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Alex Pritchard

I like @parklane1's post at the top of this page, and I think that applies in part to Pritchard: however, with the glut of youth talents we have on our hands, perhaps the pressure on young Alex isn't as great as it was back when Livermore or Caulker were the stand-outs in what otherwise looked like a fairly dreary selection in terms of youngsters coming through. Essentially, at present Pritchard is only one of a large selection of promising youngsters coming through: that probably helps in terms of lowering expectations on the lad.

The bigger problem for him is finding a spot in this side: Lamela, Dembele and Eriksen have done very well in those attacking midfield spots, and Chadli, Son, N'Jie and Townsend are hovering behind them waiting to pick up the baton as soon as they falter (Son and Chadli were in the side at the start before injuries and form took their toll on them): in an environment like that, Pritchard or Onomah getting time is a prospect that looks fairly dim at present.
 
DubaiSpur said:
I like @parklane1's post at the top of this page, and I think that applies in part to Pritchard: however, with the glut of youth talents we have on our hands, perhaps the pressure on young Alex isn't as great as it was back when Livermore or Caulker were the stand-outs in what otherwise looked like a fairly dreary selection in terms of youngsters coming through. Essentially, at present Pritchard is only one of a large selection of promising youngsters coming through: that probably helps in terms of lowering expectations on the lad.

The bigger problem for him is finding a spot in this side: Lamela, Dembele and Eriksen have done very well in those attacking midfield spots, and Chadli, Son, N'Jie and Townsend are hovering behind them waiting to pick up the baton as soon as they falter (Son and Chadli were in the side at the start before injuries and form took their toll on them): in an environment like that, Pritchard or Onomah getting time is a prospect that looks fairly dim at present.
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That's why the decisions around certain young players need to be made soon.

Mentioned it in another thread, I could easily see us letting go Townsend & Carroll, keeping Pritchard & Winks, Onomah for me is a loan candidate.
 
Raziel said:
That's why the decisions around certain young players need to be made soon.

Mentioned it in another thread, I could easily see us letting go Townsend & Carroll, keeping Pritchard & Winks, Onomah for me is a loan candidate.
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I agree. I don't think we have a choice on Carroll: if I remember correctly his contract expires this coming summer, and he'll be free to talk to clubs in the January window. Townsend doesn't count as a young player for me (well, he is, but given the overall age of our squad I think he falls into the 'senior' category), but I can see him leaving in January, and I'd wager Onomah and Winks will both be sent out either in January or next summer if long-term injuries to our present bunch of starters and back-ups don't occur. Beyond them, we have another bunch of youth players that will need to start seeing time two-odd years from now (Carter-Vickers, Edwards, Sterling et al), so I hope we have a succession plan that factors in the need to give them all games over the next few seasons.
 
DubaiSpur said:
I like @parklane1's post at the top of this page, and I think that applies in part to Pritchard: however, with the glut of youth talents we have on our hands, perhaps the pressure on young Alex isn't as great as it was back when Livermore or Caulker were the stand-outs in what otherwise looked like a fairly dreary selection in terms of youngsters coming through. Essentially, at present Pritchard is only one of a large selection of promising youngsters coming through: that probably helps in terms of lowering expectations on the lad.

.
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Good point, but I still think some fans are quick to proclaim youngsters as future stars to quickly. The problem with doing so is that when/if they fail to live up to the hype they become targets for some fans.
 
parklane1 said:
Good point, but I still think some fans are quick to proclaim youngsters as future stars to quickly. The problem with doing so is that when/if they fail to live up to the hype they become targets for some fans.
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Very true, but that's hardly a phenomenon that only Spurs fans suffer from. Across the country, young English lads with a sprinkle of talent get that pressure heaped on them: because they're out of the ordinary in displaying a touch more skill/footballing intelligence/agility than most of the other players they play with and against on a youth level, they get tagged as brilliant and the next big star, even when (as most continental observers point out) the things they're celebrated for are largely commonplace in continental youth programs. Then, when they come up against those continental players at a senior level and (largely inevitably) look ordinary, we get hand-wringing and moaning about 'another flop' or the 'false promise' of another Golden Generation.
 
DubaiSpur said:
Very true, but that's hardly a phenomenon that only Spurs fans suffer from. Across the country, young English lads with a sprinkle of talent get that pressure heaped on them: because they're out of the ordinary in displaying a touch more skill/footballing intelligence/agility than most of the other players they play with and against on a youth level, they get tagged as brilliant and the next big star, even when (as most continental observers point out) the things they're celebrated for are largely commonplace in continental youth programs. Then, when they come up against those continental players at a senior level and (largely inevitably) look ordinary, we get hand-wringing and moaning about 'another flop' or the 'false promise' of another Golden Generation.
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Could not agree more.
 
