A week on from the heartache of missing out on the Champions League by just 1 point to our bitter rivals Arsenal, we have time to reflect on last season's successes and failures, as well as look forward to the future of the football club.
AVB and Daniel Levy are searching vigorously for new additions to the squad following our highest points total in a season and STILL missing out on playing against Europe's elite. Various players, namely David Villa, Leandro Damiao, Christian Eriksen and Joao Moutinho (before he joined cash happy Monaco) are names that have been thrown around to look to strengthen Spurs.
These potential signings all obviously have risks, as with any signing, what with adjusting to a different league, the fee paid for the players' services etc. This is where our Tottenham youth stars enter the fray.
Spurs have one of the best youth setups on the planet, FACT. Our Under 21s came tantalisingly close to winning the FA Youth Cup at Old Trafford only to miss out to 3 second half goals from Manchester United. When watching the game I was positive the Spurs U21s were a part of Tottenham after leading 2-0 at half time only to lose the game 3-2, typical.
Nonetheless, whilst watching that match I was able to see a glimpse of the future of Spurs and I can tell you, I liked what i saw. It was evident that we hadn't got to the final through blind luck and it was clear that we had some very good players in the youth ranks with the likes of Nabil Bentaleb (a very Dembele-esque player), Jonathan Obika, Grant Hall and Jordan Archer all impressing but to me there was 3 stand-out players Cristian Ceballos, Tom Carroll and Alex Pritchard.
These guys are most definitely the future of the football club and I think that they could add something to the team next term. Ceballos arrived at Spurs in July 2011 from Spanish giants Barcelona and shows his Spanish background when he plays bringing superb movement and technique to the U21s and has bamboozled defenders all year with his skill and creativity. Ceballos has been likened to our star man Gareth Bale by Dave Wood of the Daily Mail. I personally think that Ceballos has the potential to be a big star for the club in the future and would bring a sense of energy and enthusiasm.
Pritchard and Carroll are similar sort of players who both possess great amounts of technique and passing ability. Carroll was able to show small sparks of what he was capable of last season with 7 appearances in total, he had good spells in the Europa League and would greatly improve the midfield in the future, all of his passes are positive and he is always looking to make something happen, he could well be the answer to a 4-3-3 formation after missing out on Moutinho.
Pritchard will be a great player in the future but an injury at Peterborough has halted his progress, coming back from his injury he returned to the U21 side and went back to scoring for fun from midfield and providing assists from outrageous positions. No doubt that he will be considered for the first team and will add diversity to the team and some unpredictability.
Exploiting our youth players could enhance the team and wouldn't provide as many risks as purchasing multiple players with no experience playing in England. It is clear that with players like these we will be at the very top for a long time to come.
COYS
Comment on this article below and follow e-Spurs on Twitter for the latest news, views and Spurs debate www.twitter.com/e_spurs
It is the United way. Seems to work. Lets make it the Spurs way.COYS
ReplyDeleteNo doubt that we could take it further than united with the youth team that we have, bags of potential and ability to make a step up to the 1st team
ReplyDeleteCOYS
Firstly don't use the Utd has a yard stick just like there first team they also came back after visiting the changing rooms plenty of times. I tweeted about this and said winning the first half means nothing with 15 mins in a changing room the problem lies at the FA door. Any way that's another story for another blog our kids are exciting and should have won the final one i thought should been at Tottenham. The lads you mentioned are going to big stars if AVB is brave and plays them first in the friemdlys and cameo roles. Just two mentions McVoy is one you missed out he lost out to Kane taking his place but against Liverpool at Anfield he was excellent a pacy winger with an eye for a goal. When he fills out he could be another Peter Taylor Galvin Allen type winger don't think hes another Bale that could be Luke Young. The other problem i have is Carrol does not offera better quality of passes Big 6ft3 Huddlestone does he helps out in defense at corners and free kicks and both is two passes spring to mind Carrol has not got the power to do one . The pass he gave Bale from the back where he got a penalty was superb even thought the ref never saw the push. At 26 14 month out we should benefit from is experiance and extra power and height unless the ankle is still giving him trouble the friendly's will tell us that tale the future and past is looking good. DAVSPURS
ReplyDeletei see that huddlestone offers a sense of power and experience but carroll is not your typical english player he is much more technically gifted and can make things happen at a young age, he is condiderably quicker than huddlestone and will be able to offer a great range of passes by the time he is hudds age, carroll is positive in his 10 minutes in the fulham game every single one of his passes were forward or into space for a teammate to latch onto, he made a difference when he came on in that game after a very lethargic performance by the lads, it is clear that AVB likes both but carroll has much more potential than hudd in the future as he is the modern midfielder that is able to operate at both ends of the pitch and at pace
ReplyDeleteWe were not in the FA Youth Cup Final, Norwich beat Chelsea in that, we were in the Premier League U21 final.
ReplyDeleteObika is available as he's not considered good enough. Most of the others are not ready for 1st XI football, besides which qualifying for the Champions League is more important. Tom Carroll will get game time, Pritchard might get time in cup football.
Exploiting our youth deoesn#t enhance the team it weakens it and would cost us points and therefore Champions League qualification..
Alex Pritchard and Tom Carroll are miles better than all the midfield players who have played for the first team this season.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately AVB is similar to Redknapp in that he doesn't give young players a chance unless they have bags of experience first. The same thing happened when he was at Chelsea - he never played Lukaku.
It is ironic that Spurs have a great training ground and top academy and yet it is so difficult for talented youngsters to replace mediocre first team players.
I wish Spurs had brought in a manager who knew how to blend in youth with the first team and who had a better idea of quality players rather than making bad buys like Adebayor, Dempsey and Sigurdsson.
FORGET D.VILLA BECAUSE OF AGE AND HIGH VALUE AND LOOK AT EDUARDO VARGAS
ReplyDelete