Who's breakthrough year will thisbe?
Will this be the breakthrough year for Tom Carroll, Alex Pritchard, DeAndre Yedlin or perhaps new signing Deli Alli?
Fans go over the top over players they have hardly seen, they read a match report of how a player plays well, hears constant praise and next thing they are demanding he is given a chance when back from loan.
As with any loan spell you have to take account of the opposition, performing brilliantly in League One doesn't suddenly mean you are ready for the Premier League, although there are exceptions to the rule as Ryan Mason has shown. Equally performing in the Championship doesn't mean you can do it in the Premier League, Louis Saha has shown things can come too early for a player.
Alex Pritchard for me is a case in point, there is an awful lot of hype surrounding him, he undoubtedly has talent but there is more to football than. Fair play to him he has taken everything that has been thrown at him and come through with flying colours, he has been a marked man and dealt with it. His attitude thus far is what we require in our footballers at White Hart Lane, a desire to overcome obstacles.
The UEFA Europa League is surely calling for Pritchard with cameos in the Premier League at selected times, I doubt he is ready for anything more yet. I'm keen to see him in action in our system in Europe and in the cups to see what he can do, then we may know a little more about what we have got.
Former Tottenham and England winger Peter Taylor has his doubts whether he is top four material, the standard by which we have to judge a player, as he revealed to Sky Sports recently.
Érik Lamela has his limitations have been exposed in the Premier League thus far and you could throw him into a list of players who could have a breakthrough season. The Argentinian is only young we must remember, he won't be 24 until next March.
It took Nacer Chadli a season of playing before he started to show what he could do, perhaps the system with an interchanging front four helped him. When he was tied to a wing he was less threatening and popped up all over the place for his goals. He had a breakthrough season last year along with the obvious names of Harry Kane and Ryan Mason.
I advocated bringing a young group of players together and letting them grow as a team, it happens in other leagues, where success breeds happiness. Having a happy squad is vital and the camp at Spurs is a happy one, it breeds a bond where you don't want to let your teammates down and success is all that much sweeter when it is with your friends.
If we are to adopt that policy then we need to weed out those with the wrong mental attitude and bring in those who, if they are older will want to help the youngsters, and if they are younger have a burning desire to develop. A will won't get you anywhere, a burning desire will.
Lamela has been at the club a couple of seasons now, one blighted by injury, so we are still really waiting for his breakthrough, he was after-all supposed to be the all singing all dancing replacement for Garth Bale. That burden has to be put to one side and extensive work put in on the training ground to develop his game. Key to that will be his decision making and adding variety, at the moment everyone knows exactly what he is going to do, just as we do with Andros Townsend.
I am a critic of Lamela yes, because I'm not yet convinced of his mentality, another Tom Huddlestone, who will be joining Aston Villa incidentally, ability but he always laves you feeling he could give more, Mousa Dembélé the same. Andre Villas-Boas was charged with changing the mentality at the club, Tim Sherwood pointed out the poor mentality at the club, Hugo Lloris has mentioned it, Pochettino has often spoken it.
Football is a ruthless business and sometimes you have to do things that may be painful, we can't play everyone so those that play have to mentally in the right frame of mind to produce. Only a player can determine his motivation because only a player can make his own mental decisions, if he doesn't feel a game against Stoke is important enough he won't produce. We have stated we want young hungry players because a hungry player has motivation. It is up to the youngsters to turn that hunger into performances.
Fans go over the top over players they have hardly seen, they read a match report of how a player plays well, hears constant praise and next thing they are demanding he is given a chance when back from loan.
As with any loan spell you have to take account of the opposition, performing brilliantly in League One doesn't suddenly mean you are ready for the Premier League, although there are exceptions to the rule as Ryan Mason has shown. Equally performing in the Championship doesn't mean you can do it in the Premier League, Louis Saha has shown things can come too early for a player.
Alex Pritchard for me is a case in point, there is an awful lot of hype surrounding him, he undoubtedly has talent but there is more to football than. Fair play to him he has taken everything that has been thrown at him and come through with flying colours, he has been a marked man and dealt with it. His attitude thus far is what we require in our footballers at White Hart Lane, a desire to overcome obstacles.
