Academy Watch 2019-20

An interesting read about the invisible wall that currently appears to be placed between our U23s and first team
https://windycoys.com/2019/10/guest-blog-youth-special/

 

As I've said in the past, we need a Director of Football to organise these things, as well as our overall transfer strategy.
Final say can stay with the manager or between him and Levy, but it's too big a job when combined with other important areas.
Walker-Peters has disappeared again and our U23s are currently wasted.

 

One thing that really should be in place, albeit not set in stone given there's fallow years, we should be aiming to have one player graduate from the academy to the first team per season - yet instead we keep having players stuck in a sort of limbo between the first team and U23s

Having players such as Parrott and Skipp regularly training with the first team is an improvement on what happened with the likes of Shashoua, Edwards, Bennetts, Griffiths etc as that would continue their development toa degree, but as WindyCOYS suggested last season the main reason for the change in approach regarding loans was less from Poch and more because the agents of Shashoua, Edwards and Sterling demanded their clients get regular first team football - and frankly we should be looking for loans that would benefit our U23s, rather than having their agents demand a loan

 

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FootballDotLondon report that Yago Santiago's been training with the first team squad for the past week

I can't help but notice that he's the third player, after Skipp and Parrott, to jump from the U18s to first team training in the past year...

 

I think we can close this thread for the time being. Won't be relevant for the foreseeable future.

 

That third name on the subs bench

RIGHT IN THE FEELS GODDAMMIT

 

Doesn't appear to be televised, unfortunately.

 

The goalscorer? Yep.

 

Grrrrrrrrrrr......

 

If Munich have won their game, then Spurs have a KO stage qualifier
showdown the next game.

 

They're currently losing 1-0 to Red Star in Belgrade, which would put them both on 10 points and us on 7.
That would leave us in deep ****, as we'd need to win in Munich and either overturn a 3 goal deficit or hope Red Star lose in Greece.
Edit: And as I post this, Bayern equalise.

 

He needs to be involved with the first team squad, but he also needs to keep playing and gain experience.
It's a balancing act that we need to get right, as he's clearly a talented youngster in a position that we need depth.

 

1 1 is worse. Means we have to beat Munich and hope Red Star draw or lose. Totally out of our hands.

 

He's not quite a one man team, but without him we're pretty much lost at this elite development level. He looks like a man playing alongside a number of team mates who are clearly still boys. Some are ready at 17, others take until their early 20's. I never called for Marcus Edwards to be given playing time but this lad looks ready.

Having allowed Llorente to leave, he's the closest thing to Harry Kane that we've got and for me, we need to be giving him greater tests than he's currently receiving. I think that he'll rise to it and we do need that sort of player.