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Josh Onomah

My thoughts on Onomh is that when he has played for our first team he hasn't looked out of place. That is a massive compliment to a player so young. Granted, he hasn't set the World alight and grabbed the game by the balls either, but that is only natural considering his age and a potential slight lack of confidence as he knows he is playing a few levels above what he is used to.

The loan move to Villa is perfect for him. Playing for a big club, in front of big crowds, with high expectation on the team. I see this as a final audition from Pochettino. Josh can go and show his talent and prove that he is worth a place in Pochettino's match day squad next season (or perhaps better still help villa get promoted and then stay another year on loan playing regular PL football for them)

As an aside here, I echo the comment above about work rate. A player that didn't meet Poch's demands here would not get in the match day squad. Onomah was trusted last year on many occasions when we were proftecting a one goal lead, that would not have happened had he been lazy.
Good post Finney.

I will point doubters to his performances as CM in the recent U20 World Cup. He excelled in that position and received many plaudits for his performances, as did KWP I might add. I too had my doubts about him as an AM but seeing him play so well in his natural position has dispelled those. The similarities in his playing style to Dembele are striking. If we need someone to step into this role when Dembele hangs up his boots then this guy looks perfect (or will be).
 
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He was regularly picked in the match day squad last season. I do not believe he would have been there if he was not working hard.

Okay, I think this back-and-forth is starting to lack nuance. Work rate on the pitch is a spectrum, not a binary thing. I think everyone would agree that Eriksen and Lamela's work rate off the ball is higher than Alli's - doesn't mean Alli isn't working hard enough to be in a Poch team.

And I think the point people were originally making was that it's one thing that Onomah didn't show much end product when playing out of position, but it would at least have been nice to see as much work rate off the ball as Janssen, Eriksen or Lamela for example.

Anyway the work rate thing is a bit of a moot point for me - based on Onomah's England U20 performances I think he has a lot of potential as a central midfielder, and if he gets lots of CM gametime at Villa I think it's a great move.
 
Okay, I think this back-and-forth is starting to lack nuance. Work rate on the pitch is a spectrum, not a binary thing. I think everyone would agree that Eriksen and Lamela's work rate off the ball is higher than Alli's - doesn't mean Alli isn't working hard enough to be in a Poch team.

And I think the point people were originally making was that it's one thing that Onomah didn't show much end product when playing out of position, but it would at least have been nice to see as much work rate off the ball as Janssen, Eriksen or Lamela for example.

Anyway the work rate thing is a bit of a moot point for me - based on Onomah's England U20 performances I think he has a lot of potential as a central midfielder, and if he gets lots of CM gametime at Villa I think it's a great move.

My problem is people going overboard in their criticism of a young player (I'm not referring to you here). I doubt anyone would claim that Onomah has shown anything but flickers of promise in a Spurs shirt but that is not a reason to constantly dig him out. As we have seen with countless other young players over the years, it can take a while to look comfortable in the first team. The coaching staff obviously see promise or he would not get selected in the match day squad or regularly get minutes late in games.
 
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This whole thing about his supposed lack of workrate has the ring of a lazy cliche being made to stick by those who have never watched him closely and dispassionately.

Why a cliche? I think a few people saw him and thought the same thing. I can't think of the exact games now, but I remember thinking at the time that he was letting players get away from him too easily and other people were saying the same thing. Maybe we all imagined it.

You can criticise a player without writing him off. He' been quite underwhelming, if he was a young player at another club I don't think any of us would notice him.

We all know examples of younger players who never looked that great who came good, so it's worth giving him time and hopefully the loan will give him the chance to shine.
 
Why a cliche? I think a few people saw him and thought the same thing. I can't think of the exact games now, but I remember thinking at the time that he was letting players get away from him too easily and other people were saying the same thing. Maybe we all imagined it.

You can criticise a player without writing him off. He' been quite underwhelming, if he was a young player at another club I don't think any of us would notice him.

We all know examples of younger players who never looked that great who came good, so it's worth giving him time and hopefully the loan will give him the chance to shine.[/QUOTE/]

Onomah has been gash for the first team playing out of position

Onomah playing in his right position for England was the best player in the World Cup

Why we play him wide ill never know but as a central midfield I've seen him dominate his age range
 
I caught about 15 minutes of the game. He looked good, definitely carried on in the same manner as the U20 world cup.
 
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