13/08/16 Tottenham Hotspur U18s 4-1 Southampton U18s, Hotspur Way

Brandon Austin (17)
TJ Eyoma (16) Jonathan Dinzeyi (16) Joy Mukena (17) Jaden Brown (17)
George Marsh (17) (c)
Sam Shashoua (17) Jack Roles (17) Tashan Oakley-Boothe (16) Keanan Bennetts (17)
Reo Griffiths (16)

Subs:
Phoenix Patterson (15) for Bennetts, 61.
Aramide Oteh (17) for Roles, 74.
Moroyin Omalabi (16) for Shashoua, 83.

Subs not used:
Nick Tsaroulla (17)
Alfie Whiteman (17)

Southampton Under-18s: Adam Parkes, Connor Langan, Aaron O’Driscoll (c), Harry Hamblin, Jake Vokins, Siph Mdlalose, Ben Rowthorn, Callum Slattery (Will Smallbone 54), Tyreke Johnson (Harlem Hale 75), Archie Thomas, Dan N’Lundulu.

Southampton official site report
Spurs official site report

Spurs formally announced their new intake of Academy players this week, with photos and biographies appearing for the following:

Jonathan Dinzeyi
Charles Freeman
Jamie Reynolds
Moroyin Omalabi
Timothy Joel (TJ) Eyoma
Tash Oakley-Boothe
Matthew Lock
Tariq Hinds
Reo Griffiths

The key name missing was Nya Kirby, who is still without a club having turned down a scholarship at Spurs. 16-year old Belgian goalkeeper Jonathan de Bie was not listed, amid rumours of his signing a three-year contract. It will be interesting to see where he fits in or whether the signing will be announced (much like the club took a long time to announce the signings of Miloš Veljković and Nabil Bentaleb).

Four of the first years started on Saturday morning as the team got off to a flier against a decent Southampton outfit.

David Pleat and Paul Mitchell were in attendance on an early afternoon which flitted between overcast and sunny. Keiran McKenna was seemingly not on the Spurs bench, but John McDermott was a big enough presence to make up for his absence.

Spurs lined up with Brandon Austin in goal, behind a back four of TJ Eyoma (normally a centre-back) at right-back, Jon Dinzeyi and Joy Mukena in the centre and Jaden Brown at left back. George Marsh seemed to be the dedicated midfield anchor, with Jack Roles and Tashan Oakley-Boothe ahead; Sam Shashoua and Keanan Bennetts started wide, and Reo Griffiths — prolific last year in the Under-16s — was up front.

Griffiths’ first impact came when he was clearly fouled when playing a cushioned first time pass into the path of Bennetts, who won a corner. This was a facet of the forward’s play throughout, preferring to try to play forward first time or to turn and run, rather than to hold the ball up and wait for support.

Brown advanced up the left and sent in a dangerous ball between defence and goalkeeper, but it trickled away for a goal kick.

Dinzeyi began his battle with the big Southampton forward, Dan N’Lundulu, when he was penalised for a foul — a decision which might have gone the other way had the referee spotted the holding. Tyreke Johnson’s free-kick was headed away by Joy Mukena.

Mukena’s slack pass into midfield put us under pressure, but he got back into position in the nick of time to make up for his error.

A lovely pass from Roles to Griffiths over the top tested his pace but, having got on the end of it, he tried to beat his man, rather than taking the safe option of laying it off to the supporting runners.

Sam Shashoua tricked his way past his man to launch a counter and was cynically fouled by Callum Slattery, who got a talking to from the referee.

Southampton were pressing high and putting our centre-backs under pressure, and it showed. Mukena gave the ball away again, this time chipping it to a Southampton player, as nerves started to show.

A nice one-touch passing move from Spurs led to Bennetts getting into a decent crossing position, but his effort was blocked.

Spurs took the lead when George Marsh played a high pass over the defence; Reo Griffiths latched onto it and was brought down, giving Shashoua the chance to score from the spot, which he didn’t pass up.

Roles showed good strength and determination to hold off three challenges in midfield to hang onto the ball, but soon after sent Mukena chasing after a poor pass which ran out for a throw.

Dinzeyi then gave the ball away and was rescued by his centre-back partner, Mukena, before Dinzeyi did aim a well-flighted long ball forward which Brown couldn’t quite get to.

It should have been 1-1, but N’Lundulu put a chance wide on the turn when in space.

Oakley-Boothe began to drop deep to collect the ball, as Southampton’s pressing began to take its toll. John McDermott wanted the players to move the ball more sharply, repeatedly shouting ‘quicker, quicker’ from the touchline.

Spurs made it 2-0 when Jack Roles’ low shot from the edge of the box was spilled by the Southampton goalkeeper, Adam Parkes. It was an unfortunate error, but reward for Roles’ willingness to test him.

Joy Mukena ventured forward to join the attack and played a wonderful slide-rule pass inside the full-back allowing Shashoua to strike a shot wide across the keeper from a tight angle on the right.

Eyoma made a great interception, latching onto a ball played to the Southampton left, but then gave the ball away sloppily.

Then Keanan Bennetts and George Marsh showed that they were switched on defensively to shepherd an attack into a safe area, with Bennetts seeing it out for a goal kick.

Austin was quick off his line to take the ball off the feet of South African winger, Siph Mdlalose, as he looked to latch on to a through ball.

A great one-two between Roles and Griffiths saw the latter nearly get onto the ball in the six-yard box, but it just evaded him, and then Bennetts crossed too close to the goalkeeper.

George Marsh showed his battling qualities by almost single-handededly forcing an attack out of the box follwing a corner, and then Dinzeyi made a terrific saving challenge after Mukena had been robbed in the box after dallying.

