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The Spurs Youth Thread - 2017/2018

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
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50,713
It's about setting standards. If a youth player cannot be disciplined, arrive on time and the like, then you risk spreading that kind of behaviour/attitude if you reward the footballer.

Poch's watershed moment was the uprising by the young players against the likes of Adebayor, Kaboul etc because the latter were taking the piss. I don't think he or we want that attitude creeping back in, and while I don't think Edwards is either that bad nor able to realise what he needs to do to succeed, cutting him slack because he has done well in youth football and showed a flash or two in the latter stages of a drubbing of Gillingham? What example would that set? If you have great potential (and it is potential right now) then you don't need to be on time, you don't need to follow the rules everyone else does, you don't need to be part of the team, you can just be you and do your own thing. That is the antithesis of what Poch is all about.

And what Poch is all about is what has got us where we are today.


That’s all good and well, and am on board with most of that, but what do we actually know are Edwards’ biggest crimes?

At the moment, as far as Spurs goes the only whispers we’ve heard is that he needs to listen to the coaches and work on his game without the ball and that possibly there’s been the odd occasion when he’s been a bit mardy.

Then we had reports that he was late for training at Norwich. Which could just be about being at a new place?

That’s hardly “Adebayor” refusing to train properly, wanting not to train twice a week, telling the first team coach how to do his job, level rebellion is it?

Now, there may be other things, that aren’t in the public domain, but most people’s writing him off as a bad egg are doing it based on no more than scant rumours.

Baring in mind he’s been with us a decade or so, loyal to our academy (when he definitely had better offers) because both him and his dad have always said they really like it at Spurs, always performed to an extremely high level, always seemed to be working hard in games, was made captain of the U19’s CL team last season, I can believe he can possibly be an arsy teenager sometimes and is a bit perturbed about how his career has gone backwards but I find it hard to believe he’s a major trouble maker.
 

Krafty

Well-Known Member
May 26, 2004
4,768
2,099
That’s all good and well, and am on board with most of that, but what do we actually know are Edwards’ biggest crimes?

At the moment, as far as Spurs goes the only whispers we’ve heard is that he needs to listen to the coaches and work on his game without the ball and that possibly there’s been the odd occasion when he’s been a bit mardy.

Then we had reports that he was late for training at Norwich. Which could just be about being at a new place?

That’s hardly “Adebayor” refusing to train properly, wanting not to train twice a week, telling the first team coach how to do his job, level rebellion is it?

Now, there may be other things, that aren’t in the public domain, but most people’s writing him off as a bad egg are doing it based on no more than scant rumours.

Baring in mind he’s been with us a decade or so, loyal to our academy (when he definitely had better offers) because both him and his dad have always said they really like it at Spurs, always performed to an extremely high level, always seemed to be working hard in games, was made captain of the U19’s CL team last season, I can believe he can possibly be an arsy teenager sometimes and is a bit perturbed about how his career has gone backwards but I find it hard to believe he’s a major trouble maker.

I also doubt he is a trouble maker at all, I doubt his attitude (good or bad) really affects too many of his colleagues.

I also doubt that if there was only the specific issues we know about, Poch would be taking the stance he is given the talent the lad has.

We all mature at different rates, and that’s without the money, praise and attention that can come to a young player, let alone one who is tagged ‘mini messi’, so personally I am happy to see how things pan out and hope he makes it at Spurs. But the feeling that Poch is struggling to get Edwards into the same ethos as so many others at the club doesn’t make a great omen.

I think where we are as a club, and how I think Poch thinks (and the success he is having at Spurs will only have harden his beliefs) technical ability is third on the list of what we want after commitment to the team and working towards being the best you can be
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
Some people have got the wrong end of the stick. I'm not comparing the two stylistically. I'm saying as a raw talent Taarabt was technically superb. I'd also say Oduwa had gobsmacking talent. What neither had was the dedication to develop their games beyond that.

There's no doubt in my mind that at his best Taarabt was a lot more than tricks and flicks. His problem was that he was bloody lazy and thought that tricks and flicks could substitute for actual effort.

