Harry Voss (17)
Kane Vincent-Young (17) Cameron Carter-Vickers (16) Connor Ogilvie (18) Joe Pritchard (17)
Harry Winks (c) (18) Filip Lesniak (17) Will Miller (17)
Emmanuel Sonupe (17) Daniel Akindayini (18) Nathan Oduwa (17)

Subs:
Anthony Georgiou (16) for Emmanuel Sonupe, 71.
Lloyd Ross (17) for Will Miller, 75.
Anton Walkes (17) Harry Winks, 75.

Unused sub:
Liam Priestley (18)

Spurs were not far off full-strength for this match against the team second from bottom in the South group of the Barclays Under-18 Premier League. We were missing Joshua Onomah, Kyle Walker-Peters, Luke McGee and Christian Maghoma from the first choice XI. Lesniak played as the deepest midfield player, with Winks and Miller given more license to push forward – much like the formation that the first team played against Newcastle.

Leicester lined up in a 4-2-3-1, with the very tall Elliott Moore in the middle of midfield, and wingers Kyle Bailey and Andre Olukanmi supporting lanky forward, Simone Stankevicius. Danny Rowe, who scored the opener in the reverse fixture, schemed behind the striker.

The conditions for this match were exceptionally difficult – the wind was strong throughout, with occasional bursts of driving rain. The pitch was in good condition considering the amount of rainfall, and remained as such for the whole game.

The match started in what might have been a frenetic fashion, were it not for the regular whistle blows from the referee. Both teams were keen to establish themselves, but it was stop-start from the off due to some overzealous officiating.

John McDermott shouted ‘higher’ from the stands early on, presumably urging his defence to push forward and for the midfield to follow suit by pressing further up the pitch – a key tactic implemented by Spurs at this level.

The first action of note saw Ogilvie carry the ball forward and find Winks with a crisp pass. He played first time to Miller, but Akindayini got in Miller’s way and the momentum was lost.

Both teams were guilty of giving the ball away in the opening few minutes as they sized one another up. Spurs did manage to finally get the ball out wide to Sonupe in space, but his cross was over hit and cleared. The first shot of the game came from Harry Winks, but it was a somewhat tame effort from the edge of the box.

The referee spoke to Moore after a poor challenge on Lesniak in the middle of midfield. Leicester launched an attack down their left, but Carter-Vickers read the danger and beat Olukanmi to the ball. Not only that, but the strong centre-back held the winger off with ease, and played out from the back – immediately making himself available to receive the ball back in space. A little cameo showing what Carter-Vickers is all about.

Winks played a lovely ball into Sonupe but left-back Ben Chilwell did excellently and Sonupe couldn’t get round him. It was notable though, that Spurs’ high energy pressing – led by Akindayini from the front – was forcing Leicester to rush their passing and surrender possession.

An Ogilvie clearance was blocked and looped up – it seemed to land perfectly into the path of Bailey, but his touch was heavy and the chance was lost. Then Elliott Moore was late on Lesniak again, and the referee showed him a yellow card this time.

Nathan Oduwa ghosted past Dylan Casey at right-back, before cutting a cross back to Akindayini; he was unable to turn on it in a crowded area, though, and after he passed back out the opportunity was gone.

Oduwa picked the ball up on the left again, and this time ran across the edge of the box. He back-heeled perfectly into the path of Winks, whose sweetly struck effort was blocked by a defender.

Some good link-up between Kane Vincent-Young and Emmanuel Sonupe saw Sonupe win a corner which Winks took. Ogilvie came off his man at the near post and met the kick with a right-footed effort which the goalkeeper saved relatively comfortably on the line.

Akindayini managed to bring a ball down, turn, and get down the right, but his drilled cut-back wasn’t quite precise enough and was hacked clear.

Having struggled to make inroads at all, Leicester hit the woodwork twice in quick succession. First, Bailey ran clear on the counter and picked out a perfect cross which Stankevicius cushioned first time onto the post. Then, a free-kick form Chilwell was caught by the wind and changed direction almost at a right angle. Voss was back-pedalling but fortunately the ball came back off the bar.

The referee failed to show a yellow card for Sonupe when he ran the ball out for a throw and showed his frustration by booting it back towards his own goal.

