Player Watch Player Watch: Oliver Skipp

[coys200]

We certainly weren’t dreadful. We scored 3 great goals and were denied a stonewall penalty. They got a penalty that never was and besides that Lloris only had 1 decent save against Barnes. Also 2 or 3 of their chances game from tackles that were clear free kicks to us. They exposed trippier and virtually every chance came down his side. Bar that 7 out of our 11 had very good games.

 

[King of Otters]

Very early days for Skipp, but I do think he needs to time to develop physically before being considered a genuine option in the squad.

We desperately need to upgrade CM in the summer, and if we do, I expect he'll be out on loan or back with the development squad, which is where he'd be now if our recruitment wasn't such a mess.

 

[ajspurs]

I don't think Skipp gives much if anything to the team at all right now if I'm honest, but does that bother me? No not at all. I don't know what people have been expecting of him but he's young and getting up to speed with the pace and general challenge of the Premier League. Established players from other leagues come to this league and can be made to look like poor players so he's held his own quite well in that regard.

If there is more to come from him it will be shown once he gets more experience and begins to feel more comfortable. You can't blame him for maybe playing a bit within himself, he looks like he just doesn't want to make a mistake, which is understandable.

 

[punkisback]

I don't think Skipp gives much if anything to the team at all right now if I'm honest, but does that bother me? No not at all. I don't know what people have been expecting of him but he's young and getting up to speed with the pace and general challenge of the Premier League. Established players from other leagues come to this league and can be made to look like poor players so he's held his own quite well in that regard.

If there is more to come from him it will be shown once he gets more experience and begins to feel more comfortable. You can't blame him for maybe playing a bit within himself, he looks like he just doesn't want to make a mistake, which is understandable.

I think he lacks a standout attribute to make it as a PL player unless he develops into some Kanté like hounder as he develops physically.

 

[SugarRay]

I think he lacks a standout attribute to make it as a PL player unless he develops into some Kanté like hounder as he develops physically.

It’s just too early for him.

Look at Kane at the same age. Not a single standout attribute that made anyone think he’d make a PL player. If anyone disagrees they are 100% bullshitting.

 

[SugarRay]

Skipp struggled a bit on Sunday, but to be fair, Leicester's midfield is excellent. He certainly wasn't the worst Spurs player on the pitch, anyway (that was Trippier, again).

Games like that are fantastic experience for him. For as young as Maddison/Ndidi/Tielemans are (and as envious I am of Leicester for having them), they've all got at least three years on Oliver. More tests like this and I can see him developing into a player of their caliber.

He could go past them all. Tielemans had a good debut no doubt, Maddison was actually poor on Sunday I thought.

It’s still far too early to tell with Skipp. He’s playing in a makeshift midfield to a degree too.

 

[ajspurs]

I think he lacks a standout attribute to make it as a PL player unless he develops into some Kanté like hounder as he develops physically.

Yeah same as what @SugarRay said, it's too early to tell really. Too early to tell the peak of his abilities and admittedly too early for him to be starting PL games for us in a sense IMO but to his credit when he has featured for us, he hasn't done a lot wrong so I don't mean to sound too harsh.

Could do with some higher level football away from Spurs on loan IMO.

 

[C0YS]

I think he lacks a standout attribute to make it as a PL player unless he develops into some Kanté like hounder as he develops physically.

I would be shocked if Skipp doesn't make it as a PL player. He has many qualities and as he matures he will show it. The fact he isn't standing out shows also that he isn't making many mistakes. It's not always a bad thing not to stand out.

He wasn't bad or good against Leicester, he kept things relatively simple, made a few over ambitious passes that didn't land to feet but also made an important block that led to Eriksen's important goal.

At his age, and it's what Poch presses as well, it's just about taking it easy and doing the basics. Anyone who has watched him in youth football knows that he is a player with a lot of personality who's been fast tracked into the u23s and now the main team. But he's been fast tracked for a reason and Poch clearly trusts him above talents such as Walker-Peters.

Ultimately, he is well ahead of winks, Kane, Danny Rose and all the others who have been through our academy in recent years. Keeping in mind our policy is to try and get them through at about 21 not 18.

 

[Johnny J]

I would be shocked if Skipp doesn't make it as a PL player. He has many qualities and as he matures he will show it. The fact he isn't standing out shows also that he isn't making many mistakes. It's not always a bad thing not to stand out.

He wasn't bad or good against Leicester, he kept things relatively simple, made a few over ambitious passes that didn't land to feet but also made an important block that led to Eriksen's important goal.

At his age, and it's what Poch presses as well, it's just about taking it easy and doing the basics. Anyone who has watched him in youth football knows that he is a player with a lot of personality who's been fast tracked into the u23s and now the main team. But he's been fast tracked for a reason and Poch clearly trusts him above talents such as Walker-Peters.

