Academy v Spurs

[Steven]

From the OS.

Academy Fall To Spurs

Posted on: Sat 13 Oct 2007

Tottenham Hotspur consigned Leicester City's under-18 side to their second defeat of the season after running out 5-3 winners at the Belvoir Drive training ground on Saturday.

Ashley Chambers opened the scoring on seven minutes after rounding the Tottenham keeper, but the home side were pegged back almost immediately.

Billy McKay made it 2-1 to the Foxes after finding space to fire home mid way through the first half, but again the lead only lasted a matter of moments as Tottenham levelled on 33 minutes.

Spurs continued to push forward in the second half, and a further three goals put the game beyond the home side.

By the time Ashley Chambers recorded his second three minutes from time City already had a mountain to climb and were unable to stage a further fight back.

City: Pentney, Cox, Burns (Sappleton), O'Neill, Rowe-Turner, Garner, Beswick, Kee, McKay (King), Chambers

[Milky]

The club is really worried at the moment actually that below that group who won the title last year, they don't really have much!

[Thracian]

For Leicester the big plus was the return of Ashley Chambers to his blistering best.

Chambers scored two quality goals, made another for Billy McKay and might well have had a hat-trick.

His performance was the better for coming against quality opposition. Spurs fielded a very strong side. There was no teamsheet but if Megson ever needs loan targets they had players, particular on both wings and in midfield who would command the attention of anyone. At least one was reputed to have cost £1m.

The game was played at a terrific pace and Leicester twice took the lead in a first half in which they excelled themselves.

Indeed Billy Kee netted in the opening minutes but had the score wiped out for a foul. However a sharp one-two with Ashley Chambers allowed the efforvescent Chambers to open the scoring with a clinical finish after 15 mintues.

Spurs reacted fast and only a brave block by Scott Garner prevented one equalising attempt before a blistering 30-yard shot from outside the box did register. It was hard on City keeper Pentney who had made an excellent save from the Spurs number 8 after a near post corner and then made a spectacular but fruitless attempt to deflect the thunderbolt that followed.

Chambers was a constant headache for Spurs with his pace and acceleration and it was he who supplied the final pass for Billy McKay to restore it lead with a tidy finish.

Spurs levelled again with another top drawer finish, this time by their number six and after a Kee had blasted a chance high and Beswick had another opportunity blocked it was Spurs' mesmerising left winger who carved an opening for Spurs number 4 to give the visitors the lead for the first time.

A penalty after a foul by Garner (I think) made it 4-2 and Spurs substitute and number 14 ran through City's sluggish defence to slide home number five before Chambers plundered his second goal by cutting in from the left, evading two men and cracking a brilliant finish into the far corner of the net from the edge of the area.

Milky Joe's comment about shortcomings in the Academy ranks was given some credence.

We seem to have no qualitiy defenders coming through. Today Leicester's central defence was sadly wanting at times. Scott Garner was by no means alone in being exposed by Spurs pacey attackers but even his commendable aerial work was invariably wasted by thoughtless distribution.

Burns at right back and Luke O'Neill on the left had their hands full to overflowing against players with real pace, skill and intent.

McKay was deployed in midfield with Lee Cox but even those two capable players were eventually overwhelmed by numbers.

Kee had his moments but was generally disappointing at centre forward. He really reminds me a bit of the legendary striker Arthur Rowley. A bit heavy, a bit cumbersome but a short backlift and clear eye for goal. It was just hard for him to find any time against determined Spurs defenders and such chances as he had were either wasted or blocked.

There was some relief for City when Riccy Sappleton came on. He won a few headers and caused some discomfort but with no Gradel, King, Odhiambo from the old side, and little supportive play from our full-backs, even the efforts of former champions like Beswick, McKay and Chambers were just not enough, try as they might.

Ratings: (apologies for anyone missed or any mistaken identities):

Pentney: 6.5 (Again on the receiving end of a big score but it wasn't his fault and he made two or three excellent saves).

Burns 4 (Up against outstanding opponents and was never the master. Offered little going forward.)

Garner 4 (Has improved aerially and makes himself heard now. Stayed involved throughout but had far too much to cope with and his limitations, particularly his distribution and vulnerability to pace, were often exposed.)

Rowe-Turner 4.5 (Not sure centre-back is his most effective position. )

O'Neill 4 (As with Burns never really subdued a quality opponent)

Chambers 9 (Two goals, one assist, back to speed and always a danger. Needs more of the same to challenge at higher levels).