A weak Voss kick caused us problems, but Lesniak dropped into centre-back and nicked the ball, shepherding it away from danger and playing out from the back.

Miller then got Sonupe in down the right but he couldn’t beat Moore, who tracked back responsibly and showed good strength.

Vincent-Young was penalised for a foul throw, which the referee followed up by offering advice on how to throw the ball.

Sonupe won another corner (taken by Winks) which Ogilvie attacked again at the near post; this time his header was just over the angle.

At the other end, Carter-Vickers’ excellent positioning resulted in a vital interception after an industrious run from Rowe.

Winks showed quick feet to beat a man in deep midfield which drew some cheers, before Sonupe nutmegged Chilwell on the right.

Spurs took the lead on 40 minutes after Oduwa and Sonupe had switched wings. Sonupe had struggled to beat Chilwell, and Oduwa was quite lucky to do so too – initially it seemed like Chilwell had done well to stop his mazy run, but the ball squirmed past the defender and the ever-tricky Oduwa did really well to pick out Akindayini to slot home.

There was a little more action before half-time – first, Oduwa took on three men on the right and won a corner. This time Ogilvie made a dart to the back-post, with Carter-Vickers coming to the near, but he fouled his man as Winks’ kick came in. Then, at the other end, Voss palmed a Leicester corner away before Carter-Vickers blocked a firmly struck shot from Bailey and then also cleared the resultant corner kick.

The second half started well for Spurs. Inside a minute, Bailey sold midfielder Matt Miles short with a pass – Oduwa nipped in and charged forward. He waited until the perfect moment before finding Akindayini who had the simple task of tapping home for 2-0.

Spurs slowed the game down a bit and took control, playing some nice football. Winks found Sonupe, who flicked on first time for Vincent-Young. His persistence got him into a crossing position, but his cross-cum-shot flew wide – it was always moving away from goal.

Stankevicius was put through on the hour, but his shot went well over the bar and, shortly afterwards, Ogilvie made a solid block from Rowe’s effort. The ball looped up, and Voss fumbled it, but Spurs managed to clear the loose ball.

Miller had a fairly quiet first half, but was far more lively in the second. He was playing some nice pass and move football, and a move that he instigated resulted in his own shot being dragged just wide from the edge of the box. Miller then played a delightful pass in behind for Sonupe but Akindayini mis-controlled his cut back and a defender came across and saw him off.

Akindayini had the first of four opportunities to complete his hat-trick when Miller – at the heart of everything now – slipped him in, but he weakly hit his shot straight at the goalkeeper, Sharpe.

Winks was booked for a foul on halfway, before Leicester City brought on Chris Dusabe for Stankevicius.

Ogilvie’s shot after a fine run caught the wind and gave Sharpe a few issues, before Spurs made their own change – with Georgiou coming on for Sonupe, and Oduwa switching over to the left.

Miller couldn’t quite angle Oduwa’s cross goalwards, before both he and Winks came off to be replaced by Anton Walkes and Lloyd Ross.

Spurs sealed the win when Georgiou slid a pass into the advancing Ogilvie, he cut back onto his weaker right foot, and found the bottom corner with a neat finish.

Ogilvie launched yet another charge forward from the back, and was fouled outside the box. Oduwa stepped up, but the wind caught his effort and it zipped over the angle.

Leicester won a soft penalty when Vincent-Young pulled Olukanmi back right on the edge of the box, but Voss went the right way, and his strong hand saved the spot kick. Spurs immediately countered and Lloyd Ross picked out Akindayini, only for the striker to hit the post.

Georgiou and Akindayini linked up well, but Georgiou’s right-footed effort was straight at the goalkeeper.

Another fine pass from Lloyd Ross found Akindayini again but, as he looked to seal his hat-trick, he scuffed his shot horribly wide.

The match ball clearly wasn’t meant to go home with him today – when the goalkeeper kicked the ball weakly straight to him, he seemed sure to finally grab a third. However, his second touch saw the ball bounce up off his knee, and straight back to the grateful Sharpe.

