The Spurs Youth Thread - 2017/2018

[ljinko888]

I've been thinking about the striker situation. It seems the plan in the last two years was to have someone with similar style to Kane who can come into the side without us having to change our way of playing to accommodate him.

My opinion is this idea of having a Kane-lite is flawed. Kane is a gem in that he came from our academy and is extremely well rounded as a striker. Maybe the most rounded in the world in terms of the different attributes he has.

If you ask Kane to just hover in and around the six yard box and wait for crosses and cutbacks he'll score plenty due to his sharpness to sniff a chance and ability to strike the ball cleanly off either foot or connect with his head. If you ask him to act as a target man or even pure battering ram he has the power and determination to bully defenders. If you ask him to get involved in play and showcase his skill with the ball you see a player who has excellent control, hold-up play, composure with the ball, drive and play-making ability. Harry Kane fits the bill perfectly for a modern day striker.

However in trying to replicate these type we have come across a flawed idea. In Janssen we signed someone young and with only one season of top flight football under his belt. From an pretty ordinary league that exports flops more often than not these days. Janssen's technical ability left a lot to be desired. His determination wasn't lacking but the inability to move the ball quickly was very noticeable. He was a yard or two off the pace and didn't even get many opportunities to score because he was behind the play. It didn't work out well so we have loaned him out and brought in a similar type forward in Llorente who does have experience at the highest level at big clubs and in this country. But he's been rubbish so far.

I don't mind having Llorente at the club and I think in time he will come up good. However I don't want it to be predictable that whenever we are behind the go-to is 'chuck the big man on'. He can be a useful option if used correctly like Wenger has found a niche for Giroud. Don't fanny about - just get it wide and into the box. Fine.

But they also have Walcott and Welbeck who can do a job up front in a different manner. Neither of them are much in way of talented footballers but as subs they have speed to stretch defences and against tired legs that is a very dangerous asset.

Could Sterling be that guy for us? Hard working, speedy outlet against tired defences? Walcott and Welbeck may be comparisons that make you unimpressed so here's another....Jamie Vardy.

Is Vardy a gifted footballer? Absolutely not. His game is very one-dimensional but he's almost mastered that one trick. Always looking to get in behind, always chasing forward balls. Defenders don't want to get in a foot race with him so it inhibits how high you want to play. He's also a pretty good finisher too which is nifty.

 

[allpaths]

in isolation sterling shouldn't be good enough to be our backup striker but when llorente currently holds that title it's not really that farfetched to say he could be. llorente can hold the ball up and play with a bit of composure but everything else he just looks so poorly suited to us and it's hard to imagine him scoring unless it's put on a plate for him - and as we saw yesterday even then that's not a given. he can't press, he can barely even run - two things a pochettino side is built on and sterling would definitely give us that at least. his all-round game is unpolished but he will work and hassle defenders, he's an inconsistent finisher but he's shown he can score different types of goals - playing off the shoulder of the defender is his main source of goals but he's also good at working a yard and getting shots off that way too.

It cant hurt to give Sterling a chance atm. He's definately a player that has an equal chance being successeful, as he is to struggle in the first team. I back him to do better than most would suspect, he's improved a lot this year in his hold up play and his vision has improved even if he continues to fail to release the ball fast enough. Most important I think his finishing is finally up to par, he's constantly smashed in goals this year and his curling effort against against Dortmund was truely a big boy finish.

 

[spursfan77]

It cant hurt to give Sterling a chance atm. He's definately a player that has an equal chance being a success, as he is to struggle in the first team. I back him to do better than most would suspect, he's improved a lot this year in his hold up play and his vision has improved even if he continues to fail to release the ball fast enough. Most important I think his finishing is finally up to par, he's constantly smashed in goals this year and his curling effort against against Dortmund was truely a big boy finish.

We’ll never know until he gets a go. If he’s not needed for the youth game that day then let’s give him some minutes in the dead rubber.

