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Marcus Edwards

I'm not sure Poch is taking the right approach with this one. Poch is trying to make a point, but how far does he take it before Edwards looks elsewhere. At the end of the day Edwards has looked in fine form for the youth teams, any other player would be given 20 mins of a first team game, but Poch is singling him out. There may come a breaking point where the relationship between Poch and Edwards breaks down irreversibly and we lose the lad to another club.
 
Also worth saying, Poch says today 'maybe I made a mistake' in referring to Edwards with Messi. But I think he knew exactly what he was doing. He was testing Edwards to see what his character was like.

Around the same time he likened Edwards to Messi and Winks to Iniesta. Where as Winks probably took that modestly and didn't let it affect how he acted around the training center, Edwards seems to have gone the other way.

I think Poch likes setting these tests and seeing how players react. He did it with Shayon Harrison before, calling him lazy when watching him train, just to see his reaction. You see what players are made of when you provoke them in different ways, but the philosophy, instructions and what he expects of first team players at the club are clear and well established. If they can't follow and listen to them, it's their own fault.
 
Cochise said:
I'm not sure Poch is taking the right approach with this one. Poch is trying to make a point, but how far does he take it before Edwards looks elsewhere. At the end of the day Edwards has looked in fine form for the youth teams, any other player would be given 20 mins of a first team game, but Poch is singling him out. There may come a breaking point where the relationship between Poch and Edwards breaks down irreversibly and we lose the lad to another club.
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If Edwards is very obviously showing an attitude problem behind the scenes, it shows it would be absolutely the wrong decision for every other player in the academy, to give Edwards a go for fear of losing him. Edwards should be terrified of losing his place at Spurs when he should be breaking through to the first team under a manager that trusts youth more than anyone. We shouldn't be scared of losing him whatsoever and if he has an attitude problem in any way, it won't be our loss.
 
The big question for me is whether or not he has continued to show a bricky attitude. There was a contract standoff iirc over the summer and his attitude then is why he was knocked back down the pecking order. If he has knuckled down since then but is still not getting a chance, then he could.
 
I think Edwards might just be another Taarabt. I.e. his hype is because of his flamboyant step-overs, not because he's actually viewed - as a package - as genuine first team potential.

The most successful kids seem to be the quiet understated ones, like Winks, Kane and King.
 
Plenty of players are academy stars but have attitude issues e.g. Rodwell, Michael Johnson, Ravel Morisson etc
 
A lot of supposition going on here. Could be 100% accurate, could be its as far from the truth as it gets.

What do we know for sure?

Poch WILL give players a chance if they deserve it. Of this there is no question.

What can we infer from that?

Despite the hype, Edwards doesnt yet deserve a chance. Thats it.

Why? Who knows...
 
Gutter Boy said:
I think Edwards might just be another Taarabt. I.e. his hype is because of his flamboyant step-overs, not because he's actually viewed - as a package - as genuine first team potential.

The most successful kids seem to be the quiet understated ones, like Winks, Kane and King.
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I've only seen him play a few times (online) but he has plenty of end product. I wouldn't lump him in with Tarrabt.
 
The only thing that seems clear is that none of us really knows what's been going on behind the scenes so it's pointless speculating. We can but hope that whatever it is, Edwards grows a pair and ultimately comes through stronger mentally.

If not and he ends up leaving, then so be it, it'll be because there was no other way. Meanwhile -


In Poch We Trust!
 
Cochise said:
The big question for me is whether or not he has continued to show a bricky attitude. There was a contract standoff iirc over the summer and his attitude then is why he was knocked back down the pecking order. If he has knuckled down since then but is still not getting a chance, then he could.
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If he has subsequently knuckled down, he'd be training with the first team. Poch showed even today he's willing and able to recognise when players have shown the right attitude - he gave GKN a nod today because he had noticeably stepped up his professionalism.

So with Edwards it might not be that he is too roostery or anything else, Poch stressed that GK was a lovely kid but needed to show certain things in training that he wanted to see. He's now doing that so he gets his chance. Edwards may also be a lovely kid but also needs to show more.

...Except that Poch acknowledged in his book he had some behavioral problems, so we do know that.
 
BrainOfLevy said:
It’s clear Edwards has decided he was way better than his team mates in the academy. Poch is saying it there - he’s reaffirming he isn’t any more special than the others.

Somehow, Edwards has demonstrated that he believes his own hype and has stopped working as hard. And because of that, Poch is right to leave him out. You don’t get chances in a first team like ours to motivate you. If you can’t show the right work ethic when we have one of the most willing managers ever to give young players a chance, then something is wrong with you. He has all the opportunity in the world here but he needs to change his behaviour.
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The bits in bold are important and it happens a lot with young players, i spent a lot of time working at clubs with their academy players and some of them think they have made it before actually having done so.

Not going to mention any names but while i was at Norwich we had a young kid who many believed was one of the best they had seen in their set up. He was good enough to make his debue ( at the age of 18) against Liverpool, he had a decent game but his attitude which had always been a negative point got worse. From their it got worse and he was let go, he spent a lot of playing time bouncing around lower lge clubs in the lower divisions and is now back in non league football.

Now i am not suggesting this is what is happening with Edwards but it does happen and IF Edwards does have a attitude problem then for his own sake he needs to take what Poch says and react to it.
 
I think he's gone backwards this year, physically he looks more lightweight and his decision making has been poor, he's not got the pace to getaway from players so he needs to deliver a pass quicker. In all but 1 of the 5 games I've seen him in this season he's looked disinterested, despite being made skipper for the euro games. He should be playing in a central position but I don't think the coaching staff have the confidence in him to influence the game. Talent is not enough if you want to make it and if he doesn't there is only one person to blame. I played with a kid in the 60's who wasn't the best player in our club and I would never had though he would be a pro, but he did and he pushed himself and had total determination, he went on to play for England and was a legend at one of his clubs.
 
I must be in a minority thinking that Edwards has shown signs of maturity on the pitch this season. Has looked less of a luxury player, worked harder, pressed more. And still contributed a lot when attacking.

It's a big step up from youth football to the first team, and Pochettino seems to wait until he feels fairly confident that the player will make a real positive impact. But when players are given have time they're given serious game time if they do perform. Not just sub appearances in dead rubbers.

He's two years younger than Winks. Who only started making an impact a bit over a year ago. Had Winks been as hyped to the public I think we would have seen a similar impatience two years ago. And Edwards seems to be a later developer physically.

Patience. With Edwards and Pochettino's approach. If his attitude isn't spot on it will be sorted out or he will be out the door.

Will he be involved with the first team today?
 
DeleHarry said:
I don't think our youth coaches have ever had an issue with him. Or England coaches.
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Fair enough, and that's good to hear. I just assumed Poch would have been basing his stance towards Edwards on reports from his coaches. He often refers to how closely he keeps in touch with his youth coaches whenever he makes public comments about any of our youth players
 
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