Mauricio Pochettino Praises Tottenham’s Academy Players Following Australia Trip
Two losses during this pre-season tour don’t tell the whole story as Tottenham managed to play very well against two top European teams with a squad mostly comprised of academy graduates.
After recently wrapping up their pre-season tour in Australia for the International Champions Cup, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino had nothing but glowing words for his squad despite suffering two narrow defeats against European heavyweights Juventus of Serie A and Atlético Madrid of La Liga.
Related Story: Pochettino Praises Tottenham Players After Juventus Loss
“I think it was a good opportunity to give minutes to players,” Pochettino told the media at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (via ESPN FC).
“A lot of young players played. I think it was fantastic to see them play against class teams and it was good to take positives for the future.”
“I think a lot of positive things. We need to be optimistic, and come back to London and start to prepare for the season.”
With one more pre-season friendly left on August 5th in Norway against Inter Milan, Mauricio Pochettino will most likely have the rest of his squad back by then.
Following the game against Internazionale will be the Premier League season opener against Everton on August 13th. Tottenham will be expected to challenge for the league title once again while also finishing in the top-four for a second consecutive year.
Helping them along the way will be these two big match-ups against Juventus and Atlético Madrid, two of Europe’s top teams in their respective leagues.
And although it’s just a pre-season friendly with both teams not necessarily playing 100 percent, to limit any major injuries, Tottenham’s B squad (mostly comprised of academy graduates) held their own just fine.
“It was a very good test for us because Juventus I think is the best team in Italy and Atlético Madrid play in the last three years, two Champions League finals, and today it was eight payers from the starting XI against Real Madrid,” Mauricio Pochettino continued.
“To see Anton [Walkes] and Cameron [Carter-Vickers] against Fernando Torres, [Diego] Godín, and a world-class player like Tiago [Mendes], I think it was fantastic, very positive.”
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“I think we need to take that and improve. I think we finished the game with nine players that came through our academy. I feel very proud of that. I think Tottenham have a great future but we need time.”
To have nine players coming through the youth academy and display their talents against world-class players from Juventus and Atléti, the future is very bright like Pochettino just said.
It shows that Spurs have another exciting class ready to make an impact on this team. A few players are closing in on a first-team call-up like Marcus Edwards and Cameron Carter-Vickers. Anton Walkes too.
There still needs to be some more signings which the Argentine manager eluded to yesterday but if he’s content with his current squad (when everyone will return) despite needing more attacking reinforcements, he won’t be opposed to promoting his youth players.
It’s a risky proposition with a lot being on the line this upcoming season, but Harry Kane has proved that academy graduates can step up. Even if he was the only one to truly make an impact.
Last but not least, Vincent Janssen who has been handling striker duties along with Shayon Harrison has looked good even without scoring during this pre-season tour.
The goals will eventually come. Hoping to see the Dutchman score right away is asking quite a lot. Especially after he came from a different league and system and is still adapting.
“He [Janssen] worked very hard and had some chances,” Pochettino said. “He is still adapting his game. He came from a different league and played in a different way. I am very happy with him. All strikers want to score but he needs time.”
Next: Atlético Madrid 1-0 Tottenham
There won’t be any problems if Tottenham’s strikers start slow again this year because everyone has seen this before. Eventually both of them — Kane and Janssen — erupted for 20-plus goals last season on their way to winning a Golden Boot in their respective leagues.
That doesn’t mean they’ll repeat that feat so easily, but they’ll surely get their opportunities to score quite a few goals this year.