 

[IGSpur]

paris maghoma is probably a little above patterson, though that is in large part due to him being more physically developed. i haven't seen patterson for a while though so others will have a better idea of where he's at currently. there are a couple of other decent talents in this year's group but i can't help but feel 16 was an unnecessarily large intake, i think we could've cut that down by 5 and not missed much but then i guess it's better to take on too many than it is to potentially make a mistake by prematurely releasing one of them.

16 looks big but I think it got to that stage as we were loaded with talent in certain areas compared to others. I could immediately drop Poch Jr and Tainio to start off with. Then the next least talented or dispensiable I would say are our CBs. that are decent, don't get me wrong, but we have better now and better below them. The reason they were kept I believe though, is for insurance, we can't have an intake with no CBs. Again I'm not saying they shouldn't be there, as I thought they looked good at u16s but they I would argue at this moment in time, they are the least likely to have a future with us.

The next you could look at is Mukendi but we have only one winger and he was injured for ages plus he was good and probably deserved a chance. Finally and based purely on the fact he hasn't had as many chances and isn't an international is Richards, who I actually really rate. The reason we have a large in take as we have so many CM/AMs we couldn't release, then we had to add other positions so we didn't leave ourselves short. I just counted we have 8 CM/AMs, there aren't any I think should have been released. Then add BLF, a keeper who has represented England, Clarke (one of standouts) then you're at 11 without having players to cover all areas. If it was me, and I was being ruthless I would probably have those 11 and Richards, and maybe use Binks and Walcott as the back ups. But again when they offer the contracts, between Dec and March, there was no guarantee a 14 year old Binks will have been ready to play for the u18s next year so took some back ups.

Who would you shave off to bring it down?

 

[IGSpur]

I like Griffiths a lot. He's a good height, surprising upper body strength, wriggles well with the ball more than dribbles with it, has decent pace which I don't think people notice as much as they should, good feet. He obviously needs improve his link up play and he can be a little bit 'head down' at times, his movement off the ball sometimes betrays the fact that he's only recently been converted into a striker but he looks like the perfect mould to make a footballer out of.

As always, how he develops we'll have to wait and see. Does he end up as a Nathan Delfounso or a Marcus Rashford?

Funnily enough with Griffiths I always feel he is a lot slower than he appears or should be. I always watch him thinking he will be quick as he was a fullback and is athletic but I feel he really should be quicker. Not to take away from the fact that I like him or think he could be decent

 

[edson]

16 looks big but I think it got to that stage as we were loaded with talent in certain areas compared to others. I could immediately drop Poch Jr and Tainio to start off with. Then the next least talented or dispensiable I would say are our CBs. that are decent, don't get me wrong, but we have better now and better below them. The reason they were kept I believe though, is for insurance, we can't have an intake with no CBs. Again I'm not saying they shouldn't be there, as I thought they looked good at u16s but they I would argue at this moment in time, they are the least likely to have a future with us.

The next you could look at is Mukendi but we have only one winger and he was injured for ages plus he was good and probably deserved a chance. Finally and based purely on the fact he hasn't had as many chances and isn't an international is Richards, who I actually really rate. The reason we have a large in take as we have so many CM/AMs we couldn't release, then we had to add other positions so we didn't leave ourselves short. I just counted we have 8 CM/AMs, there aren't any I think should have been released. Then add BLF, a keeper who has represented England, Clarke (one of standouts) then you're at 11 without having players to cover all areas. If it was me, and I was being ruthless I would probably have those 11 and Richards, and maybe use Binks and Walcott as the back ups. But again when they offer the contracts, between Dec and March, there was no guarantee a 14 year old Binks will have been ready to play for the u18s next year so took some back ups.

Who would you shave off to bring it down?

What was Mukendi injury and do you know how long he was out for?

 

[IGSpur]

What was Mukendi injury and do you know how long he was out for?

My fault. What I meant to say was "The next you could look at is Mukendi, but we have only one winger, Clarke, and he was injured for ages, so we needed cover plus Mukendi was good and probably deserved a chance"

I wrote for myself not for ther people. I knew what I meant haha

 

[therhinospeaks]

That's kind of you allpaths...thank you.

My vitriol steems from my desire for Tottenham to be an elite club. Keeping players of that ilk and other fans' comments about people being nice kid's isn't going to cut it.

