25-man Squad Update – August 2015

Prior to the past few seasons I have written about how our 25-man squad is shaping up in line with the ‘home grown’ rule. I wrote an update in July, and am regularly asked to update further, so here’s how our squad is looking.

To summarise the rule again, we are able to name a 25-man squad if eight of the players are ‘home grown’. We could name fewer than eight home grown players, but would need to also name fewer than 25 players in our squad – for example, if we only have seven home grown players, we can name a 24-man squad, 6/23, 5/22, etc. A home grown player is defined as follows:

… one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Welsh Football Association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).

We do not need to name players who are under 21 on our squad list; for the 2015/16 campaign, players considered ‘under 21’ will have been born on or after 1st January 1994.

Since the beginning of last season we have lost one ‘home grown’ player (Kyle Naughton) from our squad list. We have also sold Grant Hall and Ryan Fredericks, who were on loan last season, and can expect to lose at least one more (Aaron Lennon). We have added Kieran Trippier, who is home grown, but also three non-home grown players in Toby Alderweireld, Kevin Wimmer and Clinton Njie. Dele Alli falls into the under-21 category.

Also, since last season, Harry Kane has passed the age threshold and will need to be named in the squad, whereas last year he was simply included in our list of under-21 players.

As it stands, our ‘named’ 25-man squad would consist of the following (* = home grown player):

Hugo Lloris
Michel Vorm

Kyle Walker*
Danny Rose*
Kieran Trippier*
Ben Davies*
DeAndre Yedlin

Jan Vertonghen
Toby Alderweireld
Kevin Wimmer
Federico Fazio

Ryan Mason*
Mousa Dembélé
Tom Carroll*

Christian Eriksen
Nacer Chadli
Erik Lamela
Andros Townsend*
Alex Pritchard *
Aaron Lennon*

Harry Kane*
Clinton Njie
Emmanuel Adebayor

We are then able to select any players who were born on or after January 1994 without needing to register them. This means that any of the following (plus the other first and second year academy scholars) would be available for selection. NB: I have presented them in age order.

Eric Dier
Shaq Coulthirst (on loan at Wigan Athletic)
Kenny McEvoy
Nabil Bentaleb
Grant Ward (on loan at Rotherham)
Dominic Ball (on loan at Rangers)
Luke McGee
Milos Veljkovic
Harry Winks
Connor Ogilvie (on loan at Stevenage)
Nathan Oduwa (on loan at Rangers)
Emmanuel Sonupe
Dele Alli
William Miller
Joe Pritchard
Harry Voss
Anton Walkes
Luke Amos
Anthony Georgiou
Cy Goddard
Kyle Walker-Peters
Joshua Onomah
Shayon Harrison
Cameron Carter-Vickers
Ismail Azzaoui

Since my last update we have sold Vlad Chiricheș, Benjamin Stambouli, Roberto Soldado, Grant Hall and Ryan Fredericks. This means that we have only 23 players that would need to be included in our squad list. I still expect Emmanuel Adebayor and Aaron Lennon to leave, and there are rumours that we might also sell Federico Fazio and Andros Townsend, and loan out DeAndre Yedlin. We have ten homegrown players (including Lennon and Townsend) and that means that we could currently sign three non-homegrown players who are over 21 and would still be able to name all of our players on our squad list. 

This is a very healthy situation to be in leading up to the end of the transfer window – we can make two further signings without worrying about having to ‘make space’ for them. Our squad is so streamlined now that we will not be caught in a situation where players are frozen out of the Premier League squad due to numbers.

Loanee Update – August 2015

Pre-season is over, the scouting has been done and loan moves are starting to happen now. This week we’ve gone from having one player out on loan to having five:

Grant Ward – Rotherham United (Championship) – January
Nathan Oduwa – Rangers (Scottish Championship) – season
Dominic Ball – Rangers (Scottish Championship) – season
Shaq Coulthirst – Wigan (League One) – October
Connor Ogilvie – Stevenage (League Two) – 14th September

Grant Ward – Rotherham United (Championship)

Ward has joined Rotherham United and has already made a couple of appearances. He was withdrawn from a central midfield role at half-time on his debut against MK Dons, as Rotherham struggled in general. The Star wrote that Ward had ‘struggled to impose himself’. He then came on to play 17 minutes at on the right against Cambridge United in the League Cup.

