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Tottenham’s recent record of buying and keeping players has not been altogether successful, so it will delight chairman Daniel Levy to hear Mauricio Pochettino claim the club’s academy is better than Southampton’s fabled youth system.
Under Levy’s chairmanship, Tottenham have steadily seen their best players follow each other out of the White Hart Lane exit door, with Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale all deciding that their peak years would be better served elsewhere.
Replacements for such talented players have been hard to find, with the £100 million spent on trying to make up for Bale’s loss the most recent and expensive example of the unpredictable nature of the transfer market. While the likes of £30 million record signing Erik Lamela, £26 million Roberto Soldado and £17 million Paulinho have struggled to justify their price tags, Harry Kane, Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb have graduated to the first team with distinction.
Kane, the Walthamstow-born forward, has scored 13 goals in all competitions, while Enfield’s Mason has impressed in midfield and Bentaleb underlined his good form with his first professional goal against Newcastle in the Capital One Cup.
With Southampton now claiming Jay Rodriguez will not make a first-team return until February and Spurs fearful Woolwich will hijack any bid for midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, Kane, Mason and Bentaleb could save Tottenham from having to hunt for January transfer window alternatives.
Pochettino became used to dipping into the academy during his time in charge of Southampton. The St Mary’s club have one of the most successful youth systems in Europe, but the Argentine believes Tottenham’s is better.
“For us, it’s very important to develop our young talent because we have an unbelievable academy and training ground, and we need to profit from it,” said Pochettino.
“It is important because the academy is always the heart of any club. It was one of the main reasons I decided to come here. The opportunity to work with this club’s academy was fantastic. I think it is the best in England, maybe even Europe.
“When a player arrives from the first team into the academy, it is special for everyone. It is important to put this philosophy in practice and give the opportunity to our young talent. At Southampton, we always wanted to give young players a chance to play. A good example was in my last pre-season there, when we considered signing a right-back.
“We already had Nathaniel Clyne and we were considering another. But we decided to take Calum Chambers from the academy on pre-season because we wanted to give him an opportunity. Now, a couple of years later, they are both in the England squad. It is our job to bring through young players and it is fantastic when it happens.
“We want to try to give young players a chance at Tottenham, but only when they deserve it and we detect they may have the talent and potential to play in the first team. We would not do it just for the sake of it.”
As well as believing that Tottenham’s academy can save Levy some money, Pochettino also thinks that the club stand a better chance of keeping players who have come through the system. He insists there are more youngsters who will make an impact after Kane, Mason and Bentaleb, with Spurs particularly excited over talents such as teenagers Joshua Onomah, Harry Winks, Nathan Oduwa and Cameron Carter-Vickers.
“These players identify with the culture of the club and feel the club,” said Pochettino. “If you stay 10 or eight years in the club, with your dream to arrive to the first team, then when you arrive in the first team it’s difficult for you to leave. For that, it’s important to keep your culture and identify the player with it.
“We have a lot of talent here and it is very exciting. We watch a lot of games in the Under-21s, 18, 16s and even 14s sometimes. We have a very strong staff on the academy and a very close relationship with John McDermott. We analyse and talk about players every day.
“When you come here to our training ground it is amazing to see the eight-year-olds training and looking up to the 18 and 19-year-olds, and senior players.”
Kane, Mason and Bentaleb are all expected to be involved against Burnley on Saturday, while Pochettino has also confirmed Emmanuel Adebayor is available again.
Adebayor criticised the atmosphere at White Hart Lane after his last Tottenham appearance at the start of November. The striker has since been forced to make a trip to Ghana after a close relative fell ill and Pochettino hopes the Spurs fans will forgive him.
“I think the fans love a good player and Ade is a fantastic player,” said Pochettino. “In football, the mood changes quickly. When you have lost you are upset, our fans are upset, the players are upset and I was upset. After I think we have only one objective and that is to take Tottenham as high as possible. I think this is in the past. I think we forget this situation.
“I have full respect for Ade because he’s a great player, a great talent but now I need to stay with him and give him the space. It’s not a nice moment for him and my job is to help him too.”
Tottenham’s recent record of buying and keeping players has not been altogether successful, so it will delight chairman Daniel Levy to hear Mauricio Pochettino claim the club’s academy is better than Southampton’s fabled youth system.
Under Levy’s chairmanship, Tottenham have steadily seen their best players follow each other out of the White Hart Lane exit door, with Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale all deciding that their peak years would be better served elsewhere.
Replacements for such talented players have been hard to find, with the £100 million spent on trying to make up for Bale’s loss the most recent and expensive example of the unpredictable nature of the transfer market. While the likes of £30 million record signing Erik Lamela, £26 million Roberto Soldado and £17 million Paulinho have struggled to justify their price tags, Harry Kane, Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb have graduated to the first team with distinction.
Kane, the Walthamstow-born forward, has scored 13 goals in all competitions, while Enfield’s Mason has impressed in midfield and Bentaleb underlined his good form with his first professional goal against Newcastle in the Capital One Cup.
With Southampton now claiming Jay Rodriguez will not make a first-team return until February and Spurs fearful Woolwich will hijack any bid for midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, Kane, Mason and Bentaleb could save Tottenham from having to hunt for January transfer window alternatives.
Pochettino became used to dipping into the academy during his time in charge of Southampton. The St Mary’s club have one of the most successful youth systems in Europe, but the Argentine believes Tottenham’s is better.
“For us, it’s very important to develop our young talent because we have an unbelievable academy and training ground, and we need to profit from it,” said Pochettino.
