Aloha! Been quite a bit of talk over recent months about the potential of our young lads (from academy and ones we've signed early in their career) and the squad as a whole, so keen to see where you guys see this squad in the not so distant future. In terms of the squad, are we set to see a decline and head towards mid-table mediocrity? Will we forever be that nearly team when challenging for Champions League qualifications? Will we soon be putting on the burners and racing up that league table? Or do you need one or two signings in the Summer to give you a real sense of direction? I think that providing we keep our core of players, add a few bits of quality (CB and ST primarily, with one or two others elsewhere), then there's every chance we can get that elusive top 4 spot and possibly push beyond that, we have good and dare I say great players in certain areas but a bit of added quality would be huge. So what about our young individuals, how far do you see certain players evolve (or not) in the future? I'll add my two cents for what it's worth: Kane (21) - turning into the complete striker, I think if he can maintain the level he's been at he'll be one of the league's best strikers, if he's able to improve, which is definitely possible, then I'd expect the likes Bayern, Barca and Real to sniff around - hopefully he and Levy will resist the temptation. Bentaleb (20) - in my opinion, arguably has the most potential out of all our young players, I think he's a fantastic talent and can see him becoming one of Europe's best midfielders. Mason (23)- Although nearly 24 and thus not exactly classed as a youngster anymore, Mason's late breakthrough/ development has been one of the those fairytale stories. Think he will be one of those Prem players who can fit into any side in the country and do a great job but will never get the praise for it, like a Barry/ Milner/ Parker/ Delph type. Dier (21) - an England player of the future, not sure if it'll be at CB or RB but despite the former being his natural position, it's the latter where I think he's excelled. Can't believe he only cost £4m, absolute steal. Pritchard (21) - those who've taken notice of his time at Brentford will have known how superb he's been this season, capable of playing across the three attacking midfield roles, with super crossing, technique, set-piece and eye for goal attributes, it wouldn't surprise me if Pritch becomes the latest academy prospect to become a first teamer, because the RW is well open for debate and if Pritch can take and improve that Brentford form, there's every chance it's his. Like Dier, I think he has the potential to be an England player of the future. Alli (19) - little is known to most about Alli but if you managed to catch the odd MK game or simply just seen his stats for the season, you can't help but get excited about our January acquisition. He's been touted in the press as the new Steven Gerrard which is a massive compliment to any player. I'm sure I've heard that Poch has no intentions to loan him out next season and if he's able to impress in the Summer and adapt to more advanced surroundings, he could give Mason a fight for a role in CM or even provide good cover/ competition for Eriksen in the CAM role. Wherever he plays though, I think if he can live up to early hype, he could be a key England player of the future. So, feel free to throw your views about, add any other youngsters to the mix if you wish (Onomah, Winks, Yedlin, Carter-Vickers, Walker-Peters etc...) or you can just tell me how much **** I've just waffled
Walker and Rose are both only 24 too. Only a year older than Mason. Rose has had a great season imo, hence the links to City. Walker has the ability but has had a stinker this season. Eriksen is also only 23, quality. I still believe Lamela could be good. I'm trying to be optimistic. Townsend is now what Townsend always will be imo. Good impact player for me but not a nailed-on starter for a team hoping for the CL.
I believe that a lot of the difference between players such as these developing into excellent players rather than also rans is in their psychology rather than their skill levels. The difference between top 4 and fifth is much greater both in quality and outcome than that between 5th and say 10th. So I think we should take a lot of risks on our younger players as fulfilling their full potential is really the only way we can make a lasting breakthrough into the top four as the other tried and tested method of signing £100m worth of new talent a year will never be available to us. So play as many young players as possible to give them experience and confidence and watch them blossom. Sell off five or six more experienced members of the squad and use the money to buy two of the highest quality experienced players we can get to give us a strong spine in the team.
I didn't include Eriksen because I think he's already at a level where you can say he's top class, has more potential to improve don't get me wrong but I'd say he's already one of the best players in the League and arguably Europe. Just could do with adding some consistency to his game as he tends to drift out of match at times. Rose I forgot about to be honest, he's been one of our best players this season, not sure if he'll improve much bar maybe consistency and a bit more defensive awareness but he's at a level that I'm happy with. I've already said it but kudos to Tots and the few others who believed in him last season, I thought he was a lost cause. There was an article just the other day funnily enough where apparently Poch told Rose he'd make him one of the best LB's in the Prem, I'd say he's delivered on that promise. Walker I have to say I'm losing patience with, this is his 4th full season now and he was great in first, poor in his second, ok in third and shocking in fourth, it's as though he's regressing. Dier has been way better and I'd be happy to have Yedlin challenge more for a first team role and make some money on Walker in the Summer. I'd definitely give Lamela another season, there's no doubting there's a great player in there somewhere but it's just finding the key to unlocking that. Townsend is a great squad player to have in my opinion, can't see him becoming a permanent starter in the side but someone to come in when another is injured/ fatigued is fine and he's one of the last players a tired defender would want to see coming from the bench,
I'm a great believer in 'If you're good enough, you're old enough' So yes, those young players who clearly have what it takes to cut it at Premiership level should be given every opportunity to gain experience and confidence. I have also read numerous glowing reports about Alli. If he lives up to the hype, he'll be some player.
