Sherwood - Home Grown vs Foreign Players

On Sunday Englishman Danny Murphy, a former midfielder at Tottenham, said Spurs fans loved one of their own, a home grown player who has come through the ranks.

Sherwood - Home Grown vs Foreign Players


Last night Tim Sherwood said Spurs fans love a foreign player over one of their own, they prefer a Soldado over a Kane. He said that mentality had to change, the players who have longevity at a club bleed that club, Gerrard (Liverpool), Terry (Chelsea) and formerly Adams (Arsenal).

There is a little bit of truth in both remarks to be honest, yes we do like a player who has come through the Academy ranks but it seems to depend almost on their name and whether it gives off the right vibe.

Fans like Ryan Mason but a whole section hate World Cup player Nabil Bentaleb, almost certainly only because he was picked by Tim Sherwood over their favourite foreign player, fans love Carroll, yet he has done nothing to warrant it and are indifferent to Harry Kane who has scored 8 goals in 12 games this season.

If you took a straw poll more fans would like to see Soldado succeed then Harry Kane, why? Technically he's better, he is more pleasing on the eye, yet he doesn't score goals which is the bottom line all strikers are judged by.

Having seen the players in training every day Tim Sherwood sid that Harry Kane out trained Roberto Soldado every day and that Kane and Townsend were the two mentally strongest characters playing against Brighton last night.

Take the second goal, the Harry Kane goal, would Soldado have scored it?

Kane picked the ball up on the left wing where most players going away from goal near the touchline would have simply passed backwards to Ben Davies. Harry Kane however plays a reverse ball into the area to Andros Townsend who took the ball 14 yards to the byline to pull back for a near post stab from Soldado.

The ball rebounded to the far side of the goal. Harry Kane as soon as he had played the ball from the left wing set off for the penalty area and it was he who was sprinting and popped up at the far post to slide it home.

Would Adebayor have run all that way with that desire, would Soldado have done the same? No. Both would have jogged or ambled watching play and wouldn't have got anywhere near the back post in that time. Neither would have had the desire, heart, commitment to be there, neither would have scored.

Tim Sherwood is right that Tottenham have to start embracing their own more and change the mentality of buy a foreign player with a fancy name. You ask fans who their favourite player is and you will rarely get a home-grown name.

Virtually every fan will ell you the answer to any problem position is buy, then buy again when your first buy has failed, spend, spend, spend, why because other clubs have sugar Daddies and they are jealous. ENIC are not a sugar Daddy so they must go, it's pathetic.

There is nothing wrong with having an Ardiles but there is also nothing wrong with having a Perryman, players with heart, desire and a love for the club.

We need to see more players who care, rather than care for their pay packet.