The Spurs Youth Thread - 2018/19

[Tom Hep]

Our U16s beat Arsenal 3-1 today. Nile John got 2 assists.

 

[IGSpur]

there were a few players that i didn't recognise but you or @IGSpur might be able to i.d them. one was a tall, powerful #8, a tall but slight #10 and a short/slight #9, all black lads. also heard the coach shouting "zonzi" or something similar a lot too but can't think who that would be.

I can't think of any of these. I wonder if potentially Asante might have got on to get him fit, but I'm sure you know what he looks like. I will do a bit of research.

 

[Saoirse]

so they couldn't put this game up on spurs tv? and the palace game isn't on tv?

what are the club playing at

I'm guessing they didn't want to stream the test events because it could put people off going when the sales have been lukewarm, and it's crucial that we meet the required attendance. In fairness anybody with a membership could get a ticket easily and they only cost a fiver. And the Palace game is entirely out of their hands, that's purely down to the broadcasters and their existing commitments.

 

[kmk]

A little birdie told me that Poch Jr was not very good (bloody useless) and is only anywhere near these teams because of his dad
Any truth in this or has he improved since I was told that last year?

Recently, I spoke to a teacher at Poch Jr's old school in Hertfordshire. He told me that there were better players than Maurizio in the school team, one (James Olayinka) has signed professional terms with Arsenal.

 

[IGSpur]

I just liked him had a touch of Zaha about him. Just watching England U21 and Reiss Nelson. Don’t think he’s there with sancho and Hudson but just wish we had a player of that kind. By the way has Edwards been dropped ? Bit of a blow for him been involved and a star at all age groups.

I wouldn't say Madueke is like Zaha, but he does have the potential to be a top quality player. His versatility helps him too. That England age group has a lot of talented players in it. Tbh I feel like I say it most years but the attacking options in the 01/02/03 are incredible. In terms of sheer depth and talent though I think we will have to wait a bit to find out who can challenge the 00s.

Personally, I rate Reiss Nelson higher than Hudson-Odoi.

Edwards has never played for England U21s but looks like he may have been dropped form the U20s as her hasn't been called up to the last 3 squads.

Nelson is a really quality player, bit more creative than CHO, but again when the talent gets to this level it's again like splitting hairs. I've been going on about CHO and thinking we should have signed him since he was 15 maybe 16, so I am really pleased for him and maybe slightly leaning towards him in terms of who I favour. But Nelson as you say is a serious talent and a game changer. Let's just hope he gets his chance at Arsenal

 

[yankspurs]

Apparently Skipp is starting for the u18s tomorrow in the first test match at the new stadium. I cant for the life of me understand why he’s seemingly been sent back to the academy. Wasnt on the Barcelona trip and instead played in the U21 game and now playing with the u18s.

 

[IGSpur]

no, i think people are trying to push a narrative with the poch jr thing. he's certainly not one of the better players in the group, realistically he's somewhere near the bottom but the criticism he's had is way over the top. he's a solid team-player, works hard and is competent on the ball. he doesn't usually start but given the absentees then i suspect he will play(and do ok).

But do you think he would be in the academy if his Dad wasn't our manager? I think the criticism comes about because he is clearly nowhere near the same level as his teammates. As you say he is competent and has improved but you would expect more from a top 6 academy. So he standouts for bad reasons when you watch. Also the fact his Dad is Poch means people who haven't watched him will have higher hopes, so the reality v expectation is well off.

 

[Romulus]

I'm guessing they didn't want to stream the test events because it could put people off going when the sales have been lukewarm, and it's crucial that we meet the required attendance. In fairness anybody with a membership could get a ticket easily and they only cost a fiver. And the Palace game is entirely out of their hands, that's purely down to the broadcasters and their existing commitments.

how many people do we need to get in?

 

[Spurzinho]

But do you think he would be in the academy if his Dad wasn't our manager? I think the criticism comes about because he is clearly nowhere near the same level as his teammates. As you say he is competent and has improved but you would expect more from a top 6 academy. So he standouts for bad reasons when you watch. Also the fact his Dad is Poch means people who haven't watched him will have higher hopes, so the reality v expectation is well off.