I’m not misunderstanding you, I’m saying laziness wasn’t what held Taarabt’s back most of all - he actually got chances, with us, with QPR and now with Genoa, his biggest drawback was a lack of game intelligence. And I don’t think Edwards has that deficiency and I also don’t think he’s as hard to coach, tactically as Taarabt was.
 

Lilbaz

Just call me Baz
Apr 1, 2005
41,363
74,893
That’s all good and well, and am on board with most of that, but what do we actually know are Edwards’ biggest crimes?

At the moment, as far as Spurs goes the only whispers we’ve heard is that he needs to listen to the coaches and work on his game without the ball and that possibly there’s been the odd occasion when he’s been a bit mardy.

Then we had reports that he was late for training at Norwich. Which could just be about being at a new place?

That’s hardly “Adebayor” refusing to train properly, wanting not to train twice a week, telling the first team coach how to do his job, level rebellion is it?

Now, there may be other things, that aren’t in the public domain, but most people’s writing him off as a bad egg are doing it based on no more than scant rumours.

Baring in mind he’s been with us a decade or so, loyal to our academy (when he definitely had better offers) because both him and his dad have always said they really like it at Spurs, always performed to an extremely high level, always seemed to be working hard in games, was made captain of the U19’s CL team last season, I can believe he can possibly be an arsy teenager sometimes and is a bit perturbed about how his career has gone backwards but I find it hard to believe he’s a major trouble maker.

I doubt he's trouble and i think everyone of us want him to be a star. Just think that he might be lacking in certain parts of his game although love to be wrong.
He's still 19 and has time to improve. Hopefully he can and with us.
 

Disconosebleed

Well-Known Member
Dec 22, 2005
2,553
2,569
That’s all good and well, and am on board with most of that, but what do we actually know are Edwards’ biggest crimes?

At the moment, as far as Spurs goes the only whispers we’ve heard is that he needs to listen to the coaches and work on his game without the ball and that possibly there’s been the odd occasion when he’s been a bit mardy.

Then we had reports that he was late for training at Norwich. Which could just be about being at a new place?

That’s hardly “Adebayor” refusing to train properly, wanting not to train twice a week, telling the first team coach how to do his job, level rebellion is it?

Now, there may be other things, that aren’t in the public domain, but most people’s writing him off as a bad egg are doing it based on no more than scant rumours.

Baring in mind he’s been with us a decade or so, loyal to our academy (when he definitely had better offers) because both him and his dad have always said they really like it at Spurs, always performed to an extremely high level, always seemed to be working hard in games, was made captain of the U19’s CL team last season, I can believe he can possibly be an arsy teenager sometimes and is a bit perturbed about how his career has gone backwards but I find it hard to believe he’s a major trouble maker.

Worth bearing in mind that Pochettino is on the record as saying Adebayor never gave him any trouble at Tottenham.

I think it's fair to say you are going over the top in looking to explain away Edwards' various issues. For obvious reasons Pochettino has never gone into specifics, but he's alluded pretty transparently to Edwards having discipline problems - sometimes off-field, sometimes on-field - on a number of occasions, with mentions of him 'needing to know what it is to be a professional' and similar. He's never thrown him under the bus, but he's made it pretty clear that while he has all the talent in the world, Edwards isn't doing enough to earn opportunities.

With that in mind, I don't think it's reasonable to just dismiss his regular lateness at Norwich as 'just being at a new place' - late once and he'd probably get the benefit of the doubt, but when it's happened on numerous occasions, either he just doesn't care enough to be on time or he's too thick to realise it's a problem. Either way, that has to change.

As I mentioned previously, clearly this is not an issue of him being a typical teenager - whatever issues he has (and I agree the vagueness of them gives rise to rumours which can't be proven one way or the other) they have seen him fail to make an impact at both Tottenham and Norwich where less talented players have been given opportunities.

