Spurs under 21, under 18 Leagues and other youth news

[Spursidol]

True.

Harry regularly would rather put two goalkeepers on the bench than any of our youngesters.

Thankfully AVB hasn't gone to that extreme - despite having 4 goalkeepers in our Premiership squad !

 

[Spursidol]

BTW, Alex Inglethorpe has now left to join Liverpool.

Keiran McKenna was the coach in this weekend's Spurs u 18 match, so might have been promoted - Keiran used to play for Spurs as a talented CM but had to retire aged about 21 due to injury and took some sort of Sports Science degree. He re-appeared at Loghborough University (who have one of the best university football teams around), I think as a Physio, before rejoining Spurs as head of Performance Analysis for youth over last summer.

So if Keiran has got the job as u 18 coach, he comes without the experience Alex had of managing Exeter and some youth management experience before joining Spurs - hope he has picked up lots by watching Alex and other youth coaches since he has been back.

It will be interesting to see who is coach for u 19 NextGen series matches.

 

[Luka Van der Bale]

ManU u21's drew their game in hand last night leaving them 4 points behind Spurs with 2 games to play - Spurs still have a massive goial difference advantage (Spurs GD of + 19 is more than Man U have scored this season ! ), so its more like a 5 point advantage.

Spurs last 2 games in this phase are Sunderland (A) and Aston Villa (A) on 10th and 17th December.

NB I still love that Stat that our GD is more than the goals ManU have scoreed !

It's not as if our defence has been rock solid either!

 

[Spursidol]

Re todays Spurs X1 match v Orient,

Cameron Lancaster ‏@CameronPL
Good to get the first 45 out the way! Body is in absolute pieces but buzzing to get on the score sheet

Kevin Stewart ‏@KevStewart93
Good Day, Good Win!

iago27 ‏@Iago14bcn
Happy, playing again after 15 days injured! #goodfeelings

Not sure if OS will carry a match report, but good news Cameron Lancaster is back and scoring, Iago Falque is back and Jake Nicholson was due to play too. Big question will be whether Scott Parker was fit enough to join them.

 

[CJMurray]

Lawrence Vigouroux ‏@LawrenceV93
Beat Leyton Orient 3-0 earlier today, good win.. #COYS

 

[SlickMongoose]

I think you may of stumbled on to a good point here

It's just common sense, we can have a big squad with lots of senior cover or we can bring through youth players. Trying to do both just makes senior squad members unahappy and limits youth chances.

 

[beats1]

It's just common sense, we can have a big squad with lots of senior cover or we can bring through youth players. Trying to do both just makes senior squad members unahappy and limits youth chances.

I think we tried to do both with us thinking that Dempsey would be our striker replacement for Ade but since defoe has been playing well it seems Sig has been expendable

 

[sloth]

Barcelona field entirely homegrown team

By Eurosport

Barcelona's fabled La Masia academy scored another triumph on Sunday when the Liga giants fielded an entirely homegrown team during their 4-0 Liga victory against Levante.
History was made in the 14th minute when coach Tito Vilanova sent on Martin Montoya to replace the injured Dani Alves - completing a team full of La Masia products for the first time in the modern era.
Not even Vilanova's predecessor Pep Guardiola managed the feat, fielding a maximum of nine homegrown players at any time.
Brazilian substitute Adriano Correia broke the monopoly in the 75th minute, by which time Barca were four goals to the good.
Although every player was an academy product, that's not to say all were born within a stepover or two of the Camp Nou.
Lionel Messi hails, of course, from Argentina but moved to Barcelona aged 12. Pedro Rodriguez is from Tenerife, while Andres Iniesta's childhood home of Fuentealbilla is closer to Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium than to Barcelona.
And three of last night's players flew the nest - costing Barca a fortune to re-sign them.
Gerard Pique (Manchester United), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) and Jordi Alba (Valencia) all spent time away from Barcelona, who paid a combined £40 million to bring them back under their wing.
Nevertheless, it is a remarkable feat in an increasingly cosmopolitan game. By contrast, the Chelsea team that played Manchester City on Sunday contained just one Englishman (Ashley Cole) and no products of the club's youth academy.