I'm with you @IGSpur

The only thing I will say is that looking through a list of those that missed out on a scholarship there aren't many I'd regard as any better than Poch Jnr either. Marcel Elva-Fontaine, Kane Thompson-Sommers, Anis Mehmeti and D'Jean Spencer were probably the ones closest to getting a deal. I don't see anyone there that I'm that troubled about. It doesn't make nepotism right, at all but it would be a lot harder to take if someone decent had lost out as a result.

 

[spurs9]

how many people do we need to get in?

30k I believe.

 

[IGSpur]

After the excellent performance from England I will go back to what I have said before. What makes Southgate so great is despite whatever limitations he may have as an actual manager he is at least going to try and allow him himself to have the best squad and most talented players available for him despite how annoyed some fans are.

Hudson-Odoi who only received chances, when Bayern were after him, and after being seen in training by Sarri is apparently not good enough for Chelsea. But Southgate believes he is good enough for England. Who is right, I'm sure most fans would say the man who sees him in training everyday. But Southgate says otherwise and Hudson-Odoi looked every inch the part out there so why would Sarri not play him. Why would a manager purposely make himself worse off, or whatever the argument is? Because PL managers risk the unknown.

While previous England managers, and fans believe that in order to earn a cap you have to have experience and played, Southgate knows full well that the way the PL is set up at the moment, that will leave him with experienced player with little talent. Southgate knows that the real talented players are not getting chances and despite moaning from fans is going with what he has seen at youth football, and making his selection based off ability and not what player has got chances based purely off circumstances. If I was Southgate I'd be calling up Abraham right now and giving him a try. I've seen Everton fans moan DCL isn't getting a chance, but Southgate won't choose him as he isn't very good, and that's what people aren't getting. 10 years ago, you could pretty much guarantee that the most talented England players would get a chance and play Premier League football that is not the case now. Despite the clichés, the cream will not always rise to the top here, the belief that if you are 'good enough' you will get a chance does not exist in this country and fortunately Southgate can see that. I've been saying for ages the talent in the Top6 that has been wasted is ridiculous and the argument is that they would be playing if they were good enough. It's just not true, and it's a shame Southgate didn't come into post sooner. I would not be surprised if he tried out Onomah when he was 19 or so and the England CM was poor. I said at the time when Livermore was playing that Onomah was the better player, and just because Livermore was playing for Hull it didn't make him the better option. I'm glad Southgate is working along those lines now, and not turning to average talent when there is top quality around. Sadly I can't think of someone he could bring through now that's physically ready. Maybe Skipp as I imagine e'd be better than Rice now or in the near future, but when Skipp can't get into his age group's team that won't happen. A few more games for us and it might. If Edwards continues to play well and catching the eye, I could see Southgate looking at him in any friendly games.

Anyway when people can answer the why would Sarri not play CHO question or why Foden doesn't get real chances for City, or why there is a good chance Nelson comes back to Arsenal and doesn't play, then we can answer the question of why so few of our own players get chances. It's got nothing to do with the manager purposely sabotaging themselves. Its just fear. It's not a Poch thing, it's a PL manager thing. The strange part is Southgate could be doing these clubs a favour by blooding them in competitive matches as he knows its for the greater good for the England team, which could then lead to the clubs playing them, but it's stupid that it has to be that way round. Strangely he even did it with RLC and there is still fear from Chelsea to play him.

 

[IGSpur]

I'm with you @IGSpur

The only thing I will say is that looking through a list of those that missed out on a scholarship there aren't many I'd regard as any better than Poch Jnr either. Marcel Elva-Fontaine, Kane Thompson-Sommers, Anis Mehmeti and D'Jean Spencer were probably the ones closest to getting a deal. I don't see anyone there that I'm that troubled about. It doesn't make nepotism right, at all but it would be a lot harder to take if someone decent had lost out as a result.