What it boils down to is this - for all his supposed talent, Edwards has made almost zero impact on men's football. He dropped down a level in search of regular football, and still wasn't deemed up to standard. Now if he's the boy genius people say he is, why have two separate managers both seen fit to leave him out, citing similar issues? And flipping that question on its head - if he DOESN'T have disciplinary problems, why isn't he getting competitive football? If he's not got any major behavioural/professionalism issues that are holding back, then perhaps the reason he's not getting much football is because...he's not actually all that good?

Of all the possible reasons for Edwards not getting many opportunities so far, it seems to me that the least likely is that two experienced, high-level managers are mismanaging him, or misunderstanding him in the same way. Not impossible, but certainly less likely than him simply being being too unprofessional to justify picking, or not being able to transfer the skills that see him destroy youth team opposition to the men's game.
 

Disconosebleed

Well-Known Member
Dec 22, 2005
2,553
2,569
I’m not misunderstanding you, I’m saying laziness wasn’t what held Taarabt’s back most of all - he actually got chances, with us, with QPR and now with Genoa, his biggest drawback was a lack of game intelligence. And I don’t think Edwards has that deficiency and I also don’t think he’s as hard to coach, tactically as Taarabt was.
On the ball Taarabt's intelligence wasn't bad at all, he used the ball well and clearly saw the game. His issues were laziness and self-indulgence. Possibly a lack of intelligence without the ball, but not with it by any means.
 

Disconosebleed

Well-Known Member
Dec 22, 2005
2,553
2,569
I doubt he's trouble and i think everyone of us want him to be a star. Just think that he might be lacking in certain parts of his game although love to be wrong.
He's still 19 and has time to improve. Hopefully he can and with us.

I suspect this might be the main problem. I hope I'm wrong, but to be *that* small (what is he, 5'5"?) and still make it at the highest level you have to be truly exceptional. Maybe, for all his talents, he's just not built for the men's game, or hasn't found a way of making his stature less of an issue yet.
 

IGSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 11, 2013
7,939
13,758


Good news. I like both of them, and I think both potentially hold value. A lot of people are down on Brown but I think there's a good player in there.

I would like them to both go on loan, but I assume they're being kept for the u23s.
 

Hengy1

Well-Known Member
Aug 7, 2014
2,744
7,424
He’s also said Tracey been offered a new contract but he’s yet to sign
 

danielneeds

Kick-Ass
May 5, 2004
24,179
48,764
Good news. I like both of them, and I think both potentially hold value. A lot of people are down on Brown but I think there's a good player in there.

I would like them to both go on loan, but I assume they're being kept for the u23s.
I wonder if we'll see a pipeline to Leeds emerge for some young players next season. Some Bielsa coaching got to be pretty attractive for Poch.
 

IGSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 11, 2013
7,939
13,758
Surely that new contract guarantees first team minutes for Reo

As Hengy said, there is nothing that he would sign that would guarantee him minutes. Though I am curious as to why he signed if he did have other options available. I doubt we'd offer him massive money. It's like the Edwards situation, I still wonder why he signed back then, as we were never going to guarantee minutes and he would have received significantly less than he would have got offered from other clubs. So lost out in 2 ways.
 

IGSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 11, 2013
7,939
13,758
Joel Latibeaudiere showing sense and stalling on A City contract. Great to see and hope he also gets out. Adarabioyo trusted the club and he probably looked at him and didn't want to risk wasting his talent. I don't really have an opinion on good I think he will be but he is incredibly highly rated.

Hope a lot more start doing the same
 

Blake Griffin

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2011
14,133
38,225
Good news. I like both of them, and I think both potentially hold value. A lot of people are down on Brown but I think there's a good player in there.

I would like them to both go on loan, but I assume they're being kept for the u23s.

harrison surely not, keeping him in the u23s serves no purpose to anyone. brown i would guess will stay.
 

Spurzinho

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2016
2,513
8,342
Ryan Loft, Christian Maghoma, Luke O’Reilly, Joe Pritchard, Nick Tsaroulla + Lock all let go.
 
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