What's new

The Spurs Youth Thread - 2018/19

spurs9

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
11,845
34,029
there have been times during the past season or two where the first team have had a complete dearth of attacking players available and yet poch has still gone with skipp, marsh etc. poch favours these plug in and play no fuss players, i don't know why some are reluctant to see that. the more expressive players need to do more compared to those mentioned, i would count a.shashoua and maghoma as centre mids by the way but no surprise to see bowden and white preferred. i have nothing against the latter two and see both as good prospects but it's clear to me that the simpler your game is as a youth player the more likely you are to be considered for some form of first team involvement.

i would also count eriksen and dele within the cm group if we are to switch to more of a 433 shape as you've recently suggested.
When were the dearth of attacking players unavailable and what attacking youngsters should have gone when Skipp and Marsh have? Are Roles and Georgiou not attacking players?

IMO, if we do move to 433, Dele would be a wide forward in the 3.
 
Last edited:

IGSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 11, 2013
7,939
13,758
He won't get near the first team and now is a year late in getting a loan. Hopefully those 45 minutes will peak the interest of a few league 1 sides.

Agree. Regardless of how well this preseason goes, anyone expecting Tangnaga to play any meaningful role or get game time next season is going to be disappointed. Best he can hope for is a loan imo at this stage.

I knew Tanganga was highly rated but it had gone very quiet on him last year

As I said loooaadds of talented and highly rated players have stagnated. No point going on about them all the time if they're not playing particularly well. And noone's going to want to hear people moan about the lack of development all the time. Finally no point going on about players all the time or their lack of opportunity as it annoys people. You said something similar about Hinds iirc that it appears no one rated him or didn't talk much of him. Better to be accused for underrating them than overrating them.
 

IGSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 11, 2013
7,939
13,758
I think this whole "Poch type" is a case of coming to a conclusion first and working backwards to find the evidence that fits.
e.g. if Poch only likes players that are risk adverse, then he wouldn't be playing Alli, Son and Lamela.......let alone Foyth.

If he didn't like players that could beat a man with Skill and play risky passes from CM, (your Onomah/Maghoma example), we wouldn't have just broke our transfer record for a player who'd strengths are exactly that and Poch wouldn't be wishing he could have coached Dembele when he was 21 as he would already have the perfect player.

My post was in relation to academy players and development and not buying. I know Poch will happily buy these players, we wouldn't be able to score a goal if we didn't. As I mentioned in my post, no managers in the PL wants to take the risk and develop bring through these players themselves, so leave it to the other leagues.

On your point about players needing 3 out of 4 of work rate, reliability, mobility and strength, that is top level football for you.

I'm sure there are plenty of players that we have bought that didn't come through their clubs having to start of with all 3 of those traits. Heck when we signed Ali even until recently people complained about his work-rate and giving the ball away a lot. That kind of rope wouldn't have been given coming through was my point. Do you believe that every player, including, strikers, wingers and no.10s that that are exceptionally talented would not come through in other leagues unless they possessed those traits. I'm not going to act like I know what all players or the tops players were like at 17/18/19 but something tells me that players like Mahrez didn't possess all of the above traits in the same way Winks, Skipp or Marsh do. Where those traits are some of the defining aspects of their game.

Personally I also think Skipp will prove to be a better player than Rice but with your "Proper Chance" comment, it seems the tone of your comment is that Rice has been given more of a chance than Skipp which is very unfair since Skipp is 20 months younger than Rice.

FYI, Skipp has more PL mins than Rice did 20 months ago.

My 'proper chance' comment was a jab at how he's been used at the moment. It was about how he will be used going forward. It was just I know Rice has continued to get those chances, and I hope Skipp does too. I have zero complaints over how Skipp has been used so far. I would like it to have been more at different points where I think he could have come on and get a chance, but relatively speaking he's done OK for chances, especially in his favourite position.
 

IGSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 11, 2013
7,939
13,758
First off, really interesting and informational post. Thanks for that IG.

Do you think a potential switch in formation from a double pivot to a three man midfield could increase the likelihood of these "creative/flair midfielders" getting a chance? Especially considering our likely midfield signings this window (i.e. Ndombele, Lo Celso, etc.) are all of this type.