DubaiSpur said:
Very true, but that's hardly a phenomenon that only Spurs fans suffer from. Across the country, young English lads with a sprinkle of talent get that pressure heaped on them: because they're out of the ordinary in displaying a touch more skill/footballing intelligence/agility than most of the other players they play with and against on a youth level, they get tagged as brilliant and the next big star, even when (as most continental observers point out) the things they're celebrated for are largely commonplace in continental youth programs. Then, when they come up against those continental players at a senior level and (largely inevitably) look ordinary, we get hand-wringing and moaning about 'another flop' or the 'false promise' of another Golden Generation.
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The other theory is (a few media pieces/podcasts touch on it), England is producing decent talent up to that 16-18 year old age, but there is no transition/preparation due to lack of a consistent/competitive u-21 and/or reserve league structure, so you end up with no way for a player to continue their development at the right place, plus the inevitable transition to top level profession is a very large/multi-level jump that too many players simply cannot adjust to (or will not get chance to).
 
Raziel said:
The other theory is (a few media pieces/podcasts touch on it), England is producing decent talent up to that 16-18 year old age, but there is no transition/preparation due to lack of a consistent/competitive u-21 and/or reserve league structure, so you end up with no way for a player to continue their development at the right place, plus the inevitable transition to top level profession is a very large/multi-level jump that too many players simply cannot adjust to (or will not get chance to).
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Could be, but to counter that I'd point out the horrendous youth policies of Italy when it comes to that crucial 18-21 age bracket: it's long been a pet peeve of Italian football that youth players coming through at club academies are almost never given the minutes they need, right across the spectrum of the Italian club game ( http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3276...balls-future-italy-lightyears-behind-in-youth ): clubs usually prefer to buy journeymen and farm young players out on co-ownership deals or loans involving those journeymen. Yet, I'd argue that the technical and tactical standards of Italian footballers are generally higher than those of their English counterparts, even accounting for the lack of development they get in the professional game in Italy.

I think England's youth coaching system is just inferior to the continental ones: simply put, we don't produce enough coaches, we don't emphasize technical standards and footballing intelligence enough, and we prioritise developing physical attributes over technical ones. Now, that's definitely changing (our own academy at Spurs is proof enough of that, and I love the emphasis we place on skill over physicality these days) across the country, and one of the biggest bug-bears of youth football in England, funding for the grass-roots game, is slowly being addressed to bring it up to speed alongside these other areas being improved: by themselves, these things will improve our youth output in the years to come, as will the new-found respect being shown to the England U-21, U-18 and U-17 sides. However...there's a time-lag we'll have to deal with before we see results across the board. And while that time-lag exists, we're going to keep seeing promising youth players be overhyped, rushed into England set-ups, shown up by continental players with equivalent skills and then written off as 'flops' or 'wasted talents'.
 
DubaiSpur said:
The bigger problem for him is finding a spot in this side: Lamela, Dembele and Eriksen have done very well in those attacking midfield spots, and Chadli, Son, N'Jie and Townsend are hovering behind them waiting to pick up the baton as soon as they falter (Son and Chadli were in the side at the start before injuries and form took their toll on them): in an environment like that, Pritchard or Onomah getting time is a prospect that looks fairly dim at present.
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I don't see why with regards to Pritchard, he's young but he's not some kid still learning the basics, he's arguably more proven than Njie(totally different players I know) so I would group those two together rather than with 18 year old Onomah. Townsend's time looks very close to being up so I wouldn't place him above Pritchard either, I think he will pleasantly surprise a lot of people when he's back fit and up to speed.
 
I see him occupying one of the two wider AM spots as right now those two players seem to be given a lot of freedom and work the inside channels, finding pockets of space. From all I have seen of Pritchard he would be well suited to this.
 
DubaiSpur said:
I agree. I don't think we have a choice on Carroll: if I remember correctly his contract expires this coming summer, and he'll be free to talk to clubs in the January window. Townsend doesn't count as a young player for me (well, he is, but given the overall age of our squad I think he falls into the 'senior' category), but I can see him leaving in January, and I'd wager Onomah and Winks will both be sent out either in January or next summer if long-term injuries to our present bunch of starters and back-ups don't occur. Beyond them, we have another bunch of youth players that will need to start seeing time two-odd years from now (Carter-Vickers, Edwards, Sterling et al), so I hope we have a succession plan that factors in the need to give them all games over the next few seasons.
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He is only free to talk to clubs outside of England and I don’t see a club outside of England offering him a salary comparable to what he would earn here.
 
Raziel said:
That's why the decisions around certain young players need to be made soon.

Mentioned it in another thread, I could easily see us letting go Townsend & Carroll, keeping Pritchard & Winks, Onomah for me is a loan candidate.
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Why that way around out of interest?
 
He's always been hyped up for me - we will see when if he gets run in the first team.
Not a player we can seriously comment on till he's had a run in the first team.
 
He's been hyped because, well, he absolutely tore up the Championship last season. Brentford got column inches for being a surprise package that did well through playing good football, and that glory was reflected on to Pritchard as one of their key players.

Without the injury, we may have been seeing Pritchard playing with Dier in the first XI, with Alli on the bench and getting Europa minutes. The lad must be gutted but, equally, if he's got any sense he'll recognise that he'll get his chance under Poche.
 
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