Having done so well in League One with Coventry City last season, Ward will be looking to be a mainstay of the Rotherham team in the Championship. Should he do so, he’ll have essentially done what Alex Pritchard did last season, but a year sooner in his development.

Nathan Oduwa & Dominic Ball – Rangers (Scottish Championship)

Mark Warburton has used his relationship with Spurs to acquire two youngsters who are ready to make the next step. As a Spurs fan and co-founder of the NextGen Series (which Spurs participated in) Warburton has a real appreciation of Spurs’ academy, and worked wonders with Pritchard last season.

Oduwa and Ball both played League Two football last year and – whilst the quality of the Scottish Championship might not be substantially better – the experience of playing in front of 51,000 fans every other week will benefit them enormously.

Nathan Oduwa will get Rangers fans off their seats. He is a very tricky customer, possessing terrific close control and dribbling ability. He sometimes appears to not be in full control of the ball, but will then somehow emerge from the tightest of spaces with it still at his feet. His finishing certainly needs some honing, but there are not many 19-year olds that are complete players. Oduwa mostly plays on the left wing, but could do a job as a number 10 or even a number 9 if called upon.

Dominic Ball is a robust centre-back who is competent in possession. He undoubtedly has ability and reads the game well for a 20-year old. My concern is that he can be a little rash when defending – sometimes committing himself too early in an effort to be proactive. He will come across some wily players and if he can play a full season, it’ll do him the world of good.

It’s easy to turn your nose up at our players going to the Scottish Championship, but you must remember that matches are only one part of a loan move – players are training all week, and so the coaches that they are with must be of sufficient quality to have an impact. Mark Warburton is a fantastic coach for our young players to learn from (as we saw with Pritchard last year) and the Spurs hierarchy clearly have enormous faith in him.

Ball revealed in this interview that he trained with Warburton when he played for Watford between the ages of 11 and 15, and that will certainly make the transition easier for him.

Shaq Coulthirst – Wigan (League One)

Coulthirst has clocked up 39 appearances League Two appearances across four clubs, scoring eight goals. He now has an opportunity to progress to League One.

His first loan was actually in League One (for Leyton Orient) and he scored on his debut (having come off the bench). But he was sent back to Spurs at the end of that one-month loan having played just seven minutes. 18 months on, it’s an opportunity for him to test himself again and see whether he now has the physicality and the ability to make an impression.

Coulthirst is a whole-hearted player – a trier, if you will – and if he fails to cut it, it certainly won’t be down to his attitude. He seems to want to make it as a central striker, but I feel that wide left is his best option – I am not sure that his finishing and hold up play are good enough to justify him playing up top.

Connor Ogilvie – Stevenage (League Two)

19-year old Connor Ogilvie has made his first loan move, and will be working under former Spurs great, Teddy Sheringham.

Ogilvie was a real favourite of mine at Under-18 level. He played at both left-back and centre-back, but was most impressive on the left, where he had the opportunity to overlap; he was a genuine creative influence from there. His eye-catching performances in 2013/14 saw him drafted into the first team for Europa League trips to Tromso and Benfica, and he was obviously well liked by the England coaching set-up too – he won 15 caps at U16 and U17 level.

Since stepping up to the U21s, though, he seems to have stagnated a little. He made 16 appearances last season, but in the games that I saw he seemed a lot more reserved than I had become used to. Whether that was a lack of confidence, or a slight struggle against older, stronger players I am unsure. I was, however, very encouraged by Ogilvie’s showing in the Tottenham Hotspur XI’s 2-0 win over Stevenage at The Lamex Stadium, and he obviously caught Sheringham’s eye too.

01/08/15 Stevenage 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur XI, The Lamex Stadium

Tom Glover (17)
Kyle Walker-Peters (18) Dominic Ball (19) Cameron Carter-Vickers (17) (c) Connor Ogilvie (19)
Filip Lesniak (19) Milos Veljkovic (19)
Emmanuel Sonupe (19) Ismail Azzaoui (17) Nathan Oduwa (19)
Shayon Harrison (18)

Subs:
Cy Goddard (18)
Luke Amos (18)
Kenny McEvoy (20)
Anton Walkes (18)

Unused subs:
Harry Voss (18)
Christian Maghoma (17)

It was a dry but cloudy afternoon at the Lamex – the home of Stevenage as well as Spurs’ Under-21 team (or ‘Development Squad’, as the club tends to refer to it).

