Can you still win with kids?

Sky news today revealed that Tottenham Hotspur have the youngest squad in the premier league, with average age being just 24.
We all remember Alan Hansen saying that " you can't win anything with kids' and then ending up with egg all over his face but if he said that today, would he be closer to the truth?

The premier league has changed since Hansen's less than prophetic words but why did it work so well with Manchester United? Put simply, it was about faith, trust and also the risk factor. When Sir Alex Ferguson fielded his team of youth and experience, he knew that if the team failed , he would only have delivered what had been expected, and anything above failure would make him look like a genius. The rest , as they say, is history!

At Southampton, Pochettino believed in youth. It is clear he believes in that philosophy and whether we like it or not, that is what he is going to build his Tottenham on, should he be given the time to do so.

The obvious concern about too much youth is that they are not 'tried and tested.' That may be true, but Harry Kane was not a roaring success in any of his loan spells away from White Hart Lane was he? Just sometimes you have to say, go out there son, play your game and enjoy it. Pritchard is not tested at Premier league
Level but I watched several of his games for Brentford last season and he was a key factor in their play off push. Quick footed, strong and very nimble. Alongside the experience of Eriksen, he could become a top player.
Alli of course played at a Lower level than that but he is positive, has lots of energy and scores goals. Maybe he will be let loose in the Cups but again, he has ability to succeed. There was a guy called David Beckham who spent time on loan at Preston North End. He went on to become quite a good footballer so I'm told.

Yedlin , from the little I have seen also looks pacy and is not afraid to get stuck in. I could see him giving Walker a real run for his money.
Alderweild is young and already plays alongside Vertonghen at international level. That understanding could be vital in helping Spurs to lock up that leaky defence.

I am the first to admit that I feel we need extra quality in the squad and definitely another striker but if Poch and the board want to focus on youth, we should encourage them, get behind them and keep our fingers crossed that the youth of today can become the Spurs winners of tomorrow.

As ever, COME ON YOU SPURS!!!

 

The whole kids thing was a myth yes there were young players but they were supplemented by solid experienced world class players ie Schmeichel arguably 1 of the best of all time, Bruce & Palister, Irwin all wiley top class defenders been there done it, McClair experienced, Giggs quality, Andy Cole, Roy Keane leader winner, Cantona genius etc
Bentaleb is no Scholes, Townsend is no Beckham, Walker no Neville etc.
Utd that year had way more senior proven quality than it had kids, we currently stock more kids than seniors let alone seniors with consistent proven quality.
Have a proper look at our squad it is so massively average out numbering any true talent that will or can push us on its embarrassing.
Every1 loves a home grown through the youth team player but lets not let it cloud our judgement Kane is the only 1 of the current crop to step up and deliver, Mason & Bentaleb are bang average, Alli & Pritchard look promising but its all ifs buts and maybes.
And the problem is that they dont have enough solid consistent experienced players around them to pull them through or lead by example.
Ive said it before Spurs are not some Utopia that will win cups/league/or compete regularly in the CL with out spending some money.
Il await the were not Leeds, we cant compete, Bentalebs promising, were financially stable, our off field success, growth in the american market brigade to come out swinging but facts are facts!
Too much Turd polishing zero Deliverence. As it stands I can garantee you another fruitless season ahead with ease. Average Poch and his Average side. All designed by Average Enic and the proven failure Ming the Penniless.

 

The old saying goes that if your good enough u will get in. To a point I agree. Sometimes as with Kane these boys need to be thrown in and see if they are capable or not. Kane had shocking loan spells tbf and in all honesty if redknapp the boy would have been sold long ago and probably never made the grade at all. Throw one or two in at a time and see if they have the extra levels that maybe they hadn't even shown previously. Its looking like Alli has been bought for the now rather than the future with no significant central mid signings and why not? Prichard likewise. Carter Vickers too. Could coulthirst follow the same path as kane if nor surpass him. If we finish 8th rather than 5th so what if we find three or four gems for the season after saving millions.
For me this season is one of great promise as for the first time in how long have we kept all our main players. We have great kids coming thru signed three very good prospects and rid ourselves of poor players and wage thieves. I cannot wait. Just need that one more signing and pls let it be Berahinho...

