Is it time for Tommy Carroll to become Tom?
At Tottenham, we have been able to produce some real world-class talent, either by developing them from the youth ranks, or buying young, unproven lads and nurturing them to play “The Tottenham Way”. In recent years, the likes of Ledley King, Aaron Lennon, Steven Caulker and even the great Gareth Bale have learnt from our playing staff and flourished under their tutelage to become solid footballers with plenty of ability. This ability has been passed down from our forefathers who demanded that football is more than just winning; it is about glory, it is about doing it the right way with proper open, attacking, free-flowing football without compromising our morals or shaming our ancestors. With this theme, we can see the next wave of youngsters coming through our ranks and the one who has caught the eye of this writer happens to be a man of small frame who reminds us of a certain Croatian who recently left for a glorious bench spot in Spain. This man is none other than “lil” Tommy Carroll.
Mr. Carroll, in limited time this past term, has shown us his ability to dictate play from deep and recycle ball possession, while acting as the fulcrum for our attacks to use his splendid vision to pick out teammates with speed and accuracy. There were at least a dozen times during this past season where I said to myself, “that was a hellava pass” and wondered how this kid was able to dictate the play, all without being able to grow facial hair (sorry Tom, it takes time). Many other Tottenham blogs have raved about young master Carroll and how he fits perfectly into the 4-3-3 system that will more than likely be used next term under AVB. Just think of this; Sandro acting as King Leonidis, wave upon wave of opposition attack being cut down by our Brazilian beast while “The General” Tommy Carroll finds space, receives the ball from our monster and then begins to conduct with both his feet, leaving the audience and opposition mesmerised by his arsenal of expertly weighted through balls for Moose, the Welsh Jesus and Azza. Now if that doesn’t get your blood flowing, nothing outside of Rihanna and Beyonce, naked and making out, sitting by a pool, motioning for you to join in while offering endless amounts of beer and Krispy Kreme donuts will get you excited. Mmmmmmmm donuts……whoops, gotta wipe up that drool stain.
He is a very gifted footballer, that is plain to see, but we must look a little deeper than that. Yes, he is blessed with great vision and the ability to see and make passes we could only imagine, but is there more to him than just being a great passer of the ball? I think so. I honestly believe that the young lad has a bit of a bad boy in him, one that fears no opponent and never backs down from any type of challenge. Just imagine being called little your whole life, don’t you think you would develop a bit of an attitude and drive to prove wrong everyone who said that you are too small for the game? I know I would. Good thing for me I’m a 200lb Italian guy with gigantic arms, so I do not have this Napoleonic-complex, but I could almost put money on the idea that Mr. Carroll has grown weary of being called “little”. It may be worth saying that he could be our version of Jack Wilshere, only better and without the douchebaggery and constantly overblown media hype (sorry England, he ain’t all that). That is just one thing that I noticed about this talented young man.
Tommy seems like a natural leader on the field, similar to our former employee who now resides on the sunny, warm bench of Madrid, a leader who is always available with ample space to move the ball into a dangerous area. During the Fulham match at home and the Basel match in Switzerland I noticed that the majority of attacks were going directly through him which shows the team’s confidence in him to make the correct decision and get us up the pitch, as well as the confidence he has in his own ability not to shy away from this responsibility and to play his game. Yes, we may have lost both of these two matches but his ability was there to be seen, as was his confidence. Both of which are needed to thrive in AVB’s complex system. Speaking of confidence, when he does get paired up with Sandro, could there be anything more confidence boosting than seeing a 6 foot tall Brazilian monster wreak havoc on his opponents, taking the ball from them, and then passing it off to you while smiling with a green and yellow mouthpiece? I think I would have the gaul to ask Rihanna to be “friends with benefits” if Sandro did all that right in front of me.
Now, we can’t talk about his strengths without looking at his weaknesses. The most glaring one is his size. Standing at only 5 ft 7 ½ and weighing in at something similar to a Colombian swimsuit model, many question his ability to withstand numerous tackles and the inevitable muscling of the Premier League. I, for one, do not agree with this assumption as his ability allows him to sense pressure and release the ball to an open teammate, therefore eliminating the need to rumble with the opposition midfielders. This ability was evident in the aforementioned Croatian benchwarmer as well as a few others who have an uncanny knack at finding space, making men miss, releasing the ball when in trouble and then moving to a different area to work his magic. It’s like these players have an embedded metronome that doubles as an alarm to alert the player of when it is time to pass the ball. Yes, these types of players do get roughed up from time to time and this will be expected with Tommy, but he will learn more about himself and how to cope with this type of play only by being on the receiving end of some of these challenges. All great players have to get burned before they set the world ablaze.
