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Player Watch - Jack Clarke signed for Sunderland

littlewilly

Well-Known Member
May 28, 2013
1,670
5,181
From Spurs Web:
Exclusive: Jack Clarke’s trainer gives inside scoop on pre-season preparation and Spurs hopes
Seb JenkinsAugust 3, 2020
Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
In July 2019, Jack Clarke became the man to end Tottenham’s signing drought under Mauricio Pochettino, with the club going almost 18-months without splashing the cash (The Sun).
The Lilywhites shelled out £10million for the teenage winger who had enjoyed a sparkling breakthrough season at his boyhood club, Leeds United (BBC).
However, the 2019/20 campaign proved to be far less fruitful for the youngster as he endured frustrating loan spells at both Leeds and Queens Park Rangers.
Clarke was handed just 339 minutes on the pitch across the two loan spells, with only seven Championship appearances, none of which came in the form of a place in the starting eleven, (transfermarkt).
Now, technically a Tottenham Hotspur player once again, it remains to be seen whether Clarke will be given the chance to train as a Premier League player this campaign or follow the likes of Troy Parrott by heading out on loan again.
The ex-Leeds United man was seen training with Evolution Sports Academy this week as he looks ahead to the new season, and we caught up with one of their co-founders in an exclusive interview to find out more.
Charlie Marshall revealed that his company specialises in one-on-one training sessions and reached out to Clarke through a couple of his friends.
On what he saw from the Spurs youngster, Marshall exclusively told SpursWeb when answering questions through direct message on Instagram: “He is looking very sharp so far this pre-season and his head is clearly so focused on the season! He puts in 110% in every session we have together which makes it clear as to why he’s already making a great name for himself at such a young age.
“His dribbling skills are class, very fast feet in tight spaces. He’s very direct and runs at defenders with his pace and has a quality delivery to go with it. Some would call him an old school winger in the fact he is so direct and looks to deliver the ball across the box as much as he can.”
Some would argue that Tottenham may be missing an ‘old-fashioned’ winger within their squad, with the likes of Lucas Moura, Heung-min Son, Erik Lamela, and Steven Bergwijn all famed for cutting in and making central runs.
Marshall added that he hoped to see Clarke getting the chance that he deserves next season under Jose Mourinho, while revealing that the teenager spoke to him about the influence of holding shooting sessions with Harry Kane and Heung-min Son.
The Evolution Sports Academy co-founder said: “I hope he gets the chance he deserves with Spurs this year and I think his raw pace will scare a lot of full-backs. All defenders will agree that a winger/forward who is always looking to run at you is one to worry about.
“I’ve spoken with him about this and he keeps talking about shooting sessions with Harry Kane to look up to the way he finishes. Also, Son as they are similar positions so he will be sure to learn a lot from him.”
Only time will tell whether Clarke will be afforded the chance to study the likes of Kane and Son next season, or whether he will be asked to prove himself on loan once more.
SpursWeb Opinion
Clarke’s natural talent is clear for anyone to see and it is great to see the character he is displaying by already working on his game so soon after the season has ended while others have jetted off on holiday.
His desire to work hard and improve will certainly be appreciated by those at the club and with Spurs finding themselves having to play qualification rounds for the Europa League, it could represent the perfect opportunity for Clarke to prove his worth and impress Mourinho and the backroom staff.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Adam456