Griffiths held the ball up and won a throw on the right, which was an encouraging sign — he will need to do more of that.

Brown stopped Mdlalose in his tracks with an excellent challenge, and the corner from Johnson forced Austin to punch out for a throw-in.

Bennetts broke forward again for Spurs and found Oakley-Boothe, but he checked and tried an expansive pass to Brown, which he put too much on.

It amused me to hear a Southampton player shouting ‘let’s engage the ball’, which sounded like something he’d overheard from his coaches in training; amongst plenty of effing and blinding, it stood out!

Spurs took a 2-0 lead into half-time and deserved the lead.

Oakley-Boothe found Griffiths and he cut back for Shashoua, who couldn’t connect with a shot. It nearly ran for Eyoma, approaching at the far post, but a defender nipped in.

A clever pass from Griffiths put Oakley-Boothe clear, and he hit the by-line and returned the favour with a fantastic cross, but Griffiths got his feet in a mess and couldn’t put it away at the back post.

Shashoua won a free kick on the edge of the box with great footwork, and he took the kick himself. He shot low but his weak effort was saved.

Griffiths made it 3-0 when finishing a really classy team goal, which all started with some terrific play from George Marsh, and ended with Bennetts playing Griffiths in and the ball being slid beyond the keeper. Top stuff!

Three minutes later Southampton pulled a goal back when their impressive substitute William Smallbone found the bottom corner with a left-footed effort.

Griffiths had a chance to make it 4-1, but snatched at a shot with his left foot when a bit of composure might have seen him score.

15-year old substitute Phoenix Patterson nearly scored in the six-yard box, but needed to lift the ball and instead saw his effort saved low down.

Some great battling from Shashoua on the right saw him lose the ball when being fouled (which the referee didn’t spot), before showing strength and tenacity to win it back with a strong challenge. As he strode away with the ball he was fouled again, and this time the referee pulled back play and admonished the Southampton left-back, Jake Vokins, who told him to eff off!

Shashoua and Patterson linked well to set Griffiths free but it came to little.

Goalkeeper Brandon Austin was required to make a superb save, diving full stretch to his left to prevent a curling effort from Archie Thomas sneaking in at the back post.

Second-year forward, Aramide Oteh, came on for Roles, with Shashoua moving into the middle and Griffiths switching to the right.

Oakley-Boothe went to ground making a challenge to prevent a Southampton shooting opportunity, giving away a free-kick and earning himself a ticking off.

Just as midfield control seemed to have been won by Southampton, holding player Moroyin Omolabi replaced Shashoua to give the midfield some protection for the final few minutes.

Spurs had a wonderful attack on the right when Eyoma and Griffiths liked up effectively to see Grifiths drive into the box and beat his man, but his two crosses were cleared.

Spurs did make it 4-1, though, when Oakley-Boothe played a give-and-go with Griffiths before smashing into the roof of the net from a tight angle.

4-1 was a slightly flattering scoreline, and there were various points where Southampton could have got back into the match. It was an encouraging display, though, with some good individual performances. Some of the ratings below could easily have gone up or down a notch and this was just my perspective. For example, Eyoma was somewhere between a 7 and an 8 for me, Roles and Shashoua were somewhere between a 6 and a 7, with Marsh just a bit better than both overall. Griffiths got a goal and three assists, so you could definitely make a case for an 8, but his overall game was slightly inconsistent (though I do really like the look of him).

Brandon Austin 7 – was nice and alert when he needed to be and made one excellent diving safe. Will have his work cut out this time to get regular game time with Alfie Whiteman his competition.
TJ Eyoma 8 – a very encouraging performance, in which he defended well and also showed ability on the ball. There was one brilliant bit of play in particular which saw him protect the ball in midfield in an almost Dembele-like way.
Jon Dinzeyi 6 – had some nervous moments in possession but did make some very timely interventions.
Joy Mukena 5 – like his centre-back partner he looked edgy at times, and he ended up losing the ball in dangerous areas. Will need to improve on the ball as the season progresses.
Jaden Brown 6 – got up and down the line well, but needed a bit more quality in the final third.
George Marsh 7 – a typically busy, industrious performance. He really reminds me of Scott Parker.
Sam Shashoua 6 – a tidy showing but he did drift out at times. Shashoua is highly-rated, and has trained with the first team, so is one to keep an eye on.
Jack Roles 6 – there were times last season where he looked a little lightweight, but a really solid tackle in midfield showed his bravery and strength. I like the way he keeps it simple and also his ability to time a run into the box.
Tashan Oakley-Boothe 6 – not his best all-round game today, but the late goal showed what a big talent he is. I am very excited to see how he progresses this season.
Keanen Bennetts 5 – Some good early moments, but he drifted out of the match. I’m expecting more from him this season, as he has all of the physical attributes that he needs to be highly effective at this level.
Reo Griffiths 7 – an encouraging match in which he showed a real willingness to run and work for the team. The obvious area for improvement is his work with his back to goal, and this will come over time — he’s a converted winger, so it’s natural that that is not refined at this point. A goal and three assists!

Phoenix Patterson – fascinating to see him included on the bench, and I hope that this is the first of many appearances. See the video below for an insight into his ability.
Aramide Oteh – a bit of a battering ram of a forward, who could be useful in certain circumstances.
Moroyin Omalabi – my first look at him in the flesh, and he looked nice and composed.

Watch back the highlights from our recent Academy Showcase game at Portman Road, where Town's U15s took on Spurs.https://t.co/sfJ1RTx2Yi

— Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) April 6, 2016