The Spurs Youth Thread – 2016/2017

[Spursidol]

Marsh, Oteh, Brown, Mukena were all in France so you can exclude them

Forgot to exclude Brown, but had excluded Oteh, Marsh and Mukena

Still lots of academy players available though - provided not injured - without getting to the u16's

 

[IGSpur]

Im hoping that the second year get their shit together this season as they have a lot of potential

Especially Brown, Tanganga and Sterling meanwhile Shashoua and Bennetts need to regain the form in the first half as they looked great and arguably the two brightest in U18's in the first half

Shashoua definitely started great but I don't think he was poor 2nd half just didn't quite meet first half standards. Bennetts had quite a poor season all round. My faith in Bennetts is from little flashes I've seen, his u16s games and his good England performances, rather than any form he had last year. I assume you're referring to those England performances when you say first half of the season for him.

All 5 though as you say have potential as does Marsh and of course Roles. Tbh I'm looking forward to seeing Oteh this year who looks a bit like Batshuayi atm.

Thought the 2nd years looked better towards the end of the season, when more of the 2nd years stopped playing

Agree with that. The Marsh/Roles midfield had more understanding, ability and grit than the Stylianides/Owens one

 

[IGSpur]

Forgot to exclude Brown, but had excluded Oteh, Marsh and Mukena

Still lots of academy players available though - provided not injured

So you had. Will be interesting to see what u16s get introduced too, a lot of good in that age group that could come up.

Btw heard Kirby trialed at Arsenal as Chelsea couldn't guarantee him playing time, which I assume would have been a very similar problem with us, though it is likely he would have got loads of game time despite the competition.

Arsenal have a lot weaker CM options, so may seem more attractive, however they also won't guarantee him game time, it will be intersting to see what he does

 

[THFCSPURS19]

I don't think oduwa will do anything as he will be gone from what I have been told. Also told that grant ward has bee sold to Ipswich

Nice ITK

 

[beats1]

Shashoua definitely started great but I don't think he was poor 2nd half just didn't quite meet first half standards. Bennetts had quite a poor season all round. My faith in Bennetts is from little flashes I've seen, his u16s games and his good England performances, rather than any form he had last year. I assume you're referring to those England performances when you say first half of the season for him.

All 5 though as you say have potential as does Marsh and of course Roles. Tbh I'm looking forward to seeing Oteh this year who looks a bit like Batshuayi atm.



Agree with that. The Marsh/Roles midfield had more understanding, ability and grit than the Stylianides/Owens one

The little england cameos and also the good appearance he had for the U21's

He was a player we all were excited about but so far he hasnt lived up to the promise bar those few good appearances

 

[Spurzinho]

Kirby's options (i.e - Cat 1 academies in England & Wales) are

SOUTH

Chelski (tough to break in even at U18 let alone first team)
Spurs (possible but now a little uncomfortble for him)
Villa (possible. Always been a clearing house for kids who didn't make it at bigger clubs)
West Brom (Weak)
Reading (Weak)
West Ham (Possible. Although their academy is currently in the doldrums)
Leicester (Weak)
Brighton (Weak)
Fulham (Weak)
Southampton (Actually pretty weak, surprisingly.)
Gooners (similar to us & Chelski)
Norwich (Weak)

NORTH

Middlesbrough (Weak)
Everton (Weak)
Man Utd (In flux, currently very weak)
Man City (Absolutely, rediculously stacked)
Wolves (Weak)
Derby (Weak)
Liverpool (Fairly weak)
Sunderland (Weak)
Newcastle (Weak)
Blackburn (Weak)
Stoke (Weak)
Bolton (Weak)

Its not like the lad has too many options. The only academies where he would genuinely develop are us, the Gooners, maybe Chelski, maybe Man Utd and at an outside bet Man City and Liverpool.

 

[Spursidol]

So you had. Will be interesting to see what u16s get introduced too, a lot of good in that age group that could come up.

Btw heard Kirby trialed at Arsenal as Chelsea couldn't guarantee him playing time, which I assume would have been a very similar problem with us, though it is likely he would have got loads of game time despite the competition.

Arsenal have a lot weaker CM options, so may seem more attractive, however they also won't guarantee him game time, it will be intersting to see what he does

Not sure who is advising him or if he has an agent, and that's his agent, but hopefully he'll change advisor as the advice he's had is clearly not very good !