Well-Known Member
Jul 1, 2005
4,453
3,117
From Spurs Web:
Exclusive: Jack Clarke’s trainer gives inside scoop on pre-season preparation and Spurs hopes
Seb JenkinsAugust 3, 2020
Jack Clarke
Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
In July 2019, Jack Clarke became the man to end Tottenham’s signing drought under Mauricio Pochettino, with the club going almost 18-months without splashing the cash (The Sun).
The Lilywhites shelled out £10million for the teenage winger who had enjoyed a sparkling breakthrough season at his boyhood club, Leeds United (BBC).
However, the 2019/20 campaign proved to be far less fruitful for the youngster as he endured frustrating loan spells at both Leeds and Queens Park Rangers.
Clarke was handed just 339 minutes on the pitch across the two loan spells, with only seven Championship appearances, none of which came in the form of a place in the starting eleven, (transfermarkt).
Now, technically a Tottenham Hotspur player once again, it remains to be seen whether Clarke will be given the chance to train as a Premier League player this campaign or follow the likes of Troy Parrott by heading out on loan again.
The ex-Leeds United man was seen training with Evolution Sports Academy this week as he looks ahead to the new season, and we caught up with one of their co-founders in an exclusive interview to find out more.
Charlie Marshall revealed that his company specialises in one-on-one training sessions and reached out to Clarke through a couple of his friends.
On what he saw from the Spurs youngster, Marshall exclusively told SpursWeb when answering questions through direct message on Instagram: “He is looking very sharp so far this pre-season and his head is clearly so focused on the season! He puts in 110% in every session we have together which makes it clear as to why he’s already making a great name for himself at such a young age.
“His dribbling skills are class, very fast feet in tight spaces. He’s very direct and runs at defenders with his pace and has a quality delivery to go with it. Some would call him an old school winger in the fact he is so direct and looks to deliver the ball across the box as much as he can.”
Some would argue that Tottenham may be missing an ‘old-fashioned’ winger within their squad, with the likes of Lucas Moura, Heung-min Son, Erik Lamela, and Steven Bergwijn all famed for cutting in and making central runs.
Marshall added that he hoped to see Clarke getting the chance that he deserves next season under Jose Mourinho, while revealing that the teenager spoke to him about the influence of holding shooting sessions with Harry Kane and Heung-min Son.
The Evolution Sports Academy co-founder said: “I hope he gets the chance he deserves with Spurs this year and I think his raw pace will scare a lot of full-backs. All defenders will agree that a winger/forward who is always looking to run at you is one to worry about.
“I’ve spoken with him about this and he keeps talking about shooting sessions with Harry Kane to look up to the way he finishes. Also, Son as they are similar positions so he will be sure to learn a lot from him.”
Only time will tell whether Clarke will be afforded the chance to study the likes of Kane and Son next season, or whether he will be asked to prove himself on loan once more.
SpursWeb Opinion
Clarke’s natural talent is clear for anyone to see and it is great to see the character he is displaying by already working on his game so soon after the season has ended while others have jetted off on holiday.
His desire to work hard and improve will certainly be appreciated by those at the club and with Spurs finding themselves having to play qualification rounds for the Europa League, it could represent the perfect opportunity for Clarke to prove his worth and impress Mourinho and the backroom staff.
I was going to post the usual thing about the Europa League the other day before we qualified

Winning it is such a mission that I don't want to be in it if the coach can't rotate properly (i.e. not play our best players until the latter stages) and we lose 5-10 league points in the process.

I am all for it, however, if we can give 2nd stringers a game and bring through youngsters. These qualifying games are a perfect example. I would rather JC stays with us and plays EL, LC, FAC and trains with the first team than risk another crappy loan where he struggles to even play

(The Huddersfield loan does seem ideal as it sounds like he'd be playing week in week out but a lot can happen in a season - not least the manager changing as we've seen with our loanees before)
 

yankspurs

Enic Out
Aug 22, 2013
41,883
71,188

If Jose decides to keep him, he must play him. That simple. He has to start in the EL, league cup and some league games if he proves worthy. A year of his development wasted at Leeds and QPR. Ironically, if he stayed last season, he’d probably have started quite a bit for us pre lockdown out of necessity.
 

H-SF

Well-Known Member
Jan 2, 2020
2,198
10,484
If Jose decides to keep him, he must play him. That simple. He has to start in the EL, league cup and some league games if he proves worthy. A year of his development wasted at Leeds and QPR. Ironically, if he stayed last season, he’d probably have started quite a bit for us pre lockdown out of necessity.
Agree, worst thing we can do is keep him and let him rot in the reserves on or the bench like we have done with other youngsters in the past. Play him or let him go somewhere else for a year (and make sure he actually plays).
 