I have a similar view, PS. Our best players this season have been those in the early 20's, with Hugo being the exception (who's still young in goalkeeping years). There's a greater passion and desire from them, they've put the more experienced players to shame and I'd be more than happy to see a few more step up with like you say, just one or two bits of added experience elsewhere.
I haven't seen enough of Alli to judge him, but Pritchard's really impressed me when I've watched Brentford. He's positive, his movement's good, he works, he creates chances and he scores goals. Dangerous set-piece taker, too. I also get the feeling that he's a player that Pochettino would like, which is helpful. Carter-Vickers has looked impressive and mature in the youth games that I've managed to see. He plays in a position that we're struggling with, but I think he'll need loan experience before he's picked, as it's a tough role for a young man. Caulker seemed to benefit greatly from it, though he's gone off the boil badly since we sold him. One problem seems to be a large number of emerging players in some positions and not much happening in others. Central midfield and playing in behind a striker? Loads. Proper wingers or strikers? Not much. Mirrors the first team, unfortunately. Balance is key to our progress and the squad's lacking that at all levels, in my opinion. Needs to be addressed in the summer.
Kane and Bentaleb should be fixtures in the team for years to come (so I hope the talk of us offering a lowball contract to Bentaleb aren't true, or the club's seen sense and offer him improved terms), Rose has become the player he was at Sunderland a couple of seasons ago after a stuttering start as our first-choice left back, while next season's going to be interesting as Pritchard and Alli could well be stepping up into the first team, while Dier's development should see him getting more regular games than he has for periods this season. On the other hand Townsend seems to have found his ceiling and it's a lot lower than what we hoped it would be, Walker seems to be blighted with injuries and his progress has stalled repeatedly, while next season I can't see Mason being in the starting line-up on a regular basis.
I don't think we need or want wingers. We have Townsend and Lennon who can be used as normal wingers and one has been loaned out and the other is playing inverted, when he plays at all. While under Poch we are not going to play with traditional wingers. For that reason being overloaded in the playing behind the striker area is ideal. I think each of those 3 should be able to play each position and they should interchange throughout a match. You want those guys to perform a bit like an old fashioned centre forward pairing, you want a bit of telepathy and great movement. You can even bunch the striker in with those 3 which is why its great that Kane and Soldado are both decent when dropping deeper, even if one of them isn't performing greatly with their main objective of sticking the damn ball in the bag. Even when we had our best "winger" since Ginola his best season was when he played all across those 3 positions under AVB. In the summer i think we want a CB and a (youngish) striker. Then we need to continue to use and incentivise the academy products
Rose is the perfect example of the importance of patience. He was slated often before finding his current form, but now he's finally showing his consistency. Walker has been hampered by injury, but we know what he is capable of if he can find form. Benteleb has become a must start player, after many doubted his selection early on. Kudos to him and to Sherwood for giving him his chance. I'd like to see what Dele Alli can do alongside Benteleb. Kane will improve but we need another goal threat to occupy defenders, to avoid them overcompensating for Kane, and choking his play. Dier has really impressed me, especially considering it's his first season. Very astute signing.
We don't even have inverted wingers most of the time though, Spurm. We have three attacking midfielders playing in a row and failing to track back well. Using this system with no real holding players at all is pretty suicidal. Having versatile players switching through those roles is great in theory and when you've got the ball. When you lose it and everyone's in the middle of nowhere picking nobody up, then the defence gets overrun. How many times have we seen a misplaced pass in attack turn into a free run at our goal this season?
I agree on Mason. I wonder if he'll end up trying for one of the red positions behind the striker. He reminds me of Lalana in his energy. (Without the finishing of course.)