Spurs’ side was made up mostly of the players that travelled to Ploufragan in France for the recent National Under-21 Tournament, in which we finished fourth (although only lost one match in normal time). As well as the players from that squad we fielded Australian goalkeeper Tom Glover, who was with the first team in Denver. Cameron Carter-Vickers was captain for the day.

Stevenage are now managed by an early hero of mine, Teddy Sheringham, and I was hoping that it would be clear that he is trying to develop an attractive style of football – more on that later.

Stevenage played something between a 4-5-1 and a 4-1-4-1 with a big number 9 (who I think was Brett Williams) up front and ex-Spurs youth players Dean Parrett (8) and Charlie Lee (10) in the centre of midfield behind him. 18-year old Dipo Akinyemi started wide on the left. Lee captained their side.

Spurs started in the typical 4-2-3-1, with two defensive midfielders sitting in front of a strong centre-back pairing. Shayon Harrison led the line, with Ismail Azzaoui in behind him. Nathan Oduwa – who has impressed in pre-season for the first team – played on the left.

As the players started to settle into a rhythm, Milos Veljkovic looked to go long over the top to Harrison, but just over-hit his pass. Cameron Carter-Vickers was confident enough early on to step and play the big Stevenage number 9 offside – leading by example. On 3 minutes, there was a wonderful switch of play from Veljkovic to Connor Ogilvie at left-back, although his cross was blocked.

Stevenage signalled their intentions to play physically when a nudge on Dominic Ball from the number 9 sent him sprawling into the hoardings – Ball had got ahead of him easily and didn’t complain at the unnecessary treatment he received.

The first opening of the game came when Kyle Walker-Peters showed some neat footwork to beat his man, played a pass to Azzaoui who found him again with a lovely return pass into the inside right channel. Walker-Peter’s cross went all the way across the box and Ogilvie fouled his man at the back post in trying to meet it.

With six minutes gone, Ogilvie cleared his second ball of the day straight over the stand and out of the ground!

A minute later it was 1-0 to Spurs. Oduwa made his first serious surge forward – he burst through three players and got a low shot away with his left foot on the angle which bounced up (either off a defender or the goalkeeper) and went in the far post.

Stevenage went immediately up the other end and their strong number 3 overlapped and got a cross in which Tom Glover claimed at the near post in commanding fashion.

Azzaoui took possession in his own half and tried to drop an ambitious diagonal ball over the top for Sonupe, but he put too much on it on this occasion.

Tenacious midfielder Dean Parrett was sticking close to Azzaoui, and frequently nicked the ball away from him – he was clearly targeted as a danger man (rightly). Veljkovic then nearly found the breaking Azzaoui with another nice pass but it was intercepted.

Veljkovic’s cross-field switch to Sonupe was well struck, but the winger failed to take it in his stride with his head and it ran out of play.

Harrison had our second effort on goal – he got a weak shot away after latching onto an Ogilvie pass, but it was never troubling Stevenage.

Stevenage were happy to let our centre-backs have possession but pressed as soon as they stepped into midfield or laid it into a midfielder. Dominic Ball strode out of defence, but was well-chased by the number 9 and was robbed just as he was about to make a pass.

Spurs won a corner as Sonupe laid off to Walker-Peters and tried to run in behind the full-back. The Stevenage player positioned himself well but a poor touch took the ball over the line. Azzaoui’s right foot corner was headed over at the back post by Carter-Vickers.

Veljkovic was adept at dropping into centre-back to allow Ball to push up, and on one occasion Ball did so and found Harrison who was easily robbed – not for the first time. Veljkovic then received a poor pass in midfield but won it back and gave it simple, taking care to maintain possession and continue to frustrate Stevenage.

Oduwa showed good tenacity to block a ball from the full-back and then tore off after it – he stood the same player up but then when another got back to help out he couldn’t beat two, and on this occasion he chose the wrong option in not passing.

Some naive defending from Dominic Ball on the Spurs right led to a Stevenage free-kick, which Glover claimed superbly.