Ultimately, he is well ahead of winks, Kane, Danny Rose and all the others who have been through our academy in recent years. Keeping in mind our policy is to try and get them through at about 21 not 18.

What kind of player is he? Genuine question, I haven't seen him in our youth teams.

 

[C0YS]

Yeah same as what @SugarRay said, it's too early to tell really. Too early to tell the peak of his abilities and admittedly too early for him to be starting PL games for us in a sense IMO but to his credit when he has featured for us, he hasn't done a lot wrong so I don't mean to sound too harsh.

Could do with some higher level football away from Spurs on loan IMO.

Why? Winks didn't go out on loan. It's probably better for him to stick round the fringes of the squad, begin to show a bit more personality when given the chance of playing, he doesn't make errors, does the basics right which is no easy feat at this level. But mainly, keep developing in training, playing against much better players than he would experience out on loan.

He will probably continue to get the odd minutes before trying to really make a challenge for the first team in 2-3 seasons time. No need for a loan.

 

[C0YS]

What kind of player is he? Genuine question, I haven't seen him in our youth teams.

He's largely a holding midfielder with box to box qualities. He has very good habit of pushing forward with purposeful quick forward passes and able to make quick bursts forward, he is very mobile. He could go both ways at the moment box to box or a holder. Personally, I suspect he will eventually become the latter.

 

[fortworthspur]

he looked a bit like a headless chicken sunday. ran around a lot but didnt do much. I dont really expect much out of an 18 year old anyway. Poch had other options but stuck with Skipp so he must rate him.

 

[smallsnc]

Skipp definitely needs to mature physically and get more experience, but he already shows that he understands how to play and has a better work rate than Josh Onomah. Give it 2 years and I expect that we will have very good, classic midfield pivot of Winks and Skipp that will allow the more attacking players a link with the defense and plenty of bite to protect the back 4.

 

[ajspurs]

Why? Winks didn't go out on loan. It's probably better for him to stick round the fringes of the squad, begin to show a bit more personality when given the chance of playing, he doesn't make errors, does the basics right which is no easy feat at this level. But mainly, keep developing in training, playing against much better players than he would experience out on loan.

He will probably continue to get the odd minutes before trying to really make a challenge for the first team in 2-3 seasons time. No need for a loan.

Yeah possibly, but if anything, you could maybe argue that Winks has taken up the spot that he maybe could have taken. You would think (although we've been thinking it for a while) that we will recruit strongly in the centre of midfield over the summer, so as good as it can be to train with the first team, I still think it would do him better to play week in week out say in the Championship at a certain stage. I don't think it should be underestimated how much playing a strong role in a team can be to a player, regardless of whether that be in the lesser teams of the Premiership or Championship. It could help him grow a lot and that's no shame or insult to his ability by allowing or proposing for him to do so. Training with better players and getting the odd game isn't the only way he can develop.

 

[parj]

he looked a bit like a headless chicken sunday. ran around a lot but didnt do much. I dont really expect much out of an 18 year old anyway. Poch had other options but stuck with Skipp so he must rate him.

I thought that but the more I watched the more I noticed he was actually blocking off spaces really well. Sometimes the positioning is more important than chasing the game down. As a result he was able to support rose more on defensive duties

 

[Danny1]

Difficult game for our young Oliver, however it’s all part of his learning curve and an experience that will help him grow into a very good (or better) premier league midfielder for us. He clearly has a mature head on young shoulders and works his absolute socks off. Two very good traits to have as an 18 year old as I can imagine he is like a sponge in training, soaking up all the advice from Poch and our other seasoned pros.

Let’s just be grateful that we have a fantastic manager to guide him through his youth and ensure we have yet another young English player coming through our ranks.

Kane, Winks, Dier, Rose, Dele, KWP and now Skipp. All players who came through the ranks or joined us at a young and PL inexperienced age.

I for one hope that there are more to come!

 

[NorthernYido]

Agree that it is to early to tell how far he will go but imo the early signs are very promising. His intelligence and maturity on and off the ball way surpasses what you would expect of an 18yo. It's prob why Poch has trusted him, he's rarely given game time to players so young previously. I think he's going to be very good, at least I'm hoping so.

 

[Blake Griffin]

What kind of player is he? Genuine question, I haven't seen him in our youth teams.

these two videos do a good job of showing the type of player he is:

vs borussia dortmund u19 (note he is playing directly against jadon sancho here)
vs real madrid u19

 

[Johnny J]

these two videos do a good job of showing the type of player he is:

vs borussia dortmund u19 (note he is playing directly against jadon sancho here)
vs real madrid u19

Thank you.

 

[eViL]

My goodness.. what is wrong with some of you? Do you fully understand how tough it is for players to make it to the Premier League?

This guy is 18 and more than held his own. So much to learn, so many games to get under his belt but somehow, still being played.

Some of you need to have a word with yourselves.