I think the issue is that we went over the normal intake, to include Markanday (my understanding anyway) because we had Poch. Fortunately we paid that little bit extra for Markanday, but that shouldn't have happened. We wouldn't have needed to replace Poch, just had the normal intake. The only other player I felt was harsh to miss out was Kamal De Bourg who looked very good but he was basically a Maghoma lite, so there would have been no point. We could easily have just reduced the intake and been OK. Issue is now with Poch, we have more players to keep happy when we could be trying to get Thorpe more game time, but as @Blake Griffin said due to his growth we may be trying to keep his workload to a minimum to not injure him

 

[Blake Griffin]

I can't think of any of these. I wonder if potentially Asante might have got on to get him fit, but I'm sure you know what he looks like. I will do a bit of research.

nah, wasn't asante. i think the big #8 was the kid in the top left of this pic:

View attachment 43890

one of the tiny tot u15s came on at right wing as well but not sure which one as i always get the two of them mixed up. the #10 was probably 6ft but lanky, dinzeyi-like in build. the #9 was probably 5'6 and slight.

 

[Saoirse]

To be honest, I think keeping Poch senior happy is more than worth the few resources it takes to give his kid a place in the youth squad. Especially if he's a hard worker despite limited talent rather than a billy big bollocks type.

 

[Blake Griffin]

But do you think he would be in the academy if his Dad wasn't our manager? I think the criticism comes about because he is clearly nowhere near the same level as his teammates. As you say he is competent and has improved but you would expect more from a top 6 academy. So he standouts for bad reasons when you watch. Also the fact his Dad is Poch means people who haven't watched him will have higher hopes, so the reality v expectation is well off.

possibly not but i think people go too far to hammer home that point. i've never watched poch jr and thought "yeah, he's quality" but at the same time i've never watched him and thought that he was rubbish/useless either, he's pretty much just always ok and quietly gets on with his job while the other more talented players stand out.

 

[IGSpur]

nah, wasn't asante. i think the big #8 was the kid in the top left of this pic:

Fairly sure that's Ferdinand Okoh, who @Spurzinho had mentioned we had signed. He is an u15 midfielder.

one of the tiny tot u15s came on at right wing as well but not sure which one as i always get the two of them mixed up. the #10 was probably 6ft but lanky, dinzeyi-like in build. the #9 was probably 5'6 and slight.

If he came on on the RW would most likely have been Torraj. I can't for the life of me figure out who the no.10 is. The no. 9 could be Mundle. I know he is a winger, generally liked, no confirmation he has a left and he is really small, so it's a possibility. Unless you know who Mundle is and can rule him out?

 

[Spurzinho]

I think the issue is that we went over the normal intake, to include Markanday (my understanding anyway) because we had Poch. Fortunately we paid that little bit extra for Markanday, but that shouldn't have happened. We wouldn't have needed to replace Poch, just had the normal intake. The only other player I felt was harsh to miss out was Kamal De Bourg who looked very good but he was basically a Maghoma lite, so there would have been no point. We could easily have just reduced the intake and been OK. Issue is now with Poch, we have more players to keep happy when we could be trying to get Thorpe more game time, but as @Blake Griffin said due to his growth we may be trying to keep his workload to a minimum to not injure him

I agree about De Bourg but didn't include him because he didn't get picked up by anyone else when we let him go. Its a mystery to me we no one did.

 

[IGSpur]

possibly not but i think people go too far to hammer home that point. i've never watched poch jr and thought "yeah, he's quality" but at the same time i've never watched him and thought that he was rubbish/useless either, he's pretty much just always ok and quietly gets on with his job while the other more talented players stand out.

I don't disagree. When I watch I rarely make a comment on him as there isn't anything positive to say and relatively speaking it will come across badly, so don't want to criticise him. Tbf the last game I saw was his best performance but again that wasn't saying much. I do think he gets criticised a lot but, I can see why, but I don't like to do that to youth players. I will say this in my 3 or so years of watching him, I have never seen him beat a man as a winger. But he comes across as a decent kid and does work hard as you say

 

[coys200]

Has Hudson odoi been at Chelsea since little kid or did they nick him off someone ?

The little I saw of Madueke he seemed very like Zaha a pacey mazy dribbler.

 

[Blake Griffin]

Fairly sure that's Ferdinand Okoh, who @Spurzinho had mentioned we had signed. He is an u15 midfielder.

If he came on on the RW would most likely have been Torraj. I can't for the life of me figure out who the no.10 is. The no. 9 could be Mundle. I know he is a winger, generally liked, no confirmation he has a left and he is really small, so it's a possibility. Unless you know who Mundle is and can rule him out?

have never seen mundle so could have been him, both the #10 and #9 had short fades like kwp if that's any help.