Does Sherwood's departure see an end to the introduction of players from development squad to the first team? Nikhil Saglani evaluates the quality of our youth players on the fringe
On the fringes
With the end of Tim Sherwood’s – short – reign as Tottenham manager, many felt it was also the final straw for some of our youth team players. Sherwood was praised for giving players such as Zeki Fryers, Milos Veljkovic, Nabil Bentaleb, Alex Pritchard & Harry Kane opportunities in the first team and fans now believe we will once again see more trust placed in our big money signings to the detriment of our academy successes – something we are seeing more of recently.
However, in a recent meeting between the Tottenham board – including Daniel Levy & Donna Cullen – and the new-look Tottenham Hotspur Supporter’s Trust, the club stated the importance of finding a balance between our experienced internationals & our academy prospects going forward, insisting that these were the terms on which the new manager will be appointed.
Nabil Bentaleb was handed his first start against Arsenal in the FA Cup after impressing on his debut at Southampton and the subsequent fixtures leading up to the 3rd round tie. His most impressive game was under pressure away at Benfica, where we almost completed an incredible comeback with an injury hit squad in the Europa League Last 16 tie. He has shown himself to be a very mature, clever 19 year old without being overwhelmed by his opponents.
Harry Kane has flirted with the first team for several years, since Harry Redknapp’s stint as manager but was handed his first Premier League start in our home fixture to Sunderland. He scored our second goal in a 5-1 win & went on to score in the next two games; against West Bromwich Albion and Fulham, both headers. His position alongside Emmanuel Adebayor looks to have helped him, with both frontmen feeding off each other & working in cohesion to create numerous goal scoring opportunities.
Next, Zeki Fryers was a squad member on many occasions under André Villas-Boas, but Sherwood placed more trust in the young left back-cum-centre half. His performance away at Benfica alongside Sandro at centre half was one of terrific maturity and mental strength. His best position is yet to be decided but he shows signs of an intelligent, young defender.
Milos Veljkovic has only made two substitute appearances for the senior side, vs Sunderland and Aston Villa. In the latter game, he seemed assured and held the midfield two positions very well alongside his U21 teammate, Nabil Bentaleb.
Alex Pritchard had a mere few touches in a five minute substitute appearance on the final day vs Aston Villa but is one of the most talked about young wingers in the country. His loan spell at Swindon was fairly successful but he insisted he has a lot more to offer. A set piece wizard, he could have a role to play in next season’s cup competition.
[linequote]The club stated the importance of finding a balance between our experienced internationals & our academy prospects going forward[/linequote]
These five youngsters have shown that, if deserved, the club are delighted to promote youth players and integrate them amongst our internationals. With Spurs once again being involved in four competitions next year, these young players could have a vital role to play in increasing the depth of our squad.
Our season will begin at the end of July or beginning of August, depending on the result of the FA Cup Final and this could be the first time for many of our academy players to feature. The likes of Jordan Archer, Kenneth McEvoy, Nathan Oduwa, Jon Obika, Shaq Coulthirst, Harry Winks, Souleymanne Coulibaly, Ruben Lameiras, Josh Onomah, Connor Ogilvie & Ryan Mason could all be taken to our Europe League qualifying round, depending on opponent. With the senior players having been on World Cup or pre-season duty, it could be a welcome break for them & a huge chance for the ‘kids’ to impress.
In the last three years, our Europa League groups have not been of great quality & this is another stage on which our younger players could have a chance to prove themselves. Unfortunately, our cup draws haven’t been as kind to us in the last three to four years, with us being drawn against Premier League or Championship sides in both the FA Cup & League Cup. Draw permitting, both these competitions are chances to embed younger players in amongst our regular squad & provide them opportunities to play with the likes of Christian Eriksen, Adebayor, Erik Lamela, Hugo Lloris & Jan Vertonghen.
With our academy producing quality young players, they need to be embedded into our squad like a certain Ledley King. If provided with opportunities, our academy has talents that can fill spots in our squad & prevent the need to spend large amounts of money – and when was that ever a bad thing?
The saying goes, “You’ll win nothing with kids.” But there is no reason why these ‘kids’ can’t aid the squad in an attempt to lift a first piece of major silverware since 2008 & keep up our record of winning a trophy in every decade since World War Two, a record only Manchester United can boast alongside us.
Come On You Spurs!
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4 Comments
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16/05/2014 @ 4:22 pm
Ronaldo was a kid once !
16/05/2014 @ 6:18 pm
Er ..isn’t Lamela, our £30m record signing, more like these youth players than a first team regular?
It certainly seems so. So let’s lump him with Pritchard and the like, and just hope we didn’t waste our money.
16/05/2014 @ 10:04 pm
Good article, Nikhil.
It’s immensely reassuring to hear that the club will insist on the new manager being committed to developing young players and giving them appropriate opportunities to appear in the first team. As you say, the Europa League could be very handy in this regard. It’s also useful to have a couple of youngsters on the bench for Premier League matches against the lesser teams so that, if we happen to find ourselves well in front, one or more can be brought on for a short period in the second half to experience the atmosphere and tempo of a top-flight game without any pressure being put on them, as happened with Alex Pritchard against Villa. The key is to integrate them intelligently and this is where I took issue with Tim Sherwood over his playing of Nabil Bentaleb. What should have been a gradual introduction was in fact a baptism of fire against top teams and a lengthy unbroken stretch of Premier League appearances. It is to Nabil’s credit that he didn’t sink without trace and it is to be hoped that a more balanced approach to his fledgling career will be adopted next season.
There is an abundance of talent amongst the eleven academy players you mention in your article. A tantalising glimpse of what these young lads can offer was provided by Nathan Oduwa in Ledley King’s testimonial match, when he completely outfoxed a senior goalkeeper by selling him a dummy then delicately chipping the ball over him into the net. Nathan did it with such assurance that my immediate thought was that it was a goal worthy of a top-class striker. I have no doubt that careful nurturing of this type of talented footballer can pay huge dividends to our club in years to come and it wouldn’t surprise me that the likes of Frank de Boer is relishing the prospect of overseeing these lads’ futures.
17/05/2014 @ 7:56 am
Thanks for the comment WhiteHotSpurs, very nice to receive positive feedback when you’ve worked hard on a piece.
Agree with everything you’ve said there, Nabil was rushed in slightly & thrown into the deep end on some occasions but it’s a credit to his maturity and quality that he rose above to make a name for himself.
I also agree with keeping at least one youth team player on the bench vs teams like Villa. Pritchard now has a feel for the Premier League & this could help his integration into the first team squad on a long term basis.
Oduwa’s finish was ever so crafty, felt sorry for Robbo in a way! Good sign of things to come however.