Harry Voss 7 – a cracking penalty save and a couple of pro-active punches from corners were positives; his kicking was the negative.
Kane Vincent-Young 6 – let himself down by giving away a penalty on a day when he was otherwise pretty solid.
Cameron Carter-Vickers 8 – every time I watch this colossus of a player, I’m more and more excited. Not only does he swat strikers off the ball with ease, but he constantly pushes up into midfield to get involved. So impressive.
Connor Ogilvie 9 – the biggest compliment I can give to Ogilvie is that I don’t think this level is appropriate for him anymore. He is dominant defensively, but his *constant* charges forward mean that he’s a genuine attacking weapon too – from left or centre back. Took his goal well to boot, hence I make him my man of the match.
Joe Pritchard 5 – was ‘filling in’ at left back, it’s clearly not a position he’s too comfortable in.
Harry Winks 7 – buzzed around with intent, particularly in the first half. Plays mostly one and two touch football, and has a real maturity to his game. His set pieces were good today.
Filip Lesniak 7 – gave the ball away so seldom that I actually noted the one time I noticed him doing so, early in the second half. I like the way that he takes responsibility and drops into the back line when one of the centre-backs goes forward (as they do frequently)
Will Miller 7 – had a fairly quiet first half, but in the second half he was top class, very creative.
Emmanuel Sonupe 6 – not his best game, mostly due to being up against a decent full-back in Chilwell and not having his partner in crime, Walker-Peters, behind him.
Daniel Akindayini 7 – scored two, missed another four. Worked hard, but does lack quality with his back to goal.
Nathan Oduwa 7 – two assists and could have had more. Like Ogilvie, he now needs Under-21 football or a loan to test him, as this level can sometimes look too easy for him.

Anthony Georgiou – got the assist for Ogilvie’s goal and was a good outlet with his pace.
Lloyd Ross – played some very intelligent passes.
Anton Walkes – lots of positive runs forward without the ball, but lacked a bit of patience in possession.

This week Will Miller, Nathan Oduwa, Emmanuel Sonupe and Harry Winks will be linking up with the England Under-18s, while Josh Onomah is in the Under-17 squad. I’m very surprised that the superb Connor Ogilvie is not in the squad, as well as right-back Kyle Walker-Peters.

As a slight aside, it was announced in the week that the Under-21 league will be restructured, and made into an Under-23 league.  This decision has been made in order to bridge the gap between Academies and first teams, and is a positive move in my opinion.

For me, too many clubs don’t take the Under-21 league too seriously – arguably ourselves included (particularly this year). These changes should result in more experienced professionals being involved, and a higher quality of football being played.

One of the problems I have with the Under-21 league is that there aren’t regular enough matches – players are often looking to impress to get loan moves, but don’t get the opportunities to show what they can do. This is because matches get postponed frequently (often due to poor quality pitches) ending in lots of fixtures played in quick succession once loan windows have closed. Moving the matches to better stadia can only help with this.

The updated squad for the Europa League round of 32 had to be submitted by 3 February (24:00 CET). Clubs were able to register a maximum of three new eligible players for the remaining matches.

If the registration of new players causes the number of players on List A to exceed 25, the club must remove the necessary number of currently registered players to reduce the squad to 25 players again. Given that we have since sold Simon Dawkins and loaned out Lewis Holtby, this would not be a problem.

List A

For the Europa League, no club may have more than 25 players on List A during the season, two of whom must be goalkeepers. As a minimum, eight places are reserved exclusively for ‘locally trained players’ and no club may have more than four ‘association-trained players’ listed on these eight places on List A.

A ‘locally trained player’ is either a ‘club-trained player’ or an ‘association-trained player’.

A ‘club-trained player’ is a player who, between the age of 15 (or the start of the season during which he turns 15) and 21 (or the end of the season during which he turns 21), and irrespective of his nationality and age, has been registered with his current club for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or of 36 months.

An ‘association-trained player’ is a player who, between the age of 15 (or the start of the season during which the player turns 15) and 21 (or the end of the season during which the player turns 21), and irrespective of his nationality and age, has been registered with a club or with other clubs affiliated to the same association as that of his current club for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or of 36 months.

List B

Each club is entitled to register an unlimited number of players on List B during the season. The list must be submitted by no later than 24:00 CET on the day before the match in question.

A player may be registered on List B if he is born on or after 1 January 1992 and has been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday by the time he is registered with UEFA.