Think we have some way to go - it will take some effort to bring through an entirely home grown team (even assuming it includes talent signed at 16/17/18) even in say 5-10 years time as it is unrealistic to expect more than 1-2 players to join the first team squad (not necessarily as first team stars, just squad players sometimes) each season as not only do we have to find the talent, but also bring them through to the first team (the subject of a few recemt posts).

I just want to say that looks are deceiving.

First of all - and if you know different then please correct me - Spain don't have the same "Grass-roots" rule that the FA enforces in this country, by which I mean Barcelona can recruit from the entire country and not merely kids in their catchment area. In the UK, because we have 96 pro clubs, the FA don't want them stripped of their talent so they enforce a rule which means players below a certain age cannot so easily be poached. Barcelona have the pick of Spanish youth, and now the World's as well.

Second of all, because in Spain the top teams are allowed to field second teams in the second tier they are able to bring players through in a properly competitive environment, this hugely helps them bring their talent through, and also spot those players who have what it takes. This also means that youngsters know they'll get a chance at Barcelona, ad aren't tempted to go to lesser teams in search of their opportunity.

Third of all, because they don't share TV money equally, by selling rights collectively as the PL does, it meas there's a gulf between the top two and the rest, this in turn leads to a concentration of resources which means if you're a youngster in Spain, even at another La Liga side and a team like Barca comes calling, you're much more likely to go because of the difference in the level of resource that's going to thrown at your development.

So yes, Barca deserve credit, but to compare them with english sides is not fair, they have everything stacked in their favour, and the smaller clubs have it stacked against them, whereas in this country we have rules to ensure things are more egalitarian.

 

[Spursidol]

NextGeneration ‏@NextGenSeries
FULL TIME: FC Barcelona 3 - 1 Vfl Wolfsburg

That ends Barcelona's fixtures in the group stages, and puts them on 11 points with a GD of +6. Spurs are on 8 points with a GD of + 2, so in our final home match against Anderlecht need to win by a margin of 4 goals to qualify as top of the group (which might give a slightly easier fixture in the next round)

Wolfsburhg face Anderlecht before Spurs last game - Anderlecht would need to win both this game and beat Spurs to get 2nd place and qualify for the group stages. Wolfsburg cannot qualify now unless they do so as one of ' the 4 teams finishing in third place in their respective groups who have amassed the most points.'

Surprisingly perhaps, but Anderlecht beat Wolfsburg 3-2 away in Germany last night in the NextGen Series.

A win or draw for Spurs in their last match against Anderlecht at home on Thursday 13th December (13.00 kick off at Hotspur Way) will be enough to take Spurs through to the next stage of the competition - more than a 4 goal margin would take them through as Group leaders above Barcelona.

 

[michaelden]

I just want to say that looks are deceiving.

First of all - and if you know different then please correct me - Spain don't have the same "Grass-roots" rule that the FA enforces in this country, by which I mean Barcelona can recruit from the entire country and not merely kids in their catchment area. In the UK, because we have 96 pro clubs, the FA don't want them stripped of their talent so they enforce a rule which means players below a certain age cannot so easily be poached. Barcelona have the pick of Spanish youth, and now the World's as well.

Second of all, because in Spain the top teams are allowed to field second teams in the second tier they are able to bring players through in a properly competitive environment, this hugely helps them bring their talent through, and also spot those players who have what it takes. This also means that youngsters know they'll get a chance at Barcelona, ad aren't tempted to go to lesser teams in search of their opportunity.

Third of all, because they don't share TV money equally, by selling rights collectively as the PL does, it meas there's a gulf between the top two and the rest, this in turn leads to a concentration of resources which means if you're a youngster in Spain, even at another La Liga side and a team like Barca comes calling, you're much more likely to go because of the difference in the level of resource that's going to thrown at your development.

So yes, Barca deserve credit, but to compare them with english sides is not fair, they have everything stacked in their favour, and the smaller clubs have it stacked against them, whereas in this country we have rules to ensure things are more egalitarian.

agreed as far as I know. In UK you can't recruit kids who must travel more than 90 minutes to get to the ground or something like that.
In Spain, my friend's nephew was a youth player for Deportivo La Coruna but Barca came in for him and after flirting with him declined. Funnily enough he soon lost interest in footy altogether. Although that might be cos he discovered girls and not cos Barca broke his heart. FWIW the little shit can still play. Damn he is good!

