Tottenham: Pochettino Wants to Follow Barcelona Model
There’s a reason for Tottenham’s actions during transfer windows.
One intriguing reason, though not wholly unusually for Tottenham’s lack of movement in the transfer window could be because of a model that Mauricio Pochettino wants to follow.
And that would be what Barcelona has done since their La Masia academy was established. Construct a team that is mostly comprised of academy graduates.
Since Pochettino took over two years ago, his belief is that a youth movement which comprises of Spurs’ academy players will create the core of his team.
Then, to augment that, signing players who fits his philosophy, as well as the club’s, would be brought in.
When put together, Spurs should resemble last season’s squad: young but experienced at the most important positions. Tottenham’s spine is a good example, a blend of youth and veteran players mixed in.
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Speaking to the media, Pochettino eluded to what everyone is well aware of, Spurs can’t compete against the wealthier Premier League clubs yearly.
But what they can do, is find gems that teams overlook while also promoting from within.
This philosophy has worked thus far, so it’s not surprising that the Argentine manager will stick to it if it could offer the club a better return in the long-term.
“It’s very important for us to continue, only we need time,” Pochettino said (via ESPN FC).
“There are a lot of examples and the best one, we all agreed on, was Barcelona.”
“They have a lot of good players from the academy, who are among the best players in the world. It is a good example for us.”
“Maybe it is very different, as we have a different philosophy in the way that we work, and we create our own philosophy — that is very important.”
“But we continue to believe in our young talent.”
“As we bring young talent from the academy, we keep our identity.”
“Tottenham is different to another club and it is for that we need to continue to bring players from the academy.”
The current batch of academy graduates and youth players who were called up to Spurs’ Australian tour could very well see themselves as future first-team players in a few seasons.
It’s not a stretch to think they can’t make it in the Premier League.
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Getting experience against two European heavyweights even in a friendly will bode well for their development.
Someday, the likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Harry Winks and Marcus Edwards to name a few, could join previous academy graduates like Harry Kane, Danny Rose and Ryan Mason.
“Now we have good examples like Cameron [Carter-Vickers], Harry Winks, Marcus Edwards, Josh Onomah, Luke Amos, William Miller, Kazaiah Sterling…,” Pochettino said.
“Why not believe that one day they are all in the first team and maybe we will get big success with them?”
“This is our dream.”
“Always we need some experienced players that can help the young ones. That is important always.”
“We have great potential in the academy.”
“The club have unbelievable facilities and maybe in two years [will] be in the new stadium.”
“All we have ahead is great things and we are all excited for the future here.”
For Tottenham, their plan is to model themselves after Barcelona, and for the past two-and-a-half seasons they have done just that.
Promoting from within, signing players to help augment what they have. The future is bright for the North London club.
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The only thing that is left for Spurs is to regularly finish in the top-four to earn money from competing in the Champions League and in due time, winning some trophies along the way.
Having a rich owner will make this process much easier, but Tottenham have done well with the resources that they have, even if Daniel Levy is fickle with his money.