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Spurs Youth - 2019/20

Blake Griffin

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2011
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I am dreading what team we will put out tonight and it could be a very hard night for the u23s.

oluwayemi; eyoma, tanganga, lyons-foster, hinds; oakley-boothe, shashoua; markanday, maghoma, patterson; richards

not sure tanganga will play but something like that wouldn't be bad, though a little on the small side i guess. maybe a chance we'll see jack clarke too?
 

edson

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2005
3,945
12,117
oluwayemi; eyoma, tanganga, lyons-foster, hinds; oakley-boothe, shashoua; markanday, maghoma, patterson; richards

not sure tanganga will play but something like that wouldn't be bad, though a little on the small side i guess. maybe a chance we'll see jack clarke too?
About 7 players on that list have not played that well this year so far but Jack Clarke playing would be good to see.
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
As much as I love White I do worry that he's one of those neither one thing nor t'other midfielders that we're so good at producing. Not quite a defensive midfielder, not quite a box to box player and not quite an attacking midfielder. He's a super little player but he's not super quick, super strong or super powerful. He's just a really good user of the ball and not many teams want to accommodate players of that type in this era. I struggle to see White holding down a position in our central midfield. I suspect he'll follow an Alex Pritchard route and up as a Championship creative wide man. Not the best use of his abilities but teams want athletes in the middle.

Do we think this is a coincidence Carroll Winks Skipp etc or do we just coach the life out of players and turn them into these one dimensional robots ?
 

Blake Griffin

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2011
14,133
38,225
i know kids growing isn't a new phenomenon but it is funny seeing thorpe now being one of the tallest players when before he was about a foot smaller than everyone else.
 

IGSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 11, 2013
7,939
13,758
As much as I love White I do worry that he's one of those neither one thing nor t'other midfielders that we're so good at producing. Not quite a defensive midfielder, not quite a box to box player and not quite an attacking midfielder. He's a super little player but he's not super quick, super strong or super powerful. He's just a really good user of the ball and not many teams want to accommodate players of that type in this era. I struggle to see White holding down a position in our central midfield. I suspect he'll follow an Alex Pritchard route and up as a Championship creative wide man. Not the best use of his abilities but teams want athletes in the middle.

I see what you mean but I think White's only real downside is his pace, but I'm not sure how essential it is in his position. He is the most creative and probably best passer I've seen in the academy since Carroll, but he is tougher than Carroll and a lot stronger in the challenge but they have the same mobility issues. He is also excellent at set pieces adding something else to his bow, definitely the best penalty taker I've seen in the academy he needs to be playing more u23 football now.

Do we think this is a coincidence Carroll Winks Skipp etc or do we just coach the life out of players and turn them into these one dimensional robots ?

I can see what people mean but I don't think it's that simple. We do produce different types of players but they're never trusted. I'd argue Winks is the most one dimensional of those 3 in that he doesn't specialise or excel at any one thing but is a good all rounder. That means he will take less risks and therefore be more reliable. The next closest to him is Bowden. Another all rounder who can get around the pitch and keep it ticking over, and TOB is also that style player, though when he was good at it he was on a different level, but he's another story.

Carroll was a lot better passer and creative passer than Winks, like White. These are outstanding qualities they have and if they were in the first team people would love it, but if they start trying to rake passes or try something tricky and it doesn't come off the fans and manager will get onto em and drop em, so they play within themselves. Much like KWP, then you're left with a nothing player. These players are showing stuff in age group football then not trusted in adults and then it gives the impression they're all samey.

Skipp is also a different type of player. When he's given the freedom to go box to box he can play like Parker, or he's an excellent holding midfielder. Or he can do the Winks stuff, but he does have more specialised skillset.

And then you also have your Onomah, Maghoma, Maduekes and Kirbys that are all creative attacking players of high quality. Heck even Amos is more specialised. He was a rated AM when he was a 16 year old and then converted do a very good DM. Now he is a DM that can carry the ball and get into good attacking positions. And that reminds me of Roles who is also has his own style.

Point being, all of the players I've mentioned about have different skill set but the issue we see is that if you're going to take risks you're less likely to get chances. So really the only academy players taken on preseason or to come through since Onomah was first looked at in 2014, unsurprisingly have been TOB, Winks, Bowden and Skipp as they offer the safe, ticking the ball over option.
 

