Chadder View: Time for Postecoglou to gamble on the youth at Tottenham
Matthew Chadder is a lifelong Tottenham fan who grew up just down the road from his beloved club in North London. He’s now putting his passion for Spurs into words with a daily fan view for Tottenham News…
It is time for Tottenham to find the next Harry Kane.
With Mauricio Pochettino under intense pressure from the Tottenham board and supporters on 2 November 2014, the Argentine took a gamble, and it was a gamble that more than paid off.
Being held 1-1 by Aston Villa at Villa Park with just minutes to go, a fresh-faced Harry Kane, who had been introduced during the second half, stood over a free-kick as everyone in the ground fell silent.
With the help of a favourable deflection off Villa man Nathan Baker, the then-21-year-old drove the free-kick into the back of the net to win the game for Spurs and send the away supporters into delirium. While they didn’t know it then, this would become a very common theme over the course of the next nine years.
Pochettino had found his number nine, and that number nine had arguably saved him his job.
While I am by no means suggesting that Postecoglou is in any trouble at this moment in time, the Australian certainly does find himself in a tricky spot and the answer to the difficult questions he is facing is not Eric Dier or Giovani Lo Celso.
These same players have failed many managers before Postecoglou and the fans know all too well what little they offer in a Tottenham shirt. Utilising these players to deputise in the absence of James Maddison and Micky van de Ven might seem like the safe option, but it is certainly not the right one.
Now is the time for Postecoglou to take a leaf out of Pochettino’s book and gamble on the youth.
It is not like the 58-year-old is short of options either. Spurs’ Under-21s are flying high this season, top of the Premier League 2 by seven points, and a number of their stars are in terrific form.
Jamie Donley, Alfie Dorrington and Ashley Phillips, to name a few, are all in sensational form, and while Phillips is currently sidelined with an injury, Dorrington and Donley are fit and raring to go.
Dorrington in particular is one that Postecoglou should really be taking a close look at. The young central defender is showing incredible potential and throwing him in at the deep end could allow him to flourish.
Of course, an over-reliance on youth is never a good thing, but at this point, neither is an over-reliance on Dier.
We all know what will happen, we have seen this story before. Mistakes will be made and the fans will turn.
No doubt Dorrington will also make mistakes, he is young and that is to be expected, but at least with him there will be a vision, a plan. There is no direction forward with Dier, he is a relic of the past and it is time to move forward.
Spurs find themselves in a tricky spot, and just like ten years ago, turning to the youth to bail them out could reap plenty of rewards.
In other Tottenham news, an injury expert has ruled that one Spurs star is set to be out until April 2024.