Your comment about kids making a living football is absolutely bang on and I'm always looking out for how our ex players get on. I just find this particular case an absolutely bizarre situation. I don't mean to offend, I just bloody care.

 

[allpaths]

That's kind of you allpaths...thank you.

My vitriol steems from my desire for Tottenham to be an elite club. Keeping players of that ilk and other fans' comments about people being nice kid's isn't going to cut it.

Your comment about kids making a living football is absolutely bang on and I'm always looking out for how our ex players get on. I just find this particular case an absolutely bizarre situation. I don't mean to offend, I just bloody care.

I totally agree with u, as much as football can bring us joy and hope, it can also be frustrating and devastating. I just dont see how the EFL trophy, or whatever-the-fuck it's called could be anybody's trigger point. We clearly didnt care about the competion and used it to promote some of our lads to the lower leagues.

It's tough seeing some of these older youth guys bumble about but they arent the reason we arent winning leagues and a fuck load of trophies. It's the money that exists in the game, and until UEFA can effectively cap or allocate the amount of total spending a club can do per transfer window, then nothing will change.

 

[Blake Griffin]

16 looks big but I think it got to that stage as we were loaded with talent in certain areas compared to others. I could immediately drop Poch Jr and Tainio to start off with. Then the next least talented or dispensiable I would say are our CBs. that are decent, don't get me wrong, but we have better now and better below them. The reason they were kept I believe though, is for insurance, we can't have an intake with no CBs. Again I'm not saying they shouldn't be there, as I thought they looked good at u16s but they I would argue at this moment in time, they are the least likely to have a future with us.

The next you could look at is Mukendi but we have only one winger and he was injured for ages plus he was good and probably deserved a chance. Finally and based purely on the fact he hasn't had as many chances and isn't an international is Richards, who I actually really rate. The reason we have a large in take as we have so many CM/AMs we couldn't release, then we had to add other positions so we didn't leave ourselves short. I just counted we have 8 CM/AMs, there aren't any I think should have been released. Then add BLF, a keeper who has represented England, Clarke (one of standouts) then you're at 11 without having players to cover all areas. If it was me, and I was being ruthless I would probably have those 11 and Richards, and maybe use Binks and Walcott as the back ups. But again when they offer the contracts, between Dec and March, there was no guarantee a 14 year old Binks will have been ready to play for the u18s next year so took some back ups.

Who would you shave off to bring it down?

meant it more in a general sense rather than specific players but then there are probably 5 or 6 who barely have a start between them so far this season(a couple of them due to injury in fairness) and we even have u16s playing over them at times so if it remains that way then you have to question why we took so many on, still early days yet though and i need to see more of a few of them.

as long as we continue to churn out at least one top tier talent per intake(as it stands this group have two imo in lyons-foster and skipp) then i'm not massively concerned as to how many we take on.

 

[edson]

Markanday is with the u18s today.

 

[Spurzinho]

Markanday is with the u18s today.

Good to see, he started the season with a bang. Let's hope he can get back on his feet nice and quickly.

 

[Blake Griffin]

U18s 2-1 up. U16s 1-1 HT

is clarke playing rb and hinds cb? also how has lloyd-bennett looked?

 

[IGSpur]

Formation

DeBie
Clarke|Statham|Hinds|Reynolds
Bowden|Shashoua
Richards|Patterson|Bennet
Griffiths

We're much the better side ATM. Heard the Villa big loud CB say they need to get their foot on the ball which says it all. We have it and are playing really well I think, Villa restricted to clearing it but are causing problems down our right in counter when it happens. Clarke clearly not a RB but is playing well, occasionally getting caught but Statham who's covering having a really really bad game ATM.

Looking at goal for Arsenal game and today he looks like he struggles to defend on counter giving too much space to attacker which lead to goal. Also git his feet in a tangle under zero pressure and lost ball. Lost his header to Striker and git turned and barged off ball and onto the floor. All of these lead to their only attacks. DeBie made I've great save. Hopefully he's just having a blip.

Every other player having good games. Richards, Bennett and Hinds at CB looking good. Bennet like Bennetts looks 2 footed. Crossing with his left and his goal on the volley off his right.

