Harry Winks Discusses What He Has Learned As a Part of Spurs’ First-team
Harry Winks is not an active player for Tottenham Hotspur’s first-team in the Premier League as all clubs can only carry a 25-man squad. That being said, the 19-year-old is still able to train with Spurs’ first-team, has played in the Europa League, plays in the Under-21 Premier League and is a regular on the bench this season.
Although Harry Winks has yet to make his first Premier League start in his Tottenham career, the 19-year-old is still considered a big part of Spurs’ first team to train with them and become a mainstay on the substitutes’ bench during Premier League and Europa League games this season.
This is a good indication that shows Mauricio Pochettino rates the English central midfielder highly, despite only one appearance with the senior team against Qarabağ FK on September 17, 2015.
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While getting first-team football is always needed for a youth player’s continued development, perhaps Pochettino felt that training with Spurs’ first-team and watching games from Tottenham’s bench will help Harry Winks out both physically and mentally. Rather than loaning a very talented player to join, Mark Warburton and Rangers in the Scottish Championship for an entire season.
Of course, looking back on it now, a loan option for Harry Winks to Rangers — where Tottenham youth prospects Dominic Ball and Nathan Oduwa are currently first-team players — could have been a good option. Even for only half-a-season.
But so far, the 19-year-old midfielder is enjoying his time right now. Here’s Winks talking with Spurs TV about his season thus far, training with the first-team and what he hopes happens tomorrow in the Europa League against AS Monaco:
"“You’ve got to be mentally a lot stronger [in first-team training], physically a lot stronger, and the game is a lot quicker. It’s more difficult, if you make a mistake you get punished for it, but it is what you want [as a young player]. I just want to play as much football as I can, so fingers crossed for Thursday that I can get some minutes [versus Monaco].”"
With Tottenham already into the Round of 32 in the Europa League, it’s likely that Pochettino will rotate the squad to rest starters and incorporate more youth players into his starting eleven. Giving Harry Winks a start in Europe’s secondary elite club competition would fit along the lines for the 19-year-old Englishman as he’s made his two only appearances in the Europa League two years in a row.
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Whether or not Winks will get a start, if he does it will benefit Mauricio Pochettino to find a player who can help maintain possession and create chances, while also making runs in the attacking third. This is what Harry Winks said about himself and who he tends to model his game after:
"“I like to model my game on players like Xavi, who like the keep the ball with a high volume of passes and pass completion,” he said. “Goals and assists are obviously a key part for a midfielder, but if I had to describe myself I’m just generally a tidy, technical midfielder that likes to keep the ball and create chances.“Zinedine Zidane is the ultimate one that you model your game on because he was just an unbelievable midfielder, but there are loads of players – Steven Gerrard, even Paul Gascoigne. I wasn’t old enough to see him but from clips I’ve seen he was an fantastic player.”"
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A Tottenham player through and through since he was six-years-old, Harry Winks could become the next youth academy graduate to stake a claim in the first-team. To become one of the future stars for Spurs, for years to come in a very youth-centric team (academy graduates and young players signed) led by Mauricio Pochettino.