Marcus Edwards isn't ready to start against Millwall


FA CUP TOO IMPORTANT TO START MARCUS EDWARDS


Having asked in the Millwall FA Cup tie is the last chance for Vincent Janssen to get enough game time to impress Mauricio Pochettino in action than I see a website asking the same question about Marcus Edwards. Why?

Let's be clear, Marcus Edwards is currently nowhere near first team standard. He is only 18-years-old and not 19 until December, so he is a young 18. At development level he can perform but at senior level, as we have seen before, he is just brushed off the ball easily.

Certainly there is no way he should be starting a game. Written into his contract may well be a clause stating he has to play a set number of minutes in the first team or that he has to make a first team start each season. If it is the latter then yes he has to start, but only for contractual reasons, otherwise we need to be 3-0 up before we throw him on.

His contract runs until 2018 and we'll be looking to offer him an extension to that in the summer after a season of injury frustration for him, primarily a Malleolar injury that kept him out for 108 days from 15 October until 31 January. He has then had to recover full fitness. Since then he has played only one game, a Premier League 2 fixture against Liverpool in which he played 59 minutes and scored. He hasn't been in the squad for the next two games.

The FA Cup is a very important competition for us now, it is a chance of silverware and this season both players and manager have started talking about the importance of wining the first trophy now with this group of players.

If it were written into his contract that he must start a game then that would have happened against Gillingham in the first game we played in the League Cup. The fact that he didn't start that suggests that clause is non-existent in which case it is a clause that says he must make at least one appearance in the first team, which he has already done.

This may well be his last chance for a place on the bench, unless the season goes pear shaped and we have game left with nothing to play for or we secure second place in the Premier League with games to spare.

He might be a talent in the making but he needs more time, frustrating as it must be.

Further THBN Reading
Which side should face Millwall?
There must be better value players than Wilfried Zaha
Big changes to our scouting set up
Pochettino following one for the future
Spurs have options next season
Will Millwall be Janssens last chance?
4 points ahead of Liverpool 6 ahead of Arsenal
Confirmation of our Portuguese Scouting Trip


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