Why does our youth team only produce promising midfielders?

[midge]

Been reading the thread about the young from our youth team that are higly rated. Seems like almost all of them are midfielders

Carroll , Pritchard, Ceballos, Winks, Onomah, Gomelt, Mason, Bentaleb

Milos and Fredericks are they promising defender I have read about

We do not seem to be getting any highly rated wingers or forwards

Aside from Kane, I have not read about anyone with promise coming through in a forward position

Why is that?

 

[spurs-r-us]

Townsend is a winger?

Mason started out as a striker, along with Obika who didn't make the grade.

The fact that we have Kane should be enough, how many do you want in a generation?

KWP also a rated defender.

 

[arunspurs]

Why is that?

Because you missed reading ?

Coulthirst is one in striker position.
Oduwa - LWF is seen as a awesome talent
Emmanuel Sonupe - RWF - has got great reviews & he has been touted as next big thing.

 

[Mouse!]

Been reading the thread about the young from our youth team that are higly rated. Seems like almost all of them are midfielders

Carroll , Pritchard, Ceballos, Winks, Onomah, Gomelt, Mason, Bentaleb

Milos and Fredericks are they promising defender I have read about

We do not seem to be getting any highly rated wingers or forwards

Aside from Kane, I have not read about anyone with promise coming through in a forward position

Why is that?

There's a gap of a few years between Kane and the next batch of promising forwards (Harrison, Sterling and Loft).

Coulthirst was seen as a decent talent a few years ago, but his development seems to have stalled.

We also had Cameron Lancaster who made his debut under Redknapp, but suffered a bad injury and wasn't seen again.

I'm sure we didn't plan for a dearth of forwards, that's just the way the cookie crumbles. To have one forward in Kane who has proven himself at the top level is not to be sniffed at. Name me the last Chelsea (Sturridge came from City), Man U, Arsenal or Liverpool (Sterling came from QPR) developed forward to make it at Premiership level.

 

[DaSpurs]

First off, an EPL-caliber striker is probably one of the single most difficult things for a youth academy to produce. It just does not happen very often. I'd suspect churning out such a product once in a span of a decade is probably seen as a solid return by most actively involved within the youth academy trade. This also somewhat extends to centerbacks, as it's a position such that to be physically capable in the EPL, you have to select from a much smaller demographic of talent. Not everyone is 6'2"+, muscular, decently quick to not get consistently embarrassed by some of the paciest attackers in the world, and possess the defensive positioning sense to survive at this level.

This leads into why I think that's also part of why we've done so well in producing midfielders, just as most academies do. It isn't particularly difficult for a scout to identify an unusually technically gifted player at a young age, and of course the demographic from which you can select is almost entirely comprehensive. They're just not a difficult player to spot and develop, because they don't always have to develop the physical ability that you need out wide, up top, and in the back.

Fullback is a tough position because of how much responsibility comes with it. It's very difficult to push a young kid from the academy level, however gifted, to English Premier League level and the responsibility that comes with it. That is immense psychological pressure. These are not physically difficult players to find I'd imagine, but it's finding the ones with the right mindset that's a task. This is part of why I was so impressed with Ryan Fredericks, as in his Europa performance I thought how seamlessly he arrived was fantastic. Frankly rather disappointed he's not been involved more to date.

 

[chinaman]

Same feeling about Fredericks.

 

[allatsea]

Worth remembering also just how difficult the PL is for youngsters to breakthrough into.

 

[ItsBoris]

Well Caulker is a PL defender that came from our youth team. Not really from our academy but Rose joined us as a youth player. Townsend as others have said is a winger. Kane a striker and probably the most promising of the lot. I'm sure there are many I haven't mentioned but I don't really think the observation is accurate.