 

[Spurzinho]

Its also worth noting that Arsenal finished absolute rock bottom of the U18 league system last season. They finished second bottom of the southern section, were placed in pool C which included the bottom four teams of North & South and went on to finish bottom with 4 points & a goal difference of -12. Now I am the first to say age group results don't matter but their squad was not depleted by call ups & wasn't particularly young. The general consensus among Gooner youth watchers is that their scouting and coaching at that level has just decayed.

 

[Spursidol]

Kirby's options (i.e - Cat 1 academies in England & Wales) are

SOUTH

Chelski (tough to break in even at U18 let alone first team)
Spurs (possible but now a little uncomfortble for him)
Villa (possible. Always been a clearing house for kids who didn't make it at bigger clubs)
West Brom (Weak)
Reading (Weak)
West Ham (Possible. Although their academy is currently in the doldrums)
Leicester (Weak)
Brighton (Weak)
Fulham (Weak)
Southampton (Actually pretty weak, surprisingly.)
Gooners (similar to us & Chelski)
Norwich (Weak)

NORTH

Middlesbrough (Weak)
Everton (Weak)
Man Utd (In flux, currently very weak)
Man City (Absolutely, rediculously stacked)
Wolves (Weak)
Derby (Weak)
Liverpool (Fairly weak)
Sunderland (Weak)
Newcastle (Weak)
Blackburn (Weak)
Stoke (Weak)
Bolton (Weak)

Its not like the lad has too many options. The only academies where he would genuinely develop are us, the Gooners, maybe Chelski, maybe Man Utd and at an outside bet Man City and Liverpool.

So he's not getting terms he wants (guaranteed playing time and maybe cash) from Chelsea and Arsenal........

 

[Spurzinho]

Apologies re Arsenal, I was looking at season 14-15 not last season where they finished midtable-ish.

 

[Spursidol]

Kirby's options (i.e - Cat 1 academies in England & Wales) are

SOUTH

Chelski (tough to break in even at U18 let alone first team)
Spurs (possible but now a little uncomfortble for him)
Villa (possible. Always been a clearing house for kids who didn't make it at bigger clubs)
West Brom (Weak)
Reading (Weak)
West Ham (Possible. Although their academy is currently in the doldrums)
Leicester (Weak)
Brighton (Weak)
Fulham (Weak)
Southampton (Actually pretty weak, surprisingly.)
Gooners (similar to us & Chelski)
Norwich (Weak)

NORTH

Middlesbrough (Weak)
Everton (Weak)
Man Utd (In flux, currently very weak)
Man City (Absolutely, rediculously stacked)
Wolves (Weak)
Derby (Weak)
Liverpool (Fairly weak)
Sunderland (Weak)
Newcastle (Weak)
Blackburn (Weak)
Stoke (Weak)
Bolton (Weak)

Its not like the lad has too many options. The only academies where he would genuinely develop are us, the Gooners, maybe Chelski, maybe Man Utd and at an outside bet Man City and Liverpool.

Interesting analysis.

Although its not a given, think most kids/parents wouldn't be that keen on moving significantly out of London (cost, break with friends/family - and father's job), so its not an easy choice after he's looked at London clubs, think the next easiest might be Southampton...

 

[Lemon]

Looking forward to you guys describing this years youth to us.

Thanks for the best ongoing thread in my football world. It really is the antithesis of the daily ITK thread!

 

[beats1]

Kirby's options (i.e - Cat 1 academies in England & Wales) are

SOUTH

Chelski (tough to break in even at U18 let alone first team)
Spurs (possible but now a little uncomfortble for him)
Villa (possible. Always been a clearing house for kids who didn't make it at bigger clubs)
West Brom (Weak)
Reading (Weak)
West Ham (Possible. Although their academy is currently in the doldrums)
Leicester (Weak)
Brighton (Weak)
Fulham (Weak)
Southampton (Actually pretty weak, surprisingly.)
Gooners (similar to us & Chelski)
Norwich (Weak)

NORTH

Middlesbrough (Weak)
Everton (Weak)
Man Utd (In flux, currently very weak)
Man City (Absolutely, rediculously stacked)
Wolves (Weak)
Derby (Weak)
Liverpool (Fairly weak)
Sunderland (Weak)
Newcastle (Weak)
Blackburn (Weak)
Stoke (Weak)
Bolton (Weak)

Its not like the lad has too many options. The only academies where he would genuinely develop are us, the Gooners, maybe Chelski, maybe Man Utd and at an outside bet Man City and Liverpool.

