Tottenham Hotspur Midfielder, Josh Onomah, Fulfills Life-long Dream
An excited 18-year-old Josh Onomah was given an opportunity to play for Tottenham’s first team. It also happened to be his Premier League debut against Aston Villa on November 2, 2015.
With a narrow 2-1 lead hanging in the balance, Mauricio Pochettino felt that this would be the perfect time to give one of his youth academy products some minutes to showcase what he has to offer in a tense situation. None bigger than trying to help seal a close victory over Aston Villa, the last placed team in the Premier League this season, who were one goal away from equalizing and stealing two points from Tottenham.
Speaking to Tottenham’s official site, the English midfielder had glowing words for his manager and what this moment meant to him.
“I’m absolutely delighted that the Head Coach trusted me to come on at 2-1 when the game could have gone either way. In that situation you have to be ready, so I’m buzzing that I got a chance and I thank the gaffer for giving me that. It’s a dream come true to make my first Premier League appearance and hopefully it’s the first of many.”
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Sure, Josh Onomah’s minutes were very few — five minutes to be exact, stoppage time included — but Onomah performed well in the small amount of time that he had to work with after being a very late second half substitute for Dele Alli in the 89th minute.
Analyzing Josh Onomah’s game via FourFourTwo’s Stats Zone, Onomah completed two forward passess, one failed cross, one successful take-on and one saved shot that was mishit from about 20-25 yards out. All of that happened in five minutes and that’s pretty good for someone who came into the game late and was tasked with continuing Tottenham’s momentum to get a third goal.
For a player who has worked his way up the ranks from Tottenham’s youth academy, but didn’t go out on loan and instead remained with Tottenham’s Under-21 team, Josh Onomah becomes the only academy graduate to get his first Premier League appearance in Mauricio Pochettino’s first team who is under the age of 20.
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Harry Winks who is 19-years-old has yet to make an appearance in the Premier League. Everyone else who has come out of Spurs’ academy has already made their first Premier League appearance under a previous manager or they are over the age of 20-years-old
This little bit of information is a very big deal, considering the age of Onomah and the position he plays which is at central attacking midfield.
So far, Josh Onomah could help expand on the blueprint that Dele Alli has set this season. Other youth prospects under the age of 20 could look up to Dele Alli and now Josh Onomah to make an appearance in the Premier League.
Alli right now is the benchmark for other youth players coming through the ranks from Spurs’ academy or as a new signing to make an impact as a substitute before forcing their way to become starters in the future. Cameron Carter-Vickers is one such player who could follow Alli and Onomah’s path very soon at the center-back position.
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If Josh Onomah is able to continue impressing in training and when he gets more chances to play, the attacking midfield position will become a very competitive spot for three players: Mousa Dembele, Heung-Min Son and Josh Onomah — assuming that Christian Eriksen is going to play as a left midfielder this season.