McKay 7 (One goal from midfield but eventually needed more help)

Cox 6.5 (Promising player and competed well until he too began to suffer from lack of support)

Beswick 6.5 (Rarely has a bad game but progressively suffered from diminishing supply, support and passing options)

Kee 6 (Tightly marked but still conjured a few chances which were blocked or misdirected. Looked a bit slow)

C King 5 (Little chance to make a real impression)

Sappleton 5.5 (Did okay as second half substitute but nothing especially noteworthy)

**** Encouraging attendance by the way and they were treated to some quality football.

[Elano JRN]

did that Taarabt guy play for spurs?????

[Thracian]

did that Taarabt guy play for spurs?????

What position and what does he look like? There was no teamsheet. They had a Kaebi lookalike in midfield who was excellent. In fact they looked pretty good all round and would have beaten any of the reserve sides City have come up against this season, perhaps even one or two of the weaker Championship sides because they were so dangerous going forward. Their pace and ability in turning defence to attack was a particular feature.

[Jimmy]

What position and what does he look like? There was no teamsheet. They had a Kaebi lookalike in midfield who was excellent. In fact they looked pretty good all round and would have beaten any of the reserve sides City have come up against this season, perhaps even one or two of the weaker Championship sides because they were so dangerous going forward. Their pace and ability in turning defence to attack was a particular feature.

he's been playing left wing on occasions for their 1st team, tbh i think he's around 20 anyway

[David Villa]

What position and what does he look like? There was no teamsheet. They had a Kaebi lookalike in midfield who was excellent. In fact they looked pretty good all round and would have beaten any of the reserve sides City have come up against this season, perhaps even one or two of the weaker Championship sides because they were so dangerous going forward. Their pace and ability in turning defence to attack was a particular feature.

So from you are saying here mate, the young lads did well to keep it to only a 2 goal deficet. I hope some of these young lads get a run out in the 1st team soon. Hopefully Chambers and Kee.

[RowlattsFox]

That Million pound player you were on about was probably that lad they brought from Leeds, Rose?

[Thracian]

he's been playing left wing on occasions for their 1st team, tbh i think he's around 20 anyway

Sounds like the tall coloured lad who played left wing in the number 11 shirt.

Elegant style. Very fast, excellent control, good early passer and took the city defence apart at times.

Would have rated an 8.5 or 9.

[Mark]

That Million pound player you were on about was probably that lad they brought from Leeds, Rose?

Saw Daniel Rose playing for England U17's with Joe Mattock in the tournament this Summer, very very good player.

[Thracian]

Saw Daniel Rose playing for England U17's with Joe Mattock in the tournament this Summer, very very good player.

What position?

They had a number 10 playing on the right wing. Very fast, very direct, instant ball control. Hugged the right touchline in acres of space and was never properly dealt with. We simply retreated against him until the space was squeezed but it didn't really work. He caused havoc much of the time.

[Mark]

What position?

They had a number 10 playing on the right wing. Very fast, very direct, instant ball control. Hugged the right touchline in acres of space and was never properly dealt with. We simply retreated against him until the space was squeezed but it didn't really work. He caused havoc much of the time.

Left wing if a remember correctly.

[David Villa]

I was just on the Tottenham accademy page to see what team they played but they havent uploaded it yet

[Bryn]

Think he plays across the midfield if I remember right, but yeah left wing seems to be the position he is settling into.

[Thracian]

Think he plays across the midfield if I remember right, but yeah left wing seems to be the position he is settling into.

He looked like a midfielder as much as a winger. Smallish, quite stocky.

[Mikey]

Ah, why not bring in the combination of Kee, Chambers and Mckay to bag a couple against Chelsea.

[Mark]

Spurs report - http://www.spursodyssey.com/0708/u18le131007.html

[Steven]

Spurs report - http://www.spursodyssey.com/0708/u18le131007.html

Is Ray Lo the Spurs equivalent of Thrac. If he is then they both share the same opinion of Chambo. :D

I was impressed with Chambers and would like him in our team.

Courtesy of:- Ray Lo, and the Spurs List

FA Premier Academy League, South

Middlesex Rd. Aylestone, Leicester

Saturday 12th October 2007, 12am

LEICESTER CITY V SPURS

(All Blue) (All White)

4-4-2 4-5-1

3(2) 5(2)

Pentney 1 Lee Butcher

O’Neill 2 Daniel Hutchins

Cobb 3 Yuri Berchiche

Cox 4 Yasser Kasim©

Garner 5 Joe Martin

Rowe-Turner 6 Takura Mtandari

Robbie Burns 7 Kyle Fraser-Allen

Billy McKay 8 Dean Parrett

Billy Kee 9 Alex Olsen

Ashley Chambers 10 David Hutton

Beswick 11 Jonathan Obika

Ricky Sappleton 12 Andros Townsend

(7)70 Mins.