Not really. I just don't really see it happening. I think we had that opportunity when Onomah was here and it didn't happen, but can't remember properly. But I'm also talking wingers and no.10s not just CMs
 

Tom Hep

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2019
131
365
J’Niell Bennett posted a photo on his Snapchat story this morning of Samuel Shashoua and Marcus Edwards in full training gear at the training centre, so they have returned to the club, but have not travelled to France for the Tornoi European. We know Bennett and Edwards are rehabilitating from injuries and I assume Shashoua is being tested after returning from holiday.
 

Tom Hep

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2019
131
365
Kacper Kurylowicz has been sent to France for the Tornoi European last minute, after the rest of the squad has already travelled. This most likely means there has been an issue with one of the travelling keepers, who we would assume are Edward Smith (trialist) and Joshua Oluwayemi.
 
Last edited:

CrouchPotato

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 2013
529
3,358
0E092EDD-C03C-4FBA-BD8E-E0124591EB53.gif
Parrott (y)
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
Think we can assume Whiteman won’t be 3rd keeper not a single minute even with Lloris injured.
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
Be interested to hear how Etete gets on. Lennon is there for updates.

Starting to think KWP has had his chance to prove himself and really he just hasn’t. I mean he’s ok but nothing special. Would definitely put him 3rd choice in pecking order now and loan him out. I’m sure he’d get a decent loan maybe even bottom half PL. I know it’s only been 2 games, but been so impressed with Tanganga almost be tempted to give him the squad place. Let him fight it out with Foyth as 4th choice,also frees up Foyth to play RB.
 

Westmorlandspur

Well-Known Member
Feb 1, 2013
2,685
4,500
Be interested to hear how Etete gets on. Lennon is there for updates.

Starting to think KWP has had his chance to prove himself and really he just hasn’t. I mean he’s ok but nothing special. Would definitely put him 3rd choice in pecking order now and loan him out. I’m sure he’d get a decent loan maybe even bottom half PL. I know it’s only been 2 games, but been so impressed with Tanganga almost be tempted to give him the squad place. Let him fight it out with Foyth as 4th choice,also frees up Foyth to play RB.
Tanganga under 21 free pick. Does’t Count in squad numbers
 

faze_coys

Well-Known Member
Dec 14, 2010
3,138
4,796
Be interested to hear how Etete gets on. Lennon is there for updates.

Starting to think KWP has had his chance to prove himself and really he just hasn’t. I mean he’s ok but nothing special. Would definitely put him 3rd choice in pecking order now and loan him out. I’m sure he’d get a decent loan maybe even bottom half PL. I know it’s only been 2 games, but been so impressed with Tanganga almost be tempted to give him the squad place. Let him fight it out with Foyth as 4th choice,also frees up Foyth to play RB.

Had his chance ?‍♂️

He was given a few games last season where he clearly proved what he can do but was never given an actual run in the team to develop. Really he should have gone on loan last season and played 40 games. Full backs will only develop their understanding of the game with real minutes.

/

What has Foyth proved exactly, that makes him our RB choice?

It’s crazy the standards our academy products have to prove against players we’ve brought in.
 

BENNO

Well-Known Member
Jul 11, 2005
791
3,233
Had his chance ?‍♂️

He was given a few games last season where he clearly proved what he can do but was never given an actual run in the team to develop. Really he should have gone on loan last season and played 40 games. Full backs will only develop their understanding of the game with real minutes.

/

What has Foyth proved exactly, that makes him our RB choice?

It’s crazy the standards our academy products have to prove against players we’ve brought in.

To my eyes KWP hasn't improved a jot in the past two seasons, whereas other younger players have - Skipp being the prime example. So are you confident that a run of games would see KWP progress again to the levels required ????
 

faze_coys

Well-Known Member
Dec 14, 2010
3,138
4,796
To my eyes KWP hasn't improved a jot in the past two seasons, whereas other younger players have - Skipp being the prime example. So are you confident that a run of games would see KWP progress again to the levels required ????

Yes, how long did it take Walker to get to the level he was at, the season he came back to us after playing at QPR/villa he was still on a massive learning curve and was making so many errors. That season did wonders for his development. Walker had 5x the first team experience of KWP too.

Now people are writing off KWP after 2 pre-season games. It’s a joke
 
Top