themselves fast tracked soon.

I really liked the Stylianides/Amos pairing when they've played together as a CM2, both tenacious but both can play too. A good double pivoting pair. I like Winks but he was very anonymous today and just never seemed to influence the game.

I actually think Loft is a physically developed specimen who looked like he could offer more of a fulcrum in our 4231 system than Coulthirst when Harrison is out (or maybe even with Harrison as the ACM just behind him??)

Veljkovic and KWP look absolute quality and IMO both should have been around and in our first team this season.

 

[IGSpur]

Under-18 Assistant Coach - Ledley King

Anyone know if this is still true, haven't seen him at one game this season, see Gibbs, McDermott and Cochrane though

 

[Spursidol]

Anyone know if this is still true, haven't seen him at one game this season, see Gibbs, McDermott and Cochrane though

Straight off the updated academy page. Bit surprised, but maybe King mainly works week days rather than match days ? Or has King been doing a lot of Ambassadorial work in recent months

 

[Bus-Conductor]

A few changes in the Academy set up with a new group set up mirroring McDermott's title of Coach & Player Development. Not quite sure what it all means, but Gibbs and Allpress seem to be 'more mature' guys in their 40's/50's and presumably brought in to share McDermott's workload - and if that's the case, its good news as the loss of Inglethorpe, Ramsey and Sherwood (I know BC wasn't a fan but a lot of the kids parents respected him for his work with the kids) seemed to result in a big loss of experience and hence an increase in dependence on McDermott.

Head of Coaching & Player Development - John McDermott

Academy Manager - Dean Rastrick

Assistant Head of Coach & Player Development - Nigel Gibbs
Assistant Head of Coach & Player Development - John Allpress
Assistant Head of Coach & Player Development - Justin Cochrane
Head of Academy Football Development - Gary Broadhurst

Under-21 Head Coach - Ugo Ehiogu
Under-21 Assistant Coach - Matt Wells
Under-18 Head Coach - Kieran McKenna
Under-18 Assistant Coach - Ledley King

Thanks, interesting.

Re Sherwood, I can just imagine parents loving him, he's a fucking "talker" and I can imagine him charming the bollocks off mums and dads with his "we love your boy" blarney. I just don't think he deserved any credit for the they way our kids were being tactically educated and coached, or the any of the over arching philosophy that's seen us become one of the best academies in Europe (whilst happily taking plaudits for it).

Anyone who's watched his teams play can see he hasn't got a fucking clue about coaching and tactics or, more importantly, how to teach them. But he is a world class bantersaurus.

 

[IGSpur]

 

[IGSpur]

Straight off the updated academy page. Bit surprised, but maybe King mainly works week days rather than match days ? Or has King been doing a lot of Ambassadorial work in recent months

Possibly he has been n quite a few pictures abroad and interacting with other organisations recently.

 

[Luka Van der Bale]

Agreed tonight's performance didn't seem to have the zip or pressing football that Spurs can play, and it didn't seem they really performed well as a team. Not sure if that is partly being 'rusty' or not - and if rusty they should have been playing more Spurs X1 matches in the month between the u21 games.

Also, part of the problem is that we have too many cm's who we are trying to shoe-horn into the side - Amos at LB and Walkes at no 10 with Winks/Lesniak as actual cm's

Amos has played LB before and he's not bad, but didn't make many runs forward tonight (and generally doesn't in that role), so Georgiou had to do all the running on the left side,

Walkes has scored a few goals for u21''s this season - which may have flattered our results a bit - but I don't think he's a good no 10, just not creative enough. Better as a CM - but that's where we are overloaded.

And at CM we have Lesniak who is a DM and Winks who's a good all round midfielder but not creative enough if we were relying on him for that whilst playing Walkes.

Probably not too many alternatives for Ugo to choose - though Miller might have been a better option to play as no 10 (but with Walkes scoring goals, he's difficult to drop) or Joe Pritchard maybe. We don't have any natural LB's in the u21's with Ogilvie on loan - which is one of the reasons why Ugo wants to try out Tangana I guess.

Think that the numbers of CM's in u21's - and coming up from the academy - will be a problem for the rest of this season and maybe the start of next one, until some of the current Academy Year 1 players are drafted in. Technically those guys are good and provide a good array of creative/attacking talent plus a couple more defenders (but also a couple more CM's). A much better all round year group than Academy year 2 which is Ugo's other possible source of players.

I'd have Amos and Lesniak as the two CMs most weeks from what I've seen. Amos far higher ceiling than Walkes, and Lesniak does a good job being a player experienced at this level who can help the less experienced around him.