Stevenage had started the game in an overly physical manner, but that didn’t prepare me for what happened next. Charlie Lee absolutely scythed down Oduwa with a tackle that was late and high. Oduwa was left unconscious, and it quickly became clear that there was concern for him, as teammates knelt down close to him as he received treatment. His treatment lasted for 7 minutes before he was stretchered off and replaced by Cy Goddard. Challenges like this are part of the game, and something that our young players will need to get used to – especially lower down the football pyramid and when you have as much ability as Oduwa (which can frustrate opponents). But that sort of challenge in a friendly match – which will have likely been agreed as part of the deal by which they provide a home for our Under-21 side – was totally uncalled for. Lee picked up a yellow card, but it would have been red in any other context. Thankfully Oduwa was fine once he regained consciousness and he was able to watch the second half.

Cy Goddard moved into the number 10 position, with Azzaoui shifting out to the left – the position he mostly played for the Under-18s last season. The young Belgian drew applause with a nice drag back to retain possession – clearly unperturbed by the physical treatment that his teammate had received!

On the other side, Emmanuel Sonupe tried to play a one-two with Ogilvie but played the ball straight into touch.

A really positive burst down the left from Ogilvie (a feature throughout) saw him get onto a Lesniak pass and play a nice ball into Harrison in the box. His clever back-heel nearly found Goddard, but it was cleared for a corner, which the goalkeeper claimed at the second attempt.

On 44 minutes, Sonupe beat his man and got a cross in, but it was hacked away for a corner. Azzaui’s kick was attacked by Ball and fell kindly for the defender to play it back into the penalty area, but the cross was headed clear.

Carter-Vickers showed his calm style with a commanding piece of play at the back, stepping across his man to retain possession and allowing Glover to mop up with a clearance.

Spurs continued their assault down the flanks when Walker-Peters played in Sonupe deep on the right. The winger dug out an excellent cross but it was headed clear from within the six-yard box.

In the 7 minutes of stoppage time, Carter-Vickers displayed another piece of solid defending against Akinyemi – standing his ground and letting his opponent’s poor touch do the work, resulting in a goal kick to Spurs.

Goddard tried to thread a pass through to Azzaoui but it was not quite weighted well enough and the keeper snaffled it.

The final action saw Sonupe produce an up and under cross, but Goddard started his run from deep and couldn’t quite get on the end of it.

Stevenage made five substitutions at half-time, and four of the incoming players were trialists. One of those to leave the field was Charlie Lee – the ex-Spur being the one who injured Oduwa in the first half. 40-year old goalkeeper, Chris Day, another ex-Spur, also went off. Spurs made no further changes.

Stevenage changed their shape at various points, with Akinyemi playing up with the number 9, and this gave Spurs something to think about.

Tom Glover was keen to pass the ball out at every opportunity, and in one such situation he laid a pass to Lesniak in midfield, who retained the ball well under pressure from two opponents and spun 360 degrees in the centre circle to find space.

Ten minutes into the half Connor Ogilvie lost his third ball of the day with another big clearance – this one was later thrown back onto the outfield, though!

Glover claimed another corner and played a quick ball out to Azzaoui, who beat Stevenage’s number 21, made space and got a shot away which was blocked.

Parrett and Dale Gorman were trying to get on top of the physically small Goddard, but he used his low centre of gravity to wriggle into space and won a free kick. The free-kick on this occasion was played square and wasted.

Azzaoui made space in the box again and got another shot away – this time the goalkeeper closed his legs quickly to block.

Stevenage came close to equalising when a deep corner was headed over Glover and Lesniak was needed to head it off the line. Glover then blocked the follow-up before a final shot was fired well wide.

Harrison had a lovely effort on goal which was going in at the near post but the keeper got down well to palm it wide. Azzaoui’s corner was too deep for Carter-Vickers and sailed harmlessly out for a goal kick.

Luke Amos replaced Filip Lesniak on 69 minutes and played just ahead of Veljkovic – a slightly more advanced role than usual.

Spurs had typically tried to play out from Glover whenever possible, but when Stevenage squeezed up on one occasion, Veljkovic made a long run forward to provide a target up front from the goal kick. He didn’t win the ball – mostly as he was clearly held from behind by the centre-back he was jumping with. The referee struggled to spot shirt-pulling and pushes throughout, and let Stevenage play a very physical game.