I dont think we are an option, I wouldn't be surprised at West Ham

I think we were and are the best option if he wants to go to a PL club

Interesting Southampton have basically been shit since their mini purge a couple of years ago. Fulham I wouldn't class as weak but they are in a total mess in regards to the first team.

If I was Kirby I wouldn't have gone Chelsea or Man City as they were stacked in his age group imo however Chelsea would been the best option other than us

As for Arsenal, well imo it is shit, they are going through coaches like no tomorrow and not much will happen. They have been throwing a lot of money at the academy and young players and the only ones who seem to progress is the foreign players they buy at 17/18. Look at the last couple of big names they got like Dan Crowley, Gnabry and etc they have been going down levels rather than up

 

[Hercules]

Not sure who is advising him or if he has an agent, and that's his agent, but hopefully he'll change advisor as the advice he's had is clearly not very good !

More to it than what everyone thinks. Won't share until verified with mods to not get into trouble.

 

[spursfan77]

Think this makes the point of what the Academy contributes to Spurs - in addition of course to Kane, Rose, Mason, Carroll, Bentaleb, Pritchard, the 11 youngsters who went to Australia and others still in the Academy.

So far we've pretty much paid for the training ground that the first team use !

Tottenham Academy‏@thfcacademy
Tottenham have received over £36m in transfer fees for Academy products since 2011. #THFCpic.twitter.com/Y71wiXJLWj

Nb. Think we got £500k for Ward, and a few hundred thousand for Couulthirst. Think there was also a sell on clause in Luongo's sale - so we are probably well over £37m on those sales - and its rumoured there will be over the £13m for Pritchard and Bentaleb, which would bring total to over £50m !

I was posting about this earlier today on COYS. We must have nearly paid for the training ground since we started building it by selling youth products. It's virtually paid for itself already.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Hopefully, the Grant Ward deal will also demonstrate to young players and their famiiy that the Spurs Academy is a good place to develop.

As the experienced Academy watchers in this thread have stated, Ward was never the most talented player in his position in his age group. But he clearly has a great attitude and a willingness to learn. The club has continued to develop him, through loans, and coaching back at the club in between those loans.

As a result, he leaves our Academy as a Championship player, with an excellent chance of making a good living as a professional footballer.

Only a few of our Academy will make it as Spurs players long term. But Ward and many others - for instance both Adam Smith and Charlie Daniels at Bournemouth - demonstrate the benefits of coming through the Spurs system.

And @Bus-Conductor , I suspect you'll say Adam Smith should have made it at Spurs. To which I respond that I think KWP is a better player at the same age, and our best full back prospect since Stevie Carr...

KWP is a better player than Smith at the same age, and will be a better player if he gets close to fulfilling his potential and gets the chance Smith should have got to progress but didn't. But Smith should have got his chance, he's a better footballer than Naughton and Walker, just not as quick or strong as the latter.

 

[scat1620]

KWP is a better player than Smith at the same age, and will be a better player if he gets close to fulfilling his potential and gets the chance Smith should have got to progress but didn't. But Smith should have got his chance, he's a better footballer than Naughton and Walker, just not as quick or strong as the latter.

Had he stayed we might have earned the wealth of nations by now.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Had he stayed we might have earned the wealth of nations by now.

But then we'd also never have seen Walker attempt the world's first trans orbital back pass at Anfield, so it's swings and roundabouts I guess.

 

[scat1620]

But then we'd also never have seen Walker attempt the world's first trans orbital back pass at Anfield, so it's swings and roundabouts I guess.

My literary comic genius is unappreciated in its own time. Which may disqualify its genius altogether.

 

[spurs9]

KWP is a better player than Smith at the same age, and will be a better player if he gets close to fulfilling his potential and gets the chance Smith should have got to progress but didn't. But Smith should have got his chance, he's a better footballer than Naughton and Walker, just not as quick or strong as the latter.

Smith is a better dribbler but that is about it IMO.