The UEFA Europa League is surely calling for Pritchard with cameos in the Premier League at selected times, I doubt he is ready for anything more yet. I'm keen to see him in action in our system in Europe and in the cups to see what he can do, then we may know a little more about what we have got.
Former Tottenham and England winger Peter Taylor has his doubts whether he is top four material, the standard by which we have to judge a player, as he revealed to Sky Sports recently.
“Thankfully for him, size won’t matter. He’s that good. He’s not afraid to take the ball in tight areas and he’s not afraid of a tackle. I’ve been doing some scouting this season and watching him play so I’ve seen quite a lot of him.
“He’s a very intelligent footballer, honestly. He a terrific player with a terrific touch and a footballing brain. He will make goals. Is he a top-four player? I’m not sure.”
Érik Lamela has his limitations have been exposed in the Premier League thus far and you could throw him into a list of players who could have a breakthrough season. The Argentinian is only young we must remember, he won't be 24 until next March.
It took Nacer Chadli a season of playing before he started to show what he could do, perhaps the system with an interchanging front four helped him. When he was tied to a wing he was less threatening and popped up all over the place for his goals. He had a breakthrough season last year along with the obvious names of Harry Kane and Ryan Mason.
I advocated bringing a young group of players together and letting them grow as a team, it happens in other leagues, where success breeds happiness. Having a happy squad is vital and the camp at Spurs is a happy one, it breeds a bond where you don't want to let your teammates down and success is all that much sweeter when it is with your friends.
If we are to adopt that policy then we need to weed out those with the wrong mental attitude and bring in those who, if they are older will want to help the youngsters, and if they are younger have a burning desire to develop. A will won't get you anywhere, a burning desire will.
Lamela has been at the club a couple of seasons now, one blighted by injury, so we are still really waiting for his breakthrough, he was after-all supposed to be the all singing all dancing replacement for Garth Bale. That burden has to be put to one side and extensive work put in on the training ground to develop his game. Key to that will be his decision making and adding variety, at the moment everyone knows exactly what he is going to do, just as we do with Andros Townsend.
I am a critic of Lamela yes, because I'm not yet convinced of his mentality, another Tom Huddlestone, who will be joining Aston Villa incidentally, ability but he always laves you feeling he could give more, Mousa Dembélé the same. Andre Villas-Boas was charged with changing the mentality at the club, Tim Sherwood pointed out the poor mentality at the club, Hugo Lloris has mentioned it, Pochettino has often spoken it.
Football is a ruthless business and sometimes you have to do things that may be painful, we can't play everyone so those that play have to mentally in the right frame of mind to produce. Only a player can determine his motivation because only a player can make his own mental decisions, if he doesn't feel a game against Stoke is important enough he won't produce. We have stated we want young hungry players because a hungry player has motivation. It is up to the youngsters to turn that hunger into performances.
Personally I have never seen Tom Carroll as a playmaking defensive midfielder, it's a waste of the ability he has in my view, I'd be concerned with the defensive side of his game. I was pleased to see him playing the central attacking midfielder role in the three behind Harry Kane for England at the Under-21 European Championships. It's there that I'd like to see him given a role in the UEFA Europa League, it would give Christian Eriksen some much needed rest.
What little I have seen of him in that role suggests he has the vision for a pass, the eye to thread a ball through the defence. It's an area we are often looking as if we are struggling in. Would you think Mousa Dembélé or Tom Carroll would be more threatening in that role, the Belgians poor stats suggest Carroll and I would have to agree.
Like Pritchard the UEFA Europa League is going to be key for Carroll. Harry Kane has suddenly shown everyone that if you perform in that competition then you can get your chance in the Premier League, it's up to you to then take that chance and not expect a charity run of games to see what you can do, there is a training ground for that.
What Kane did just gives every youngster a boost, if he can do it I can do it, hopefully this coming season we'll see that.
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