13 James Dalton

14 Danny Rose

(7)46Mins.

15 Adam Smith

Andy King 16 Callum Butcher

(8) (5)46Mins.

Coach:-

J.Rudkin A.Inglethorpe

Scorers:-

Chambers 8, 89 Parrett 16,

McKay 28 Hutchins 32

Olsen 51

Hutton 61(Pen)

Rose 87

Booked:-

Kee 55(Behind) Parrett 37(Late)

Chambers 73(Foot up) Berchiche 73(Late)

Referee:- E.Smart

It was an overcast morning with a little Scotch mist in the middle of the game, but not too cold. A good crowd of around sixty watched a very good game of football.

There were no team sheets available and Archie Gemmill wanted money to see the names on his sheet, which I refused. (!!!)

Spurs lined up with Martin coming into the defence alongside Mtandari keeping Butcher on the bench. Hutchins started at right back to allow Berchiche the left back position. Parrett was alongside Kasim in the middle with Fraser-Allen on the right and Obika on the left. Olsen got a rare start up front with Hutton just behind in the hole.

Leicester kicked off attacking the right hand goal and showed why they won the title last season and started the day second in the table. The front pair of Chambers and Kee made a strong striker force with speed and strength closing down our defenders quickly and forcing mistakes. Chambers intercepted a back pass and crossed for Beswick to head goalward at the back post. Fortunately Mtandari recovered to clear off the line.

The visitors were not given any time to settle or dwell on the ball as they were closed down in the midfield and at the back, with strong challenges to get possession. This led to Chambers getting the ball on the left and coming inside before getting past Butcher to score. Kee chasing down a ball caught Butcher which the Spurs lads did not like and may have spurred them on.

Obika got away down the left and turned the full back and came inside releasing the ball as he was being closed down for Parrett to volley in from about 22 yards out. Pentney got a hand to it but could not stop it. This was only the second time Spurs had got into the last third but Obika was encouraged to exploit the left and Hutton was getting the better of the two big centrebacks to find space to work.

Obika got clear down the left and crossed to the unmarked Olsen but his shot was deflected wide. Hutchins fired wide from the following corner. The Foxes maintained the pressure at the other end of the pitch as our midfield was unable to get their passing game together. Chambers won the ball on the right and came inside before laying it off to McKay to score with a rising shot across the keeper.

The lead did not last long as Hutton was fouled on the edge of the area having worked an opening down the left. Hutton fired the free kick into the near post which Pentney managed to get across to save for a defender to hack clear. The ball was picked up by Hutchins 25 yards out to the left and he returned it past Pentney into the top right corner. Leicester kept driving forward and Parrett was booked for a late challenge but poor finishing prevented them from retaking the lead with Kee putting one over being the best chance.

Inglethorpe made two changes for the start of the second half. Rose came on for Fraser-Allen who had not made much impression on the right. Rose went into the hole with Hutton moving over to the right. The other change was Butcher for Martin. This had been Joe’s first game and he was having a very bad time against the home strikers. The coach also moved Berchiche into the middle alongside Butcher with Hutchins swapping sides and Mtandari moving to right back. These changes turned the game on it’s head in that it was Spurs now doing the pressuring and forcing the home side to defend which was their weakness in the first half.

After five minutes the home side were caught pushing forward by a ball over the top from Parrett. He found Olsen in the clear for the second time. This time he had the space to attack the keeper and slip the ball past him into the net. Berchiche hit a free kick wide as Leicester were forced into committing fouls to stem the attacks.

Kee was booked for a tackle from behind on Hutchins as the Spurs back line began to control their area. With Okiba on the left and Hutton/Mtandari down the right with Rose running through the centre or the left channel the tide was turning. Rose combined with Obika on the left to get round the back and into the box only to be pulled back for a penalty. Hutton stepped up to increase the lead with a firmly struck kick sending the keeper the wrong way.

Spurs were now attacking down both flanks creating chances in the middle for Olsen and Parrett twice in the space of five minutes before Kee forced a save from Butcher at the other end. Rudkin sent on the massive Sappleton to lead a 4-3-3 formation in an attempt to get back into the game. After Olsen had put another chance wide Berchiche got into a tangle with Chambers tripping him. The Foxes striker kicked him as he got up and was lucky that the ref only showed him a yellow along with Berchiche.

