John Wenham wants ‘ really good’ Tottenham Under-18s to ‘push on this year’
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Tottenham Under-18s have a “really good team” and should be pushing on to challenge for the FA Youth Cup this year, according to John Wenham.
After a miserable start to their Under-18 Premier League campaign, losing 4-0 away at Aston Villa, Spurs have turned it around with victories away at Arsenal in the league and at Blackburn in their Premier League Cup group stage, as they look to defend the trophy they lifted last year.
Since their opening-day defeat, Archie Chaplin has returned to captain the team and star player Mikey Moore has begun to feature down the middle, as opposed to out wide.
And Wenham believes it is this, along with the quality of their midfielders, which has seen the team return to a high level.
Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, Wenham said: “I put a lot of it down to the return of Archie Chaplin in defence, he played a lot for the Under-18s last year, and was also on the bench for the Under-21s.
“He came back into the side after that game at Aston Villa, which I’m going to put down as an anomaly now, as the Under-18s are back at the level that we saw them at last year, which was very high throughout the whole season, and led to them winning both the Under-17s and Under-18s Premier League Cup.
“Having Chaplin back in there straight away with the captain’s armband makes a phenomenal difference. You’ve got a leader that’s experienced at that level.
“I’ve noticed they’ve also changed the goalkeeper, Carey Bloedorn is now back in goal. We’re seeing the midfield three of Tyrese Hall, Han Willhoft-King and Callum Olusesi dominating games, Olusesi has now scored in both of the last two victories as well.
“Mikey Moore is playing as a centre forward, I was lucky enough to have a brief chat with him and ask him what he thought about that role, and he told me it was different to playing on the wing, but he’s really enjoying it because he gets a lot of opportunities to shoot as the team are creating a lot of chances.
“Overall, we’ve got a really good team at that level and I’m expecting them to push on this year and give the FA Youth Cup a good go as well.”
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