B & C teams, but they can never be promoted to the top division.

egalitarian! That's a big word like marmalade! I think you are right but in this country it just means when the brat turns 17 there is an auction for his services if he's good enough else he stays or it goes to a tribunal

 

[kazzah9]

Any new news on stuff?

 

[Spursidol]

ManU u21's drew their game in hand last night leaving them 4 points behind Spurs with 2 games to play - Spurs still have a massive goial difference advantage (Spurs GD of + 19 is more than Man U have scored this season ! ), so its more like a 5 point advantage.

Spurs last 2 games in this phase are Sunderland (A) and Aston Villa (A) on 10th and 17th December.

NB I still love that Stat that our GD is more than the goals ManU have scoreed !

Update on u 21 games format after Christmas (The knockout stage)

The sides who finish in the top three places in Group 1 qualify for the Elite Group stage, along with the top two teams and the best third-placed finisher from Groups 2 and 3 (nb. Spurs u 21's competing in Group 2 seem likely to qualify for Elite Group).

The remaining third-placed team from Groups 2 and 3 and clubs who finish fourth, fifth and sixth in the three sections go through to Qualification Group Tier 1, while the seventh-placed clubs plus the side to finish eighth in Group 1 go to Qualification Group Tier 2.

The two teams who top the Qualification Groups will compete in a play-off to reach the first semi-final, where they will meet the team that finishes top of the Elite Group Stage. The teams that finish second and third in the Elite Group Stage play in the other semi-final .

 

[kazzah9]

In the nextgen we just have to draw with anderlecht to qualify right?

 

[Spursidol]

In the nextgen we just have to draw with anderlecht to qualify right?

Yup.

 

[Spursidol]

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1. Cameron Lancaster ‏@CameronPL

One day back training and my legs are already 75% covered in bruises​

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Back in training after Summer op (4 months out ?) - not sure we will see the 20 year old striker much before Christmas.​

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2 Jake Nicholson ‏@nicholson_jake​

Waited for this day for the past 11months. First time im back into training after two operations and 6injections. Glad to be back!​

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Like Lancaster, the DM/CB just back in training, but this time after 11 months, Definitely an 'after christmas ' return imo.​

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3 OllieModeste ‏@Ollie_Modeste​

Soo... I have no needles, no drains, no more injections. Best of all I have a full skull! #RoyalLondonHospital worked miracles on me!​

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Needs to recover from this operation first, before starting training. This operation follows his unfortunate non football accident which caused him to be in intensive care in Spring for the Academy CB/LB. Hope he makes a full recovery - almost certainly the best defender in his year group before his accident - but doubt we will see him bck in action much before the start of Spring.​

Jake Nicholson ‏@nicholson_jake
Good to see @Ollie_Modeste back around the training ground - good to have u back bro

Glad to hear that Oliver Modeste has started a training regime - think it will take him some time to come back after his injury in the spring, but good that he is well enough to start on the road back.

 

[kazzah9]

Well they finally uploaded highlights of the first game vs barca at the lane. No idea on the on the reverse fixture, I think barca usually record their youth games but there's nothing on their youtube channel for that one...

 

[chinaman]

Hit the bar twice. From the highlights perhaps a draw would have been a fairer result.

 

[Spursidol]

http://www.myfootballfacts.com/U-21_Premier_League_2012-13.html

Other results since Spurs last played mean that Spurs u 21's have qualified for the Elite Group with 2 games to go, unless there are exceptional results - ManU in 3rd place can now only match Spurs current points total of 20, and to overtake Spurs would need a change in GD of 17 !.

Aston Villa, who Spurs play in their last match, are now in 2nd place (above ManU), 2 [points behind Spurs) after playing the same number of games as Spurs, but of course with a far inferior goal difference.

Spurs u 21 next game is against Sunderland on Monday 10th against Sunderland (away).

 

[StartingPrice]

Cue clichés about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and sic.

Well done to the lads and the staff

 

[Spurrific]

Coulthirst tweeted not long ago.

@ShaqCoulthirst: Good 4-0 Win Today Against Sunderland, Happy With A Hat-trick & An Assist...#COYS