Tottenham Hotspur are suffering a mini-injury crisis in the latter stages of manager Andre Villas-Boas’ first campaign in the Premier League, and, coupled with jaded and off-form players, it is leading to inconsistent form. So should Spurs look towards a few of their hottest youth prospects in order to keep the starting XI fresh, committed and passionate?
Looking at the personnel in the youth team, there is no doubt that there are a few which will very soon be on the fringes of breaking into the team. Indeed, youngster Tom Carroll has already featured intermittently this season, and with Scott Parker playing poorly and Mousa Dembele clearly exhausted, he could easily do a job for Tottenham in the middle of midfield. He was their only bright spark in the disappointing home defeat against Fulham.
Moving further up the field, Emmanuel Adebayor has been nothing short of diabolical this season, scoring only 2 goals since Christmas but more importantly looking like he simply can’t be bothered. So why not replace him with someone who is hungry, eager, and loves the club? Young Shaq Coulthirst has been scoring goals for fun for Spurs’ reserve and youth teams, and most Spurs fans would prefer to see him in the starting XI than the Togolese striker. He could well be worth a shot.
Tottenham’s best youth prospect is out on loan, making waves at QPR. Andros Townsend. How Spurs could do with him right now, with both Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale set to miss a couple of games.
But AVB will have to work with what he has got. And Carroll and Coulthirst could well be risks that are necessary to take in order to ensure that this season doesn’t fade out into nothingness.
Source: DSG