Ok, inverted wingers is not what i meant. I meant those 3. The system can and does work as other teams have shown. You need a deeper laying (not necessarily defensive) midfielder who can pass, we all know who would be perfect - Modric. At Chelsea its Fabregas. We try to use Mason, but incisive passing is probably one of the weaker aspects of his game. Maybe Bentaleb would be better, but then like you say, we would need a defensive mid. Thinking about it, this is probably why Poch seems to want Schneiderlin. I was actually thinking the other day that Eriksen is fairly decent at tracking back. He's very good at nicking the ball off people and rarely gives fouls away.
Look at how Chelsea play it, though. They have a deep-lying playmaker and a holding midfielder, neither of which we use, but they also make sure that the attackers work their arses off. Mata didn't. Out. Oscar hasn't recently. Out. Salah? Out. Schurrle? Out. Everyone tracks back, everyone puts in 100% effort and their back four are all about defending. They're experienced, they're clinical, they're cynical and they're happy to shut up shop and kill games. Our side has none of those qualities.
I've got nothing against getting the 3 to track back and work. I'd be amazed if Poch isn't drilling that into them. Also the midfield 2 could be better suited. A defensive mid and Bentaleb could work. I wouldn't want us to be cynical and happy to shut up shop, but what i'm trying to say is that this system could be exciting, entertaining, get results without the need for traditional wingers, which i don't think we need or want because like it or not it seems this system is Poch's Plan A (and maybe B, C, D...)
Arsenal play a similar formation, but don't press as much. They often suffer from similar problems to us, though.
I don't think there is anything wrong with the system but I agree we've not got the balance between attack and defence right. I'd prefer Bentaleb to grow into the Matic like player and then Mason or Carroll could be the Fabregas-like player. While I think Schneiderlin would be a short-term improvement on Bentaleb, I don't see them both in the same team. I actually think that any combination of Chadli/Eriksen/Townsend/Lamela/Dembele/Prichard/Holtby/Alli would have enough energy to do their defensive roles well and the main problem this season is that the more defensive pair have not been disciplined enough.
If I had to guess, it would be that the basic problem hasn’t been the attackers tracking back, or the "2" doing what they’re supposed to do. It’s that Pochettino has trouble getting anything other than the following two results out of the team 1. Aggressive team pressing which creates lots of chances for us and even more for the other team. 2. Positional discipline, which cuts chances for both teams down to a very small number. I don’t think this is surprising in a young team playing a new system. But we have to do a better job of finding a happy medium next year. Kane and Eriksen are already stars, though given it’s on the basis of one and two seasons, it’s not nailed on they will be next year. Not burning them out should be high on our list of priorities. If we did rest Eriksen enough, I’d love to see him moving the ball up the field more often. He really did remind me of Modric for the few games he was doing that. Bentaleb is progressing towards becoming one, given his age and history. I haven’t seen enough of Prtichard and Alli, but they look to both have a real chance becoming big players as well. Dier may push Bentaleb for the best of our other players. He is really looking like a fantastic purchase. I hope Rose can be as good next year. I’m worried about Walker’s ability to get back to his best. Chadli is the next level down, though only for a year, a ten goal five assist scorer who’s been very valuable this year and should start next, frequent disappearances or no. It’s been a rocky two years, but I still rate Lamela as having a better chance to be a big player than Mason, Townsend, and even Chadli. In the largest sense, Pochettino has us going in the right direction so far. All he and the squad may need is time. But we need to become better organized. We blunder defensively far too often. Could a Plan B meant specifically for the teams who set up to take advantage of our Plan A be the answer? No wingers for Pochettino? Not often, true. But when he did use them (Rose and Townsend on the left), they were remarkably effective. Could one outside footed and one inside footed wide midfielder be best for us, or should we at least use it more often? I’d like to see us getting it wide and crossing into the box quickly more often. It opens up the option of passing through the middle, and increases the pace of the game. Knowing they’ll be coming also makes it easier for Kane, Chadli and others to race onto those crosses. Finally, if we do it quickly enough, we may leave some of our players far enough back we won’t be wide open for a counter. Should the following players interchange roles, I wonder: Eriksen and Mason & Kane and Chadli? (Eriksen, Chadli and Lamela swap roles already, to some degree). It’s getting harder and harder to break into the top four. We’ll need things to go extraordinarily well for us next year, in player development, in setup and tactics, and in performance. We need to get much better at taking points off smaller teams, simple as that. Our results against big ones were okay. As difficult as it will be in the long run, Borussia and Atletico show teams can rise very high if they can get all their ducks in a row. We at least have a plan in place involving developing youth players into stars and building a new stadium which seems like a good one. So there is hope, even if the smart money will be on more disappointment.