 

[Col_M]

Isn't it because a midfielder is a very good all round footballer whereas the other positions are more specialised. If you can't handle the ball well you will be weeded out and picked up by smaller clubs.
At youth stage they are looking for someone who knows how to handle a ball and players who would normally become defenders are trained for that position later in their development

 

[zicomerc]

Name me the last Chelsea (Sturridge came from City), Man U, Arsenal or Liverpool (Sterling came from QPR) developed forward to make it at Premiership level.

James Wilson at Man U has 3 premier league goals so far and has only just turned 19 and might make it, but I do take your point. Very few Premiership teams produce an academy striker good enough at this level. Berahino is the only other example.

 

[WestBelfast Spurs]

Because Real want us too

 

[225]

Midfield is a nice safe position to test players out.

An inexperienced defender can cost you the game, we've played mostly with only one senior striker for a while now and when there's been chance for two, Kane has come through.

Generally, there's probably maybe 3 or 4 times as many midfielders than forwards in the game & academy due to the supply/demand of tactics, I'd say, but our academy has made a lot of non-midfielders - for example King, Crouch, Carr, Young, Ian Walker, Campbell, Caulker and Townsend, to name a few.

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

I think most players have a stint at central midfield at some point, either starting there or regressing there.

 

[Mouse!]

James Wilson at Man U has 3 premier league goals so far and has only just turned 19 and might make it, but I do take your point. Very few Premiership teams produce an academy striker good enough at this level. Berahino is the only other example.

Actually, I did forget about Welbeck. The point still stands though.

 

[mpickard2087]

Been reading the thread about the young from our youth team that are higly rated. Seems like almost all of them are midfielders

Carroll , Pritchard, Ceballos, Winks, Onomah, Gomelt, Mason, Bentaleb

Milos and Fredericks are they promising defender I have read about

We do not seem to be getting any highly rated wingers or forwards

Aside from Kane, I have not read about anyone with promise coming through in a forward position

Why is that?

Ceballos is an attacking midfielder/wide player, Ditto for Pritchard. Oduwa is very highly rated and one of the better prospects in the U21 team, then there is also McEvoy who is still on the books.

As for defenders you have missed out Ogilvie and Ball who have been playing well for the U21 team and have made the bench on a few occasions.

Then there is younger players like Harrison, Loft Sterling (forwards), Azzaoui (wide forward), KWP (full back) and Carter-Vickers in defence who at 16/17 is playing U23 national team football for the USA. Plus more midfield talents such as Edwards who may be the most promising of them all.

I don't see an issue with bringing players through currently, the future looks bright. It is maybe easier to bring through central midfielders at times as they can be protected somewhat and mistakes often aren't as costly, but I'd say a lot of it is just coincidence.

 

[jambreck]

Townsend is a winger?

Mason started out as a striker, along with Obika who didn't make the grade.

The fact that we have Kane should be enough, how many do you want in a generation?

KWP also a rated defender.

Plus Cameron Carter Vickers.

Anthony Georgiou and Ismail Azzaoui also look to be very promising wingers / wide forwards.

 

[yido_number1]

Actually, I did forget about Welbeck. The point still stands though.

Rossi aswell... pretty special player. I guess whether or not a player makes it with us depends on who is ahead of them in the team at the time. IF Soldado had done what he should have and Adebayor wasn't a fruit cake Kane would likely not of got game time. Same could be said for a number of players that haven't pushed on with us. I liked O'hara and Livermore as players and both have had reasonable careers. Dean Marney is playing prem for Burnley, Phil Ifel looked like he would make it after the liverpool game, Carr had a good career, C***bell, King, Gardner (LOL) all played a good number of games in the prem.

 

[Mouse!]

Rossi aswell... pretty special player.

United signed Rossi from Parma aged 17. He also hardly played any games for them. He grew into a 'special player' once he left, so I don't think we can credit them with that one.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

Because as a midfielder you can just run around a bit and pass it 5 yards sideways ie Dembele and Carroll

Defenders have to defend and forwards have to score, except 2 of our 3 and Jozy Altidore!!

 

[prawnsandwich]

Sonupe is one to watch for next season.