UEFA Youth League: Tottenham’s Wonderkid Sends Thomas Frank Message As 6 Stars For The Future Emerge

Tottenham Hotspur’s hopefuls of the future took to the pitch in what was for many of them their first forays into European football. .. Read ..Full.. Article.. .

Tottenham Hotspur are back in the Champions League and that meant a return for their youngsters to the European stage with the UEFA Youth League.

The competition mirrors the first team tournament in the group stage, meaning Spurs’ potential stars of the future face the same opponents as their senior counterparts and travel to each of the four away games in the league phase.

It’s a competition where stars can be made or found. In previous years at Tottenham, Troy Parrott began to make his name across Europe with goals in the tournament against Barcelona, Inter Milan, PSV Eindhoven, Olympiacos (twice) and Red Star.

The young Irishman’s appearances in the competition brought him not only to the attention of the Spurs first staff but also scouts across the continent. Clubs like Dortmund circled, looking to take him out of England.

Nowadays Parrott is scoring goals for fun at a senior level at AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie, or was before a medial ligament knee injury last month ended a spell of 10 goals in seven matches.

Now the current crop of Spurs starlets are looking to make their name on the European stage.

All eyes on Tuesday afternoon were on Luca Williams-Barnett, a 16-year-old number 10 creating plenty of buzz for his performances for the club’s U18s last season, featuring a string of spectacular goals, including a number of efforts from the halfway line.

The youngster, who turns 17 next month, netted a hat-trick in the U17 Premier League Cup final triumph last season and after being promoted to the U21s this term has two goals and two assists in four matches so far.

He also starred for England U18s during his recent first involvement with them and there are high hopes within the club for a player who was named on the bench in the Premier League in December last year by Ange Postecoglou and three times in the Europa League despite his age. He benefits from having a physical frame that is a couple of years older than others of his age.

On Tuesday afternoon at Hotspur Way, Williams-