Tottenham have been a regular side among the top 5 clubs in English football in recent years, but their finances have meant that they have had to find another way to sustain their presence among teams who spend money at will.
Four years ago, Tottenham opened the gates to their new state of the art Hotspur way training ground and the focus was clear – they would develop their own talent rather than trying to compete in a transfer market where they were out-muscled financially. The development has been heralded as one of the finest training grounds in Europe and it allowed everybody to train in the same complex, from the youth teams to the first team. They wanted to remove barriers and show youth players that with hard work they can progress within the club.
However, that plan didn’t really come into fruition until Mauricio Pochettino took over the North London club. He had shown at Southampton and Espanyol before that, that he values youth. If you’re good enough you’re old enough. And rather than get the cheque book out, he looked at the club’s youth team for solutions.
The majority of newly capped England internationals since his arrival in English football have been developed by him. A great advertisement for giving young English players a chance if you’re willing to trust them.
For Tottenham, Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentaleb and Harry Kane have become first team regulars under Pochettino having come through the ranks, with the former two sold and loaned respectively, raising funds to invest elsewhere. Danny Rose, Kyle Walker, Eric Dier have become England regulars with his development, along with Kane.
There may be a few different reasons why Pochettino likes young players, but the main reason is clear. They are obedient, they follow instructions and they have boundless energy. He can train them into his vision of how a footballer should play. These are traits that are absolutely vital to Pochettino as he implements double training session to get the most out of his players physically. In short, he expects things of his younger players that more experienced players just will not do.
Tottenham are spending a reported 750million on their new stadium that will see them playing at Wembley next year whilst the build is completed. Obviously, this is not going to pay for itself and cash may be short in the mid-term.
So it is important for Tottenham that they continue to develop these players if they want to keep up with their big-money rivals. And it looks like they have the next batch of exciting youngsters ready to go.
Mauricio Pochettino is currently in the process of blooding youth team graduates with USA u23 international Cameron Carter-Vickers and England youth internationals Josh Onomah, Harry Winks and Marcus Edwards.
It is Marcus Edwards that could really be the proof that investing in youth should be a strategy that all clubs take. The tiny youngster may look like just a boy but he has an exceptional talent and is widely regarded as one of the most exciting prospects to develop on these shores for years.
The first thought of a lot of clubs is to look to the transfer market and spend 10s or 100s of million. But the solutions to many clubs’ problems may be a lot closer to home than they realize.