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The Youth Players/On-Loan Thread 2017/18

Is it wages or a path to the first team that you think is the problem?

The former, though in Madueke's case it's not like his chances of breaking through to Utd's first team are any greater than here so I suspect it's just them offering him a better deal than what we could.

I was starting to wonder whether the hype around Edwards was a way of taking pressure off the other players.

Edwards' hype is/was warranted and it's not like it just came from an inner Spurs circle, anyone who had watched him or been involved with him for England will have told you how good he is. It's just the past 18 months where it's gone tits up for him and he really needs to be careful that he doesn't let his career get away from him, I don't even know what he's been doing since coming back from Norwich but he's just been left out of England's squad for the Toulon Tournament next week which is the first England squad he's missed(apart from any missed through injury) in about four years.
 
Do you think he will be with the first team for pre-season? Given it's a world cup year there's bound to be spaces there.
 
Do you think he will be with the first team for pre-season? Given it's a world cup year there's bound to be spaces there.

No idea, for the sake of his career I hope so. Poch and co won't have been impressed by what happened with him at Norwich(if all the stuff about turning up late and just generally being unprofessional are true) and it would be perfectly understandable if they told him to stay and train with what's left of the U23s but I don't see who wins in that scenario, I can just see Marcus becoming even more disillusioned with where he's going if that's how it plays out. Everyone will have their own view on what Poch should do with him but I would like to see him tell him to forget last season, come in 100% focused(and on time) and you'll be part of the traveling squad to the US. He and Oliver Skipp are the two academy players I'd most like to see go, I would have said Bennetts too but evidently he had other ideas.
 
is Georgiou still with us.....if so id love to see him be given more time to shine in preseason

Yeah, he's still here. I'm not really a fan but he must've been doing something right for Poch to have him with the first team - he's been back with the U23s for the past few months though.
 
Is this something we should be genuinely worried about here?

Edit: The mass exodus and seeming cull of the academy ranks that is.
 
Is this something we should be genuinely worried about here?

Edit: The mass exodus and seeming cull of the academy ranks that is.

Yeah - we release a dozen or so players from the development squad this time every season. Generally those who are over 20 and those who have been out on loan

If you look at this list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tottenham_Hotspur_F.C._Under-23s_and_Academy#Development_squad_2, they basically clear out all the development squad ones apart from a handful of the best (in this group Whiteman, Shashoua, Sterling and Tanganga), promote the 2nd years to development squad, 1st years to 2nd years, and have a new intake of 1st years
 
My views on those listed above:

Glover (GK) - Looked a talented keeper at U18 level but struggled when he moved up to the U23s. What he has going for him is height and agility, unfortunately though he's very error-prone - which isn't so much of a problem early on as long as they learn from it but in Glover's case he kept making the same kind of mistakes over and over again, he's also not too great with the ball at his feet. I haven't kept up with him since his loan but I suspect he still has the same issues.

O'Reily (GK) - Was only here for a year, I'm guessing we saw something in him and took a punt but he barely played at all so can only assume he didn't impress, I can't recall watching him myself so couldn't possibly tell you anything about him.

Brown (LB/LCB) - This one is slightly surprising to me as whilst he was never one of the best in his age group, he was still a solid player with decent athleticism and moderate ability on the ball. Maybe what hurt him was being moved between CB and LB whilst never truly nailing down either position. I would expect him to get picked up by a decent club, where he ends up long-term it's hard to say, I don't think he's one we'll regret letting go but he should still have a solid career somewhere.

Tsaroulla (LB) - A sad story with Tsaroulla as I believe he was involved in a car crash during pre-season and he hasn't played again since, apparently he suffered quite severe whiplash and has been having complications as a result. I don't like to speculate but I can only surmise that he's unable to play again as he was easily one of our most impressive U18 players the previous year so I can't see any other reason why he would be released. He's a stocky full-back with decent pace and very good technique, ultimately he may not have made it here but I think he would've been Championship level at least with a good chance of working his way up to the PL - similar to the likes of Adam Smith/Charlie Daniels/Ryan Fredericks. Hopefully what I've said is wrong and he can still have a career but if that's the case then I'd question why we're letting him go.

C.Maghoma (CB) - Tall and powerful but lacked the mobility and ability on the ball to play for us. Is rumoured to have signed for FC Twente in the Dutch 2nd league, I'm not up on the quality of that league but in England I wouldn't have thought he'd go much higher than League 2.

J.Pritchard (CM) - An industrious player with a good engine and ok ability, should make a career for himself in the lower leagues.

Tracey (RW) - Strong, direct and fairly quick but lacks the technique to go with it.

Loft (ST) - Tall and strong but not very mobile, would project him similarly to Tracey in that he might end up in League 2 at a push but more likely lower than that.

Harrison (ST) - A silky player with good touch/technique and ability to finish, his problem has always been a lack of power and presence as a forward. If he can work on that then he should have a good career somewhere. Has the most ridiculous record against Chelsea at youth level, I've plucked 15 in 10 against them out of nowhere but it must be something like that.

Omolabi (DM) - Only saw him a couple of times and other than being big I don't remember much, he left a while ago.

Lock (RB) - Looked a decent enough little player but obviously we felt he wasn't quite good enough to keep on and we have better in his direct position.

Walkes (CB/RB) - A solid player, one who has performed better than my expectations. A move to Portsmouth seems to be a formality and would suit all parties.


Ultimately none to really be concerned about and it's just a case of making room for the next wave. Bennetts is a loss though and we'll see soon enough whether he's the only one to try his luck elsewhere.
 
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Tracey (RW) - Strong, direct and fairly quick but lacks the technique to go with it.

Sounds like Sissoko and look at the clubs he has played for and the money he has earned:rolleyes:
.............

Loft (ST) - Tall and strong but not very mobile, would project him similarly to Tracey in that he might end up in League 2 at a push but more likely lower than that.

But like a young Harry Kane and look what happened next:eek:
 
But like a young Harry Kane and look what happened next:eek:
Yeah from the clips I saw he looked a bit immobile and "just" kicked the ball in the net a lot!
But since Kane went from Zero to Hero I guess we all find it near impossible to really know how a player might develop...

Sidenote - Mason mentioned in 'that podcast' how he was small for his age, then had a huge growth spurt in 18 months so the Academy boss (McDermott? I forget) said he would be a late bloomer and he was... and that smaller players tend to end up better because they have to find new solutions whereas the big bruisers in the age group get by on musclepower, so when the shrimps catch up with a late growth spurt, the shrimps are better players. That is why players born from May onwards have a better chance of 'making it'.
 
I actually saw Walkes play for us - he got a quick run out at LB against Gillingham in the League Cup. Janssen scored that night too, so a double rarity.
 
The former, though in Madueke's case it's not like his chances of breaking through to Utd's first team are any greater than here so I suspect it's just them offering him a better deal than what we could.

I read somewhere this week he is now going to Holland and PSV. Is that right?
 
Apparently Griffiths put on twitter he is off to Germany. Shame we could not convince him to stay as a first team squad player.

Poch does not really trust youth anymore.

Tottenham youngster Reo Griffiths is set to stay at the club this summer. The 17-year-old scored more than 30 goals for the club's under-18s last season and had been tipped for a move to the Bundesliga. (London Evening Standard)
 
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