Final Thoughts
I
like Tommy. He is a cool cat who ticks a lot of the boxes of a deep lying
playmaker. Vision, speed, calmness and a bit of a nasty streak are all
attributes that will help this young man become a very solid Premier League
player for the mighty Spurs. This all being said, I still do believe that it
would be best for him to be loaned out to one of the lower to mid-table teams
from the first half of the season so that he can get regular first-team
football and get used to the rigours of playing in the league on an every week
basis. It will do him no good to get 10-20 minutes every other week at Tottenham,
but a short term loan spell could allow him to really show the world what he
has got. I also feel that he has a great future with us at Spurs and I’m sure
AVB knows exactly how well he can fit into the system given a little maturing
and seasoning. This young lad has “it”, the “stuff”, the “sh*t”, whatever you
want to call it, the kid has got game and I can see him becoming a big part of
Tottenham’s future, and all this is why I have decided to never call him
“Tommy” or “little” anymore, it’s now “Tom” for the future. Go forward, young
man.
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Good article, I think Tom is the best of the younger Spurs players who could make it at the Lane. Should we loan him out or bring him off the bench ?.
ReplyDeleteJules
Good article :), I've seen him play a few times an totally agree, loan him out till Christmas and see how he's doing by then. We never know, might even be ready for first team football!? Having him play with Sandro would be awesome! COYS!!!!
ReplyDeleteBroadly agree - I think we need to be careful not to ruin him though. IMO he is not the answer for now, he needs to be brought through slowly. Look at how good Oxlade-chamberlain is at Arsenal, yet Wenger is very careful with when/how he plays him., and Arsene is a master at bringing young talent through, whatever else you think of him/his club.
ReplyDeleteAs to his size, look at David silva (and to a lesser extent, Juan Mata) look at Modric - you do not need to be big to be good at CM - but if you ARE small you need to be pretty special to make it all work. We'll see how he goes. I remember being a big fan of Jamie O'Hara back in the day, and that didnt work out brilliantly.
yer, the kids the "nuts! needs a good long term contract
ReplyDeleteI cant agree on your assumption Young Tommy has a great range of passing. We just lost against Utd Kids and hes not even in our under 21 who failed spectacularly in Isrial he can pass but he has not got the full range Huddlestone has got or Holtby. This would be my pairing Holtby and Hudds two H bombs at 26 Hudds has more power is two footed if he gets the ankle fully mobile again and 6ft3 for corners free kicks is two passes to Bale alone where special both should been goals City and Sunderland. Good lad but not ready for top flight yet.
ReplyDeleteSorry mate but huddlestones passing was poor last season, he had one game where he was on song and that was against city......Carrols passing is that of huddlestones when he broke onto the scene
ReplyDeleteNo comparison! Huddlestone is slow, doesnt track back or tackle, and only plays killer passes when other teams are retreating and conceding space. When opponents press in midfield his slow feet and reactions make him a liability. Carroll can pass as well as run with the ball.....the best Hudd can do is a quick walk. Hudd has had chances and also failed to keep fit.....sorry but his days at whl should be over. Not a bad player but not what a modern CM should be.
ReplyDeletePlease do,nt start comparing the lad with Hudd, Carroll is Carroll and the Hudd is Hudd. Both in their own ways different, and so people will either like them or not. Carroll as far as I,m concerned still needs to do a lot more learning. I am not fully convinced he actually is the future of Spurs as some would like to think. The Hudd has long completed his apprenticeship and will be more wise for the long spell out with injury. A restful summer break should see him back to his best next season,and beneficial to the team. Watch this space!!!
ReplyDeleteHuddlestone always strikes me as a very good Chapionship type player.One comment on here,mentioned that his passing is only effective,when we can catch other teams on the counter,and I have too agree,with his accurate long ball,but too me he is too slow for the Premier League, and the times he gets caught in possesion.is really annoying.Still if we can get % to 6mil for him,I will be more than happy.
ReplyDeleteHe needs to go on loan to Swansea and play a full season, gain some Europa League experience too and return a ready made player next year.
ReplyDeleteHe won't get the same game time with us and his development will be hindered.
Hey guys, thanks for the comments. Much appreciated. As for the debate of Hudd v Carroll, I just cannot see any real similarities in the two except for a good range of passing. Hudd is slow as death while Carroll looks a lot more lively and is more interesting in passing the ball forward. Hudd is only good when he has two other "runners" in the midfield with him, like Sandro and Dembele, that will hustle and harass the opposition players so that he can stay deep and pick passes for a far ala Pirlo in Juve's system. He is also only really effective in the late stages of a match as a substitute when the other team is tired and there is less pressure on the ball carrier. Carroll pops up all over the pitch, understands when to push up or drop back and is able to be more than a stationary quarterback like Hudd. These points being made, I still see Hudd being sold and Carroll being loaned out for half a season to get regular first team experience.
ReplyDelete