Johnny J

Not the Kiwi you need but the one you deserve
Aug 18, 2012
18,124
47,904
It's diabolical that he only got 300 or so minutes of first team football in an entire season on loan.
 

McFlash

In the corner, eating crayons.
Oct 19, 2005
12,740
45,363
My Leeds mate said when we got him, "The kid's a great talent but don't expect much from him for a couple of years, he needs to learn and develop".
I'm still hoping that he'll do well here, from both what I've seen from him and what I've been told.
He's clearly a talented footballer but is still very young. Those people saying we wasted 10m on him are short-sighted, to say the least.
 
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Frozen_Waffles

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2005
3,760
9,505
I am normally all for loans and giving young players the chance in the lower leagues, but given his record I would prefer him feeling like a spurs player first before shipping him out again.

Give him a season training with the first team, games in the uefa/cc and see where we are with him at the end of the season.
 

chrissivad

Staff
May 20, 2005
51,646
58,072
I am normally all for loans and giving young players the chance in the lower leagues, but given his record I would prefer him feeling like a spurs player first before shipping him out again.

Give him a season training with the first team, games in the uefa/cc and see where we are with him at the end of the season.

Could be another season with very little game time.
I would rather see him out on loan again, but we have to pick the right club this time.
 

rambu

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
529
890
@rambu why on earth was my post spam?

Sorry man, fat finger on a cracked screen...been doing that to a bunch of posts lately, and when you look it’s always negative ratings towards the right, the general area to scroll down for say 90% of the population...
 

littlewilly

Well-Known Member
May 28, 2013
1,670
5,181
Sorry man, fat finger on a cracked screen...been doing that to a bunch of posts lately, and when you look it’s always negative ratings towards the right, the general area to scroll down for say 90% of the population...
Thanks. I did complain once because I’m right-fingered too. Wish they’d shift them left.
 

spursfan77

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2005
46,680
104,957
He needs games. His next loan has to have a clause saying if he's not playing he can be recalled immediately. Put him down to one of the top teams in Division One if it means he'll get to play, it doesn't matter.
 

RichieS

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2004
11,916
16,436
He should get a lot of game time. They do not have many good players and apparently they do not have enough wingers as well
What usually happens in this situation is we loan a team a player to sort that out for them and then they sign seven others on permanent transfers so our loanee is no longer required.
 

BringBack_leGin

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2004
27,719
54,929
Did well v Ipswich. Played with his head up, put in by far our two best crosses of the match from some good wing play, usually made the right choice between giving the ball or running with it and didn’t seem particularly phased by being up against bigger more aggressive players. Was far more involved than I expected him to be. Obviously a long way off from being the next coming of Daveed but I thought it was encouraging.
 

joey55

Well-Known Member
May 20, 2005
9,675
3,091
Every time I see him and very impressed. I can only assume the reason he saw so little game time last season was due to not being physically ready. He might be a slow burner and take several years to be effective, but technically he's got lots of quality and seems like an intelligent player. I can see star potential in him.

Athletic players often get into the 1st team at a young age and it's assumed they will continue to progress and become stars. But so often they are limited by a lack of technical ability and game intelligence. Lennon would be a good example of that. He was super fast and strong for a little guy. But his technique was never anything special and therefore his potential to improve on what he was as a 19 year old, wasn't that great. Someone like Marcus Edwards is the opposite. I see Jack as more in the Edwards camp. Not that he's a physical weakling, like Edwards, but that he simply doesn't have that electric pace, which allows many youngsters to get into the 1st team in their teens. Jack, even though he is quite fast, will have to use his brain a lot more and that takes time as senior football is so fast paced.

Playing as a wide attacking player, when you don't have lightening speed, is a hard ask in the modern game. You've really got to learn how to link play by cutting inside and how to create space for the fullbacks to overlap etc. I say "learn" but he'll obviously know how to do all that kind of stuff, as he's a really good technical player, but he's got to adapt to doing it in a game with super athletes, when you only get a spit second to react or see the bigger picture. Players with super speed don't have to see the bigger picture so much, as their pace gets them the space other players have to use their heads more to find.

I could actually see him potentially developing as number 10 also.
 
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