We talking about Oakley-Boothe still right? If so I agree. I have tried to figure out why he didn't look so great for our u18s last year in the few games he did feature. I concluded that I think he is a better player with other better players around him, and doesn't like to be the main guy. At u16s and below he had Kirby next to him as well as Skipp, and they dominated together, and he would carry the ball etc and do more, but the onus wasn't on him to create or dominate. When we lost Kirby, he then became the focal point of our u18s and I think people either expected things of him that weren't part of his game, or he shied away from taking any responsibility. On the Spurs forum I use, the views on him are generally. It's night and day when compared with this forum. I'm one of the very few who rate him as most of their opinions are based off the few u18s, u19s or u23s games he's featured in. In fact the best u18s performance I've seen from him was when he was an u16 playing up, and was running the show. Again I think it was because there was no expectation on him, and he wasn't considered the main man. He could just play with freedom. The only positive views are because Poch has him training with the first team, so people assume he mist be good, he also played quite well in a preseason game. Skipp is held in a lot higher regard as he gets about more and takes control. For England he is a completely different player. He is a lot more confident being a cog in a machine than the main man. He can dominate midfields as part of a team and although his game has slightly changed since he was an u16 you can see his obvious quality. As I say there a lot of regular youth watchers at Spurs that just don't get him, having only seen him since he joined our first years and I can completely understand why they have the view. His performance against Inter the other day was the best I've seen from him since u18s so hopefully he will start coming out of his shell more.
Interesting watching the development of this groups defensive options. We generally played central defenders or guys who are capable of doing so in the full-back positions in this age group initially. Now there is Jayden Bogle and Max Aarons starting in the Champ and Tariq Lamptey also making great strides. I've said it before but Jayden Richardson can go very far too.
What made me a big believer in him was after we lost to Spain in the U17 European finals when he couldn't because he suffered a concussion in the previous match. We had Sancho, Foden, CHO, and Brewster up front, but looked a completely different side without Oakley-Booth. Yes, we should've held out and won, but the way we went about the game was a typical English side hitting long balls and counter-attacking because we couldn't control possession in midfield against a great Spanish side. Fast-forward to the World Cup final when he was there and we won the possession game while Spain hit long balls time and time again. He's our key.
It's pretty easy to have confidence when you know you're playing with incredibley talented players who you'll know will produce if you give them service. TOB can just be another part of the team while the big four up front will be concentrated on the most every time.
Involved in all three goals. Phil Foden goal impact V Oxford United: Pre-Assist ➡️🎯Assist 🎯Goal ⚽️The Stockport Iniesta 👀#Mcfc pic.twitter.com/jUba1GKCUk— antmusker (@antmusker) September 25, 2018
Could only see the first half of the City game as my stream died and couldn’t get it back so had a look at a few other games instead, just happened to see second half of the Wolves v Leicester game and though Gibbs-White looked very good, really confident display and composed.
Here's that Phil Foden turn that killed Oxford's plans to press City, according to Karl Robinson. It was 14 seconds in. pic.twitter.com/WlymTrGopc— Sam Lee (@SamLee) September 26, 2018 wilsheresque burst here, that's why I prefer him center / right than wide left
A long shot, but does anyone know a way to watch/download Arsenal - Brentford after the match has finished? Can’t catch it tonight got but was hoping see Smith Rowe’s debut later on. A bit disappointing to see Hudson Odoi on the bench btw.
Also Hudson-Odoi is on the bench along with Curtis Jones. Disappointed but not surprised that Hudson-Odoi is on the bench.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/sep/30/gareth-southgate-phil-foden-england Ridiculous article if you ask me. How about we let players develop at their own pace and pick them when they're ready?
How silly is that bit about his Birthday cake? I get the argument about patience and largely agree. However, I can’t deny a few things are nagging at me. First thing is that if we are picking squads to win competitive games I think Foden and Sancho are perfect squad options to use off the bench. I would be more confident of them making an impact against Spain or Croatia than some of those that will be in our squad. Second issue is that we may not play a top team in a competitive game again until 2020. So this is vital experience coming up. Could be great experience and help both looking forward.
Oakley Boothe is once again played in a strange position, almost on the right wing. Sees very little of the ball. This is very frustrating given he was very good in his natural CM position against Inter.
He was playing on the right of a midfield three. Spurs just had Barcelona so pinned back that by nature he was taking up wider positions. He always had Markanday + Hinds outside him, it's not like he was stuck on the touchline.
The point is : he was out of position - exactly like RLC at the world cup - and was therefore invisible. I don't think he's a good attacking midfielder and I'd rather see him on the ball dictate things. On the other hand Panzo was excellent vs Dortmund in his preferred CB position.
Spurs were playing Bowden, TOB, Maghoma, Markanday, Bennett, Richards. TOB wasn't playing as an attacking midfielder.
Let's agree to disagree then. He was in the striker position at times after pressing, did not get the ball in a deep position once. Bowden was alone in central midfield, which is a shame as he was the least comfortable on the ball. btw I thought the little right back Hinds looked very good.