Fryers demonstrates the problem at Spurs
Zeki Fryers joined Crystal Palace as Tottenham sought to reduce their squad size towards the end of the summer transfer window. We had gone to some lengths to get him but he never really developed and was at the stage where he'd only develop playing football.
With a large squad size players like Fryers and Tom Carroll haven't had much of a chance to develop. It's the age old English problem, if you are young a top club can't afford to play you until you are the finished article and you can't be the finished article until you play regularly. It's why England have so few players to pick from and why high quality English footballers are a dying breed.
Chelsea realised that and started loaning out their youngsters abroad for a season or more. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is a prime example. He joined Chelsea in 2011 and has spent the time at Atletico Madrid where he won a La Liga title, the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Europa League, the Super Cup, finished runners-up in the UEFA Champions League and was selected by Belgium, for whom he now has over 20 caps. Then and only then has he returned to play his first game for Chelsea.
It is a tactic we at Spurs have to start copying if we want to develop youngsters and it should be something that Steffen Freund is working on.
Zeki Fryers decided he wasn't being picked in squads, the manager isn't telling him what's happening so if he wanted to play football he'd have to leave and that's exactly what he did, as he told the Croydon Advertiser.
Tom Carroll is in the same boat and unless he has an excellent season at Swansea his future at Tottenham looks bleak. The midfield area is a congested and competitive one.
We need players to be first team regulars standard at 22, not 24 or 25, by then it's too late. By the time a player is 32 he has lost his value and you are looking to offload him, if he didn't develop until 25 then you have only had 7 seasons out of him. It's common sense that if you can develop them at a younger age you should to get more years out of your investment in them.
We do a lot of good with youngsters and we are producing a lot of good ones but we are not finishing them, they need a finishing school and that means sending them abroad so they start playing first-team football at 18 and 19, learning from a different culture and a different style.
With a large squad size players like Fryers and Tom Carroll haven't had much of a chance to develop. It's the age old English problem, if you are young a top club can't afford to play you until you are the finished article and you can't be the finished article until you play regularly. It's why England have so few players to pick from and why high quality English footballers are a dying breed.
Chelsea realised that and started loaning out their youngsters abroad for a season or more. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is a prime example. He joined Chelsea in 2011 and has spent the time at Atletico Madrid where he won a La Liga title, the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Europa League, the Super Cup, finished runners-up in the UEFA Champions League and was selected by Belgium, for whom he now has over 20 caps. Then and only then has he returned to play his first game for Chelsea.
It is a tactic we at Spurs have to start copying if we want to develop youngsters and it should be something that Steffen Freund is working on.
Zeki Fryers decided he wasn't being picked in squads, the manager isn't telling him what's happening so if he wanted to play football he'd have to leave and that's exactly what he did, as he told the Croydon Advertiser.
“It felt good the gaffer Neil Warnock wanted me, I just wanted to get out and play some games so I am hoping to do that here.
“Spurs were a great club but the opportunities didn’t come as much as I’d like there. I felt it was time for me to elsewhere to show what I can do.
“I felt like I wasn’t going to be part of the setup at Tottenham. Mauricio Pochettino didn’t speak to me about the plans but I wasn’t involved in the first few games.
“I had a good pre-season but I felt it was my time to move on.”
We need players to be first team regulars standard at 22, not 24 or 25, by then it's too late. By the time a player is 32 he has lost his value and you are looking to offload him, if he didn't develop until 25 then you have only had 7 seasons out of him. It's common sense that if you can develop them at a younger age you should to get more years out of your investment in them.
We do a lot of good with youngsters and we are producing a lot of good ones but we are not finishing them, they need a finishing school and that means sending them abroad so they start playing first-team football at 18 and 19, learning from a different culture and a different style.
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