- Aug 31, 2012
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Pekhart was only so good in our academy because of his size, that isn't the case with our youngsters anymore, they are all purely their for their technique and reading of the game. Coulibaly had a good under 17 WC, but never looked that good in our academy.I would love to see the first team being made up of players that have risen from the youth sides. I just think there are so many opportunities for the players to go elsewhere, and the transition from youth to Prem level is incredibly difficult to predict. Look at the likes of Pekhart and Coulibaly - the former did brilliantly in our youth team, the latter arrived as one of the hottest youth properties in football - it's such a difficult thing to consistently produce first team quality players. Certainly keep looking to focus on youth - I just can't see it as being a reliable source of good players.
In terms of style, yes it would be good to have a variety of consistent approaches at all levels. It's why I've said elsewhere that even though I'm not a huge fan of Pochettino, I'd like to see him given a decent amount of time at the club to get his approach across. After AVB I think there has been a lot of repair work needed on the squad, and that can't be resolved in one or even two summer transfer windows.
I do think that Levy's hands are tied in terms of making us genuine challengers, as it seems now more than ever the table is largely dictated by bank balance. However, I fully agree with the sentiments of your posts in that the best possible chance we have is to put a more thorough and thoughtful plan into place....and stick to it for once!