THBN Comment: The Townsend U-21 debate

THBN Comment: The Townsend U-21 debate

A title of an article has to grab my attention before I am willing to wade through auto=play videos, pop-in ads from the side, another in the bottom corner and or one that covers the page. One such article was a piece on Townsend by someone on Vital Spurs.

Usually, I leave a site when I encounter so much trouble to get to an article as I can read the same thing elsewhere without intrusive adverts. I'm not against sites making money and I too have adverts on my site, however, these you can click on to earn me money if you choose or simply ignore them. Naturally I earn from my own football shop Football-Shop.net but again this is not advertising that takes over the page.

The article that caught my attention was Exit Door or Good Management. For me thought has gone into the article, it isn't simply regurgitated news.

The author is right to say that most have simply assumed that means he is leaving, myself I think if he wants to change his mentality it is never too late. How he responds to being asked to play for the Under-21 side is important. The assumption that it might be a continuing of punishment has no substance given that Pochettino has already said he has apologized and the matter is over. Holding a grudge as a coach is unworkable, there is always someone upset.

With players before him, Emmanuel Adebayor and Younes Kaboul for instance, the club had decided they was it, they had to be forced out of the club so it was a different scenario. If the club feels Townsend has to be forced out you could understand it, but I'm not so sure he does. Previously he has said he doesn't want to sit on a bench and to make the European Championships in France next summer he needs to be playing each week again. The incentive for him to leave is there.

Does he play against Monaco in the last UEFA Europa League group game where we need a point to top the group and have an advantage in the next round. Group winners get seeded with the four best third-placed losers from the UEFA Champions league group stages, a reward for failure to give them more lucrative European football. The Europa League may not have much importance in England, but it does around Europe.

We can't simply send any old team out, although you would expect any team we do send out being capable of achieving the point we need. We don't need to be making things harder than they have to be. I would want to know how Townsend reacts to an Under-21 game before he was considered. If he sees it as a positive, a preparation almost for potentially playing against Monaco then I would pick him, if not I wouldn't. Pochettino will find that out in training.

Further Tottenham Reading
Dembele type not a January signing - striker turned midfielder looks more of a summer signing
Spurs still scouting Werner - German has rediscovered his form thanks in part to a change in attitude
Stats suggest Spurs will finish above Chelsea - Chelsea will not make the top 4
Shots leading the league - a look at shooting, Spurs are the most accurate team in the league and Harry Kane the most accurate striker
Lloris: A punching analysis - link to an excellent article that reveals Lloris punches more than any other keeper in the top 5 European leagues

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