Parrett hit another chance over before Rose increased the lead. He again got round the left back and into the box before driving the ball low into the far corner of the net from a difficult angle. Leicester staged a fight back and pushed forward throwing caution to the wind and put Spurs under pressure. Hutton cleared a header from Garner off the line before Chambers got down the left and came inside driving the ball low across Butcher to reduce the arrears. Going into stoppage time Pentney even came up for a corner and nearly created a goal for the Foxes. He was back in his goal to save from Hutton as time ran out.

This was a great result for the Spurs youngsters as Leicester are one of the best teams at this level having beaten us twice last season on their way to winning the Academy title and were second in the table before this match. Their leading marksman Kee had already scored 13 goals in seven games. They showed why they are so good in the first half when we were lucky to finish level after they had dominated the game up to that point. By attacking them in the second half especially down the flanks using the skilful football of Hutton and Obika with the pace of Rose we found their weakness. Hutton showed the way in the first half as they could not handle him and Obika had the beating of the fullback. I was impressed with Chambers and would like him in our team.

Next Saturday the U-18’s are away again at Coventry before entertaining the MK Dons at the Lodge on the 27th October.

Ray

[Geo V]

The club is really worried at the moment actually that below that group who won the title last year, they don't really have much!

Im not sure what percentage of players come through the ranks to be in first team plans for clubs at this level but I`d guess on average we have had quite a few more than the norm? We have had so many in recent times its almost like we have had about 5 years worth!

Im sure a few more will continue to come through but maybe not as many as we have been used to over the last say 24 months.

[Jonbluefox9]

I went to watch the game yesterday too and must say the current team hardly resembles the one which did so well last season.

It was the first time that I'd been to watch the under 18s this season but I went on quite a few occasions last season and we were always a well oiled machine. Mattock used to always be supporting Beswick in attack, Gradel on the right was a nightmare for opposition defences, Odhiambo and Mckay forged a good partnership and understanding of the way each other played, Lycett helped Garner through his first season in the under 18s football and King and Tejan-Sie pulled the strings in the middle.

The team yesterday still had Pentney in goal who I feel has improved and did make some top saves but the back four was made up of two first year scholars and one second year scholar who hardly got a game for the under 18s last season. I don't want to be overly critical because it was only one game and I know Tottenham have a strong youth team because we only just managed to beat them at home last season.

On a positive note, Chambers is looking very sharp and scored two good goals and the right midfielder, I think it was Burns, showed glimpses of what he could do and looked promising for a 1st year scholar.

Another positive was the result for the under 16s who won 5-0 and I watched ten minutes of that game too. Jorrin John was playing and he does look a good little player. We'll have to wait and see how he develops but he did stand-out.

The lad who came on, won the penalty and scored the 5th in the under 18s match was Danny Rose because I was standing next to some of his family members during the game.

[Thracian]

I went to watch the game yesterday too and must say the current team hardly resembles the one which did so well last season.

It was the first time that I'd been to watch the under 18s this season but I went on quite a few occasions last season and we were always a well oiled machine. Mattock used to always be supporting Beswick in attack, Gradel on the right was a nightmare for opposition defences, Odhiambo and Mckay forged a good partnership and understanding of the way each other played, Lycett helped Garner through his first season in the under 18s football and King and Tejan-Sie pulled the strings in the middle.

The team yesterday still had Pentney in goal who I feel has improved and did make some top saves but the back four was made up of two first year scholars and one second year scholar who hardly got a game for the under 18s last season. I don't want to be overly critical because it was only one game and I know Tottenham have a strong youth team because we only just managed to beat them at home last season.

On a positive note, Chambers is looking very sharp and scored two good goals and the right midfielder, I think it was Burns, showed glimpses of what he could do and looked promising for a 1st year scholar.

Another positive was the result for the under 16s who won 5-0 and I watched ten minutes of that game too. Jorrin John was playing and he does look a good little player. We'll have to wait and see how he develops but he did stand-out.

The lad who came on, won the penalty and scored the 5th in the under 18s match was Danny Rose because I was standing next to some of his family members during the game.

Wore number 14 then. Very impressive.

[dandannieldanok]

Did their academy coach (A.Inglethorpe) used to manage Exeter?

[Manwell Pablo]

Did their academy coach (A.Inglethorpe) used to manage Exeter?

If you mean Alex Inglethorpe then yes.