Edit: Just strange how Amos got to play in his best position last year (CM, and was one of our best u18s, even earning an England callup) whilst Walkes got switched between CB and LB depending on whether CCV dropped down or not, whereas this year Amos is being pigeon-holed into the wrong position to allow the lower potential (admittedly imo) Walkes to play CM/AM.

 

[Luka Van der Bale]

Agreed tonight's performance didn't seem to have the zip or pressing football that Spurs can play, and it didn't seem they really performed well as a team. Not sure if that is partly being 'rusty' or not - and if rusty they should have been playing more Spurs X1 matches in the month between the u21 games.

Also, part of the problem is that we have too many cm's who we are trying to shoe-horn into the side - Amos at LB and Walkes at no 10 with Winks/Lesniak as actual cm's

Amos has played LB before and he's not bad, but didn't make many runs forward tonight (and generally doesn't in that role), so Georgiou had to do all the running on the left side,

Walkes has scored a few goals for u21''s this season - which may have flattered our results a bit - but I don't think he's a good no 10, just not creative enough. Better as a CM - but that's where we are overloaded.

And at CM we have Lesniak who is a DM and Winks who's a good all round midfielder but not creative enough if we were relying on him for that whilst playing Walkes.

Probably not too many alternatives for Ugo to choose - though Miller might have been a better option to play as no 10 (but with Walkes scoring goals, he's difficult to drop) or Joe Pritchard maybe. We don't have any natural LB's in the u21's with Ogilvie on loan - which is one of the reasons why Ugo wants to try out Tangana I guess.

Think that the numbers of CM's in u21's - and coming up from the academy - will be a problem for the rest of this season and maybe the start of next one, until some of the current Academy Year 1 players are drafted in. Technically those guys are good and provide a good array of creative/attacking talent plus a couple more defenders (but also a couple more CM's). A much better all round year group than Academy year 2 which is Ugo's other possible source of players.

Yeah next year's u21 CM options will probably be from Amos, Walkes, Owens, Stylianides and possibly still Lesniak. Maybe loan one of them out at some point. Fascinating to see what happens in u18s with Roles, Marsh, TOB, Kirby and maybe Skipp.

 

[littlemandefoe]

Where is Marcus Edwards? Will he sign on or no? Thought I heard talk about him wanting to go. They asked David Pleat (who is a scout for us apparently?!) who he knew of coming through the youth system that could make an impact and he said Marcus Edwards... Isn't he 16? If someone like Pleat (tbf to him, he can spot talent) is recognising talent at 16 and already thinking he can make it, he must be good.

He's a midfielder, right?

 

[newbie]

what are they feeding him?

 

[Knarf44]

Interesting to see that the job titles of Gibbs, Allpress and Cochrane are Head of Coach & Player Development. That suggests to me that their jobs include developing the coaches of other clubs who maybe want to try to mimic our Academy and probably also helping new coaches attain their badges.

Are those reasonable assumptions to make?

 

[kmk]

Interesting to see that the job titles of Gibbs, Allpress and Cochrane are Head of Coach & Player Development. That suggests to me that their jobs include developing the coaches of other clubs who maybe want to try to mimic our Academy and probably also helping new coaches attain their badges.

Are those reasonable assumptions to make?

Shouldn't that be the FA's job to develop coaches.

 

[Blake Griffin]

Where is Marcus Edwards? Will he sign on or no? Thought I heard talk about him wanting to go. They asked David Pleat (who is a scout for us apparently?!) who he knew of coming through the youth system that could make an impact and he said Marcus Edwards... Isn't he 16? If someone like Pleat (tbf to him, he can spot talent) is recognising talent at 16 and already thinking he can make it, he must be good.

He's a midfielder, right?

this question seems to get asked on a weekly basis but yes he's still with us, he turned 17 a few days ago so presumably will have signed a professional deal with the club(if he hadn't signed a pre-contract already).

you can see him here in action at the weekend - http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/spu...er-league/barclays-u18-pl--reading-0-0-spurs/

he's the #7 dicing his way through reading's team, he'll be disappointed not to have finished one of those chances though.

 

[Roynie]

I saw that Sterling may be earmarked for fast tracking. Whilst I have seen his name mentioned on here quite a bit, can someone please let me know what sort of player he his, i.e. best position, skills and height and build etc.

Thanks

Edited for spelling, my keyboard had a bit of a thrombie!

 

[TottenhamLegend]

Assistant Head of Coach & Player Development - John Allpress

Glad they're getting people in who will buy into Pochettino's tactics for the first team