First goal was great from Richards got the ball with back to goal rolled defebder on edge of box and hit the ball across keeper with his left. Kane like finish. 2nd goal Patterson found Clarke with a cross field pass, Clarke crossed it ball was bouncing across box. Everyone missed and Bennett hit the ball on the bounce across the goal with tight peg on the inside if the post.

Bennett and Patterson's link up play on the left is really impressive and RJ just seems to know how to play and making great decisions. Griffiths footwork is really good but he looks frustrated and taking a couple of selfish shots. Hinds leading at CB calm under pressure bringing the ball out.

Everyone else playing well too Bowden maybe a bit light in the middle but doing better

 

[kr1978]

I haven’t been keeping up with the youth teams as much as I used to and I just noticed that Pochettino is on the bench for the U18s today.
I presume that’s Mauricios son?
If anyone has seen him how is he looking as a player and where does he play?

 

[edson]

4-1 If Richards was number 7 then he got a Hat- trick

 

[kr1978]

Come on late in the game today as well as Markanday,they tend to play him out on the right,he is not very fast and he keeps things simple,he has not played much this year so hard to judge.

Cheers

 

[edson]

is clarke playing rb and hinds cb? also how has lloyd-bennett looked?

Very impressed with Bennett today him Patterson and Hinds down that side was very strong with Bennett and Patterson overlapping each other on a regular basis.

Bennett footwork is very good but he put in some quality balls into the box,his goal was a good finish as well.

 

[Blake Griffin]

Very impressed with Bennett today him Patterson and Hinds down that side was very strong with Bennett and Patterson overlapping each other on a regular basis.

Bennett footwork is very good but he put in some quality balls into the box,his goal was a good finish as well.

good to hear.

on the downside though, bennett and bennetts is going to really confuse people isn't it

 

[IGSpur]

Richards ended on a hattrick. I've said before that when he has come on as a sub he has looked good, and the very little I saw of him at u16s and below he looked a good striker. I was pleased he started todya and he did so well. His 2nd I believe, was great. Before it I was thinking that Bowden needed to be a but braver with his passing. He clipped a lovely ball down the middle, RJ took it well, got into the box, dragged the ball back then lost his balance. I think Patterson shot bounced back to RJ and he finished with a volley.

Hopefully he gets another start, as he definitely deserves it.

Very impressed with Bennett today him Patterson and Hinds down that side was very strong with Bennett and Patterson overlapping each other on a regular basis.

Bennett footwork is very good but he put in some quality balls into the box,his goal was a good finish as well.

Great think about Bennett is is seemed to play football like he was with his friends. He was all over the place, dropping deep, and Hinds and Patterson kept telling him to get up the pitch as he just wanted the ball. You could see when the ball was dead, he was singing songs, in his head and he was doing little dances. Was endearing to watch someone with such youthful exuberance play and just get on the ball.

In the 2nd half there were 2 pieces of skill he did which everyone laughed at. He was doubled up on at the byline trying to go into the ox, he dropped a piece of skill, went past one somehow hugging the line and got past the other before laying it off. Then later he left the RB on the floor with some quick feet.

Another positive, was Clarke in the 2nd half started gaining some confidence pulling out his quick stepovers and beating his man. A lot of good performances today, I also thought Shashoua looked good. Really pleasing especially after last week. Want to see Thorpe back now.

I haven’t been keeping up with the youth teams as much as I used to and I just noticed that Pochettino is on the bench for the U18s today.
I presume that’s Mauricios son?
If anyone has seen him how is he looking as a player and where does he play?

Yes and he's nothing special from what I've seen pre u18s. He game on today and didn't do much. I wouldn't have him in this years intake, personally.

On today's showing Statham looked our poorest players, I said he is most likely in as we need CBs though at u16s he was decent. Haven't seen anything of Tainio but also not heard great reviews. It appears as though the 3 'most fortunate' players to be offered scholarships are also sons of former and current Spurs employees. Hope it's just a coincidence and we're not just handing opportunities to people as they're family. Especially when you consider how big this intake is