What this means for us

The squad list – updated today on the Europa League website – is strangely put together. It still includes Dawkins, Holtby and Ryan Fredericks, whilst the only player that Spurs have added to the List A registration is Miloš Veljković.

Spurs will only be able to name 24 players in List A, as we do not have four ‘club trained’ players.

I gather than Nabil Bentaleb may now qualify for List B registration, as when the round of 32 starts, he will have been at the club for two years (although I am not 100% sure on this).

Long’s goal – Shane Long deceives Jan Vertonghen in the air, and then dashes past him to get on the end of a pass from Nikica Jelavic (or an attempted clearance from Danny Rose!), and beats Hugo Lloris.

A long kick from goalkeeper, Steve Harper, is attacked by Jan Vertonghen and Shane Long. In committing himself to this, Vertonghen has pushed rather a long way up the pitch.

Long seems to outmanoeuvre Vertonghen, lets the ball bounce, and is on his toes quickly.

Danny Rose and Nikica Jelavic compete for the awkwardly bouncing ball, and it appears that it’s actually Rose who inadvertently hooks the ball on. Note Dawson, having pushed up to cover for Vertonghen’s charge forward. Kyle Walker has not clocked the danger, and is caught on his heels.

The accidental through-ball confuses everyone, and Long continues his run to burst through the centre of our defence. Walker’s delay in covering round means that he’s now got no chance of making it to the ball first.

Long shows enough pace to get ahead of Walker and Vertonghen…

…and lifts the ball over Lloris.

This was a very patchy performance from Spurs, where our passing was often sub-standard amidst lots of pressure from a highly motivated Hull side. Our central defenders in particular showed a lack of patience, and ended up with very low pass completion rates (Dawson 63%, Vertonghen 77%).

The first half was particularly disappointing although Spurs improved significantly after the break. However, despite dominating possession, we didn’t trouble Hull’s defence enough, especially after getting our slightly fortuitous equaliser.

Personally I felt that David Meyler should have seen red in the second – his first challenge on Bentaleb was a borderline red card in itself, but his second foul on the same player should certainly have seen him shown his second yellow rather than his first.

Sherwood’s reluctance to use his substitutes was a real frustration. Aaron Lennon was largely woeful, often failing to show for the ball or get upfield to support his teammates, yet he was left on the pitch for the whole 90 minutes. Likewise, Soldado had a very disappointing match but was not replaced.

A draw away at Hull – who beat Liverpool, and have only conceded 9 goals at home (the same number that Chelsea have conceded at Stamford Bridge) – is not the end of the world. But it did feel like the match was in our hands after we equalised, and Sherwood’s lack of action from the bench has left many questioning his ability to change a game.

Bony’s goal – A long ball is half-cleared by Dawson, half-cleared by Rose, and half-cleared by Bentaleb, before Davies starts a positive run into the box. He attempts to play a one-two with Bony, which Chiriches heads wide to Lamah. The winger miscues his cross perfectly into the path of Bony, who adjusts his body and steers the ball into the corner of the net.

I’m starting this quite late into the move as otherwise this will be an overly long and complex analysis, but just prior to this still, Dawson has half-cleared a long ball. Rose gets his chest to the loose ball, and tries to cushion it down for Bentaleb.

It’s a risky piece of play from Rose – primarily because he has a better view of the pitch than Bentaleb. Bentaleb really needs to just swing a right-foot at this to clear first time. Instead, he tries to poke it to Walker with his left foot, and Lamah gets something on it to stop it finding its target.

The loose ball wouldn’t be an issue, except that Lennon has totally failed to track his man, Davies, who follows up and pushes forward with intent. Bony drops off Dawson to show for the ball, and they attempt a give-and-go.

Chiriches does pretty well to clear Bony’s lobbed pass but Walker has had to follow Lennon’s man, leaving Lamah unmarked, as Lennon is stood still.

In making the clearance, Chiriches knocks Davies to the ground.

As the ball drops kindly for Lamah, Chiriches has to awkwardly step around Davies. Lamah’s miscued cross would probably have been cleared by Chiriches were it not for Davies being in his path.

Instead, it goes through to Bony – but what follows is a pretty special finish. He has to quickly and awkwardly adjust his body shape…

…but he beautifully guides it into the corner, giving Lloris no chance.