Carter-Vickers muscled another Stevenage man off the ball and carried the ball out despite challenges coming from all angles, but Spurs lost the ball and committed a foul in trying to win it back. From the resulting free-kick, Akinyemi missed a glorious chance. The number 16 crossed well, Akinyemi lost Sonupe and sent his diving header across goal but wide. Ball was not best pleased with Sonupe’s defending!

Kenny McEvoy replaced Sonupe on 75 minutes, and Spurs reverted to a 4-3-1-2, with McEvoy up top on the right, Harrison left, with Azzaoui in behind them centrally.

Harrison had an opportunity to make it 2-0 when the Stevenage goalkeeper received a back-pass and kicked it straight at Harrison, although it bounced off him to safety and the trialist keeper quickly dived on the loose ball.

A neat Spurs move on the edge of the box showed potential, but Goddard over-hit his pass out for a goal kick.

Walkes replaced Walker-Peters at right-back for the final few minutes, and a minute later Spurs secured the win. Luke Amos sent Harrison through, he rounded the goalkeeper but was upended in doing so. He stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way from the spot.

Veljkovic won a superb tackle in midfield and then spread play well to Walkes – all of which typified his performance – and the final action saw Amos intelligently win a free-kick on edge of box which Azzaoui clipped into the wall and wide.

This was a stern test for a very young Spurs side against a much older, much more physical outfit. Stevenage’s style was surprising given that 1. it was a friendly and 2. they are managed by Sheringham, who was such an elegant player (and not at all dirty). I felt that perhaps a few of the Stevenage players set out to try to intimidate the Spurs boys, and got carried away when it didn’t really pan out for them.

It was notable that Spurs looked to play lots of long diagonals and cross-field passes in this match, much like the first team vs MLS All-Stars in midweek. Perhaps this is a move towards a slightly more direct style, with quick changes of the direction of attacks being a feature.

Glover 8 – a very commanding performance from the young Aussie. Claimed the ball consistently well (perhaps he’d been watching Joe Root in midweek) and distributed it smartly too.
Walker-Peters 7 – very secure defensively, and keen to support Sonupe without ever really going on any of his trademark mazy runs. Perhaps a bit more reserved than he is in Under-18 and Under-21 football due to the standard of the opposition.
Ball 6 – made one error of judgement down on the right when he needlessly committed a foul, but was otherwise sound and used the ball sensibly.
Cater-Vickers 8 – a very dominant showing, as we’ve come to expect.
Ogilvie 7 – it was really nice to see him get back to the sort of form I’d come to see from him in Under-18 football. A willing outlet on the left, willing to bomb forward to support the attack. I hope he has a better year this year as he’s a player I like; I felt he stagnated a bit last term.
Veljkovic 9 – wonderfully composed on the ball with a very useful range of passing; solid in the tackle; intelligent reading of the game. What’s not to like? I am slightly baffled as to why Pochettino doesn’t love him as much as I do, and I can only think that it’s because he doesn’t play with the high intensity that Pochettino demands. I’ve heard murmurings of a Championship loan – he’s better than that at this point and – in my opinion – should be getting outings for us in the Europa League and League Cup.
Lesniak 6 – a neat and a tidy performance, as is the standard from the Slovakian midfielder. I am unclear on his situation – first he was rumoured to have left Spurs, then he started appearing again… and now apparently a Championship club has shown interest in him, although I have no idea if that would be a loan or permanent move.
Sonupe 5 – struggled to have an impact for large periods against a very physical side.
Azzaoui 7 – a prominent figure in most of our attacks, and caused problems for the Stevenage defence with his movement and close control.
Oduwa 8 – was looking a real threat until his afternoon was ended by a crunching challenge. Did so well for the opening goal.
Harrison 5 – came to life just before the end with a great shot, and then did well to win and score the penalty, although he struggled a fair amount against big, strong centre-backs. He had a couple of sloppy touches when receiving the ball with his back to goal, and was easily beaten in the air by the Stevenage defenders, who were so much taller than him. This game will have been a really useful one for him – a bit of an eye-opener.

Goddard 6 – some nice footwork as ever, but his end product was lacking at times.
Amos – very effective cameo in a slightly more advanced position than usual.
McEvoy – ran around a bit.
Walkes – didn’t have enough time to make an impact.