 

I am hoping that Mopo's reputation for the young is based on a true belief in youth and not simply a "tag" placed on him due to a lack of funds at smallhamton. If used, the like's of Yedlin, Alli, Pritchard and co will be experienced PL players in two years time, by then we must have a team ready to challenge for everything. The "new" hart lane will be ready and needs to be filled and that would be easier following success rather than failure, Dan the man knows this, whether he is getting our Tottenham ready for success or sale I'm unsure but either way for the first time in 14 years ENIC needs on field success as much as profit. I think levy now truly believes he has the right man in mopo, that's why the stadium situation has moved on to the development stage. I can see this season being a "proving" ground for the youth more than a challenge for honours. So can you still win things with Yid kids, maybe not but will that stop them from trying? definitely not, the passion of youth is never ending and just the smell of success can create a wining environment and mentality that they can build apon and who knows where that can lead. We are Tottenham and therefor anything is possible, that's why we love spurs so much.

 

Giggs was one of the youths. Keane was signed but was very young (21, I think of the top of my head). Cole didn't sign until later. Cantona was signed later.

How do you know Bentaleb is no Scholes? Because you remember the player Scholes became whereas Bentaleb hasn't developed yet?
Townsend is no Beckham! I don't believe anyone said he was. Indeed, to the best of my knowledge, the majority of Spurs fans have sadly concluded that Townsend is not up to grade.
The vast majority of football fans in England never, ever rated Gary Neville and moaned constantly that he was playing for the national team. Spurs have Tripper and Yedlin as well as Walker at right-back. And Dier did a good job at filling in last season. There is also a young lad coming through the academy called Walker-Peters, you want to keep your eye out for him!

United 'that year' were United that year precisely because they were given playing time the season before and because the squad, including the kids, were built over five years - five years during which the vast majority of United fans were screaming for Fergie to be sacked! I'm pretty sure they made an assessment similar to the one you are making of Spurs now, ho hum.

I have had a proper look at our squad (thanks). Your assessment is way short of the mark - IMVHO (of course). It is a very talented young squad. Bentaleb is not bang average (have a word with yerself FFS) - he is barely 21 and was being linked with some of the biggest clubs in World football before committing himself to a long term contract with us.

Kane is the only one of our current crop to step up and deliver - Bentaleb can't have done because he isn't a goalscorer (or was specifically asked to play a role, that is not his natural role, that was very defensive). Mason couldn't have done because he spent a lot of time injured and was then shoved into the BPL without any experience at that level - and the large number of people who thought he did pretty well obviously don't understand football like you. Rose is no doubt awful because you decided he was when he was first switched to left-back (I've met the type before) and any subsequent performances and plaudits he gets are consequently invalid - I suppose. Townsend, I grant, has been a disappointment - but he could still be sold for a substantial transfer fee - just like Livermore and Caulker and I am sure this IS an important aspect of a successful youth system.

We have one of the most highly rated youth set-ups in Europe ATM - that IS a fact! When Liam Brady quit his job with ArseAnal he said "Spurs now have the best youth personnel in the country". No matter what you personally think of (hugely successful business man) Daniel Levy, he is no fool. He would not invest a large amount of time, effort and money (most importantly from his point of view) into the youth set-up without expecting a serious return. Honestly, M8, you would be better investing some time in finding out about the youth system rather than talking with no apparent knowledge of what is going on at the club, TBH. This 'awful' youth set-up provided five players for the team that finished fifth and reached a cup final in his first season, in a new (and young) managers' first season. And he was working with a short squad for various reasons. A team that humbled Chelsea at WHL with those five players in it. A team that took four point off ArseAnal and completely outplayed them at WHL.

Yes, it is all ifs and buts - that is why Levi has made great efforts to increase the chances of success from his drive to develop our own players. It is better than what we did previously - spending a lot of our less money than the five wealthier clubs above us on past their best cast offs form those clubs and journey-men, while the academy continued to churn out not quite good enough players )at cost). And, no, we can't outspend the oil-mafioso because Lewis/Levy just plain and simply do not have anywhere near enough money as them - to put it bluntly. It would be like playing brag down the pub with people who have 10, 2o, 4o times as much money in their pockets as you have.

Some experience would be nice - the likes of a Davids or a Naybet. But that doesn't mean returning to the days of filling the squad out with short term signings who were never going to close the gap that opened when Scholar almost destroyed the club. It's funny that ENIC should get so much blame for trying to get the club back to where it belongs not for getting into this mess but because it isn't as quick as folk like you would like.