“It is important because the academy is always the heart of any club. It was one of the main reasons I decided to come here. The opportunity to work with this club’s academy was fantastic. I think it is the best in England, maybe even Europe.
“When a player arrives from the first team into the academy, it is special for everyone. It is important to put this philosophy in practice and give the opportunity to our young talent. At Southampton, we always wanted to give young players a chance to play. A good example was in my last pre-season there, when we considered signing a right-back.
“We already had Nathaniel Clyne and we were considering another. But we decided to take Calum Chambers from the academy on pre-season because we wanted to give him an opportunity. Now, a couple of years later, they are both in the England squad. It is our job to bring through young players and it is fantastic when it happens.
“We want to try to give young players a chance at Tottenham, but only when they deserve it and we detect they may have the talent and potential to play in the first team. We would not do it just for the sake of it.”
As well as believing that Tottenham’s academy can save Levy some money, Pochettino also thinks that the club stand a better chance of keeping players who have come through the system. He insists there are more youngsters who will make an impact after Kane, Mason and Bentaleb, with Spurs particularly excited over talents such as teenagers Joshua Onomah, Harry Winks, Nathan Oduwa and Cameron Carter-Vickers.
“These players identify with the culture of the club and feel the club,” said Pochettino. “If you stay 10 or eight years in the club, with your dream to arrive to the first team, then when you arrive in the first team it’s difficult for you to leave. For that, it’s important to keep your culture and identify the player with it.
“We have a lot of talent here and it is very exciting. We watch a lot of games in the Under-21s, 18, 16s and even 14s sometimes. We have a very strong staff on the academy and a very close relationship with John McDermott. We analyse and talk about players every day.
“When you come here to our training ground it is amazing to see the eight-year-olds training and looking up to the 18 and 19-year-olds, and senior players.”
Kane, Mason and Bentaleb are all expected to be involved against Burnley on Saturday, while Pochettino has also confirmed Emmanuel Adebayor is available again.
Adebayor criticised the atmosphere at White Hart Lane after his last Tottenham appearance at the start of November. The striker has since been forced to make a trip to Ghana after a close relative fell ill and Pochettino hopes the Spurs fans will forgive him.
“I think the fans love a good player and Ade is a fantastic player,” said Pochettino. “In football, the mood changes quickly. When you have lost you are upset, our fans are upset, the players are upset and I was upset. After I think we have only one objective and that is to take Tottenham as high as possible. I think this is in the past. I think we forget this situation.
“I have full respect for Ade because he’s a great player, a great talent but now I need to stay with him and give him the space. It’s not a nice moment for him and my job is to help him too.”
Thanks mate! I was looking for the article but I couldn't find it.
It's excellent to have a manager that is focused enough on the youth to have discussions with the head of the academy every day. A manager aware of everything happening at the club is the type I want.
Pochettino feels like such a good fit for us. I've never really got excited about his appointment because... it just feels so right.
I reckon we are just starting to hit our straps as well and the second half of this season we'll be stringing some good performances together. It takes time to overhaul a football team and their way of playing and I'm excited for the future!
In my opinion, great squads should have owners willing to spend money while also having a great youth system (or farm system in America)
How fussy are some people? Jesus Christ
aulinhofacepalm:"Our academy is amazing". The response? Well, they should spend some fucking money then. Which, paradoxically, ends up harming youth :llorisserious:
It's massively important this. Players like Kane could become seriously good players but because they love the club they stay rather than moving on and that makes a massive difference not just in terms of retaining better players but because it all maters to them. There are too many players that just don't give a fuck.
Yeah, you just have to look at all the loyal one team players like Scholes, Giggs, Gerrard, Carragher and Terry, all products of their respective youth systems.
The club is´nt for sale
Mauricio Pochettino has hailed Tottenham's academy as better than Southampton's
I think it is the best in England, maybe even Europe.
ochbye:
I think it is the best in England, maybe even Europe.
ochbye:
amen brother. This is the source of a strong core, and the foundation of greatness.
With the training facilities being invested in the way they have, the fortunes of the big money signings, the contrast with Kane, Mason, and Bentaleb, all against the backdrop of Southampton's success in recent years, it's no surprise that ENIC/Levy are keen on improving the club's academy output and building on the quality of the youth players.
I hope that would also indicate revised requirements for the manager's performance as well. It's no good focusing on developing academy players into the first team alongside established players, and basically trying to implement a long term vision for success, if the manager is still expected to reach the top four in his first two seasons.
I hope that would also indicate revised requirements for the manager's performance as well. It's no good focusing on developing academy players into the first team alongside established players, and basically trying to implement a long term vision for success, if the manager is still expected to reach the top four in his first two seasons.
I wish our players and staff would stop overquoting things.
Am very happy that MP thinks our academy is competitive, but comparing it to academies like Barcelona, Bayern, Ajax and others is just laughable. These teams literally churn out CL level youngsters season upon season.
That's like our players suggesting we "can win the title this year" or whatever.
Am very happy that MP thinks our academy is competitive, but comparing it to academies like Barcelona, Bayern, Ajax and others is just laughable. These teams literally churn out CL level youngsters season upon season.
That's like our players suggesting we "can win the title this year" or whatever.
That said, I wouldn't mind if we went all in on the academy strategy and revised our strategy of buying expensive squad level players from the outside.
Would be refreshing to see a more locally focussed club with less exotic ambitions.
Even if we know deep inside it is stil a scam for profit optimizing until ENIC sell us off.
Would be refreshing to see a more locally focussed club with less exotic ambitions.
Even if we know deep inside it is stil a scam for profit optimizing until ENIC sell us off.