Hercules

Well-Known Member
Jul 23, 2014
5,694
156,565
I am beyond shocked that Tracey is still playing here. I think I should bring my kit next game lol
 

spurs9

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
11,840
34,012
I see what you mean but I think White's only real downside is his pace, but I'm not sure how essential it is in his position. He is the most creative and probably best passer I've seen in the academy since Carroll, but he is tougher than Carroll and a lot stronger in the challenge but they have the same mobility issues. He is also excellent at set pieces adding something else to his bow, definitely the best penalty taker I've seen in the academy he needs to be playing more u23 football now.
If he learns the best places to position himself in situations and can anticipate danger well, he could be a great DM, however he will need more athleticism for the other CM positions.
 

spurs9

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
11,840
34,012
And then you also have your Onomah, Maghoma, Maduekes and Kirbys that are all creative attacking players of high quality. Heck even Amos is more specialised. He was a rated AM when he was a 16 year old and then converted do a very good DM. Now he is a DM that can carry the ball and get into good attacking positions. And that reminds me of Roles who is also has his own style.

Point being, all of the players I've mentioned about have different skill set but the issue we see is that if you're going to take risks you're less likely to get chances. So really the only academy players taken on preseason or to come through since Onomah was first looked at in 2014, unsurprisingly have been TOB, Winks, Bowden and Skipp as they offer the safe, ticking the ball over option.
Despite being 1 year younger, Onomah was given a chance (including in his favoured AM position) before Winks (he just didn't impress), so that doesn't really add up. Maghoma, is nowhere near good enough yet, Madueke had only just turned 16 when he left and Kirby left before TOB was taken on pre-season, so who knows if he would have been as well/instead.

In the PL, you have to be able to do the basics in CM and our problem is the "different skill set" CMs we have produced haven't been good enough at it, despite their other qualities.

Even at the U23 level Onomah was hardly ever trusted in a CM 2.
 

IGSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 11, 2013
7,939
13,758
If he learns the best places to position himself in situations and can anticipate danger well, he could be a great DM, however he will need more athleticism for the other CM positions.

Possibly, but that's also why he's probably tried out at LB and CB. His ability to release a man would be excellent from there

Despite being 1 year younger, Onomah was given a chance (including in his favoured AM position) before Winks (he just didn't impress), so that doesn't really add up. Maghoma, is nowhere near good enough yet, Madueke had only just turned 16 when he left and Kirby left before TOB was taken on pre-season, so who knows if he would have been as well/instead.

In the PL, you have to be able to do the basics in CM and our problem is the "different skill set" CMs we have produced haven't been good enough at it, despite their other qualities.

Even at the U23 level Onomah was hardly ever trusted in a CM 2.

Onomah preferred AM when he was 17/18 but was more than comfortable at CM, where a lot of people preferred him and he played CM for England. Even in that season he was playing CM for quite a few games for our u21s as we had 3 in midfield,he wasn't really a no.10. He then basically became a CM, and it became his strongest position especially for England when he won the World Cup and for the u21s. So he was definitely trusted there. Either way he only started in a central position once for Spurs at 18 when eh beat Monaco. The other times he was put on the wing or up front for some reason.

Either way the point of my post was to give examples of us producing many different types of CMs and not just the pass and move regen type, that people seem to believe we create. Whether or not they would've been good enough or should've gotten chances is a debate, I'm sure noone cares enough to get into.
 
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agrdavidsfan

Ledley's Knee!
Aug 25, 2005
10,918
13,352
I am beyond shocked that Tracey is still playing here. I think I should bring my kit next game lol


True story a friend of mine has played against him and said he’s physically a beat but technically a worse than non league player.

On top of that he also said the players on his own team were laughing and joking about it
 

Hercules

Well-Known Member
Jul 23, 2014
5,694
156,565
True story a friend of mine has played against him and said he’s physically a beat but technically a worse than non league player.

On top of that he also said the players on his own team were laughing and joking about it
I know bro. Cut dat! As they say
 

guru

Well-Known Member
Mar 20, 2018
233
413
Not a good game to watch tonight , my opinion on our u23 tonight
Austin not a great deal to do , dropped the ball once when no one near him , could have been embarrassing had the ref not given him a free kick , other then that thought he did ok . Hinds ok considering played on the left probably our most liveliest player . Eyoma did ok but not enough considering he is an older one and was captain , seems to be a bit heavy . Lyons foster looked good in spells . Okedina big and strong but not much more . Markandy all the twist and turns but too light weight at the moment . Shaushoa best technically on the pitch but again small , and out muscled a lot of the time today . Tracy nothing’s changed from last few years , pacy strong but no end product how much longer will we give him to develop . Thorpe I actually thought he was ok but I think lack of playing time has done him no favours , but maybe with more game time could do well .richards fast shows glimpses but not enough for this level . I forgot TOB , well that sums him up really , Just don’t know what has gone wrong there , a few touches here and there doesn’t influence or really contribute to the game . As I said just my opinion
 
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