The fact that you've "said it before" doesn't mean you were right to say it before! Maybe you think you words have some magical property that once uttered cannot possibly be wrong? Or maybe you are just determined to interpret everything as negatively as possible rather than consider that you might have been wrong in demanding (what I can only imagine to be) Citeh/Chelsea level spending?

Folk only say "we haven't done a Leeds" because, well, we haven't done a bloody Leeds! Do you imagine Leeds really believed it was going to go pear-shaped when they were doing it? And that is the bloody point! If we 'did a Leeds' and it all went arse-over-head you would be the first one to be mouthing off about how idiotic it was. And the chances of us 'doing a Leeds' would be pretty high if we followed that road. How do I know this? Because it is bloody obvious - as plain as the nose on your face. We are the sixth best financed club in the EPL (and that is only after a huge amount of hard work to revive the club and its finances after the mess left by Scholar). If we spent as much as the clubs above us we would get into major debt - debt that would need to be repaid. But we still would have started with less and spent no more than the five rivals above us - who can also spend considerably more on wages and therefore attract more players. So we would have started with a weaker base and spend far more than we could afford, getting ourselves into debt, in order to have a squad that needed to be better than two out of five clubs who have more money than us and pay higher wages, in an effort to finish 4th (or higher). What do you 'really' think is going to happen in this scenario?

Facts are facts! I have shown that a lot of your facts about the United team were incorrect. I'll tell you a fact - we are the sixth best financed club in the BLP. I'll tell you another fact - we have finshed 5th or 4th in seven of the last ten season (the Ramos fiasco accounting for two of the three seasons outside the top five). I'll tell you another fact - Liverpool are the fifth best financed club. I'll tell you another fact - we have halved the difference in finance between us and them over the last decade. I'll tell you another fact - Liverpool ARE continuing to spend a lot more money than they can afford. I'll tell you another fact - Liverpool have finished seventh or lower in three of the last six seasons. I'll tell you another fact - we have finished above Liverpool in five of the last six seasons. These FACTS point to a club that is patently performing higher both on and off the field than finances and figures would suggest should be expected.

The facts suggest your assertion that there is zero deliverance is a little unwarranted - so I wouldn't be too smug in trotting it out. The only reason you believe you can guarantee zero attainment for this season is because you will blindly refuse to accept that the club that is sixth best financed in the division achieving anything higher than sixth is delivering. The main reason I wouldn't have a bet with you on it is that I can get much better odds in the bookies - where I have made a tidy profit over the last decade backing the team I support.

Perhaps you might consider that the 'do a Leeds' brigade come out swinging because, well, because they are right!

 

S-P the article is about whether we can win things with Kids, i have said no and why.
Youve talked the set up up, the youth players/academy grads etc and have tried to prove me wrong that is your opinion.
But there will only be 1 of us that is right come end of the season, and i'll wager whatever you like that it will again be a fruitless campaign dressed up by Levyites to falsefy what a success story we are.

And i think you'd better check your FACTS again, as Cantona was in fact the top scorer for that 'kids' side after returning from a 9 month ban the season previous and having been at the club 3 years. And Andy Cole played over 30 games for Utd that season.
If your gonna have a Raffa Rant at least get your FACTS right.

 

We won't win anything with the squad currently have; not being negative, just realistic. Yes we have some young potential, but these players need to be brought through with experienced personnel - and ones with the right qualities!

Why on earth are we leaving our business so late again. The new season is around the corner and yet again we run the risk of dropping vital points at the beginning of the season. We will have a settled squad come October and playing catch up.

Come on Levy - get some worthwhile deals over the line.

 

Let's be realistic; modern football is all about the money. If by some miracle we collect a group of talented kids who actually deliver at a top 4 level, the team will be torn to shreds during next summers transfer madness. Just look at Southampton for crying out loud. It's a sad state of affairs.

If we're ever to reach the promised land again (ie. Champions League) it'll require an incredible amount of luck, and let's face it; Lady Luck is NEVER on Spurs' side, so what's it going to take? An ungodly sum of money. Nothing more, nothing less.
Anything less than spending 50-60 mio. £ on at least 3 top quality players this window, means another painfully mediocre season.

Oh and let's not forget; we're having enough trouble actually keeping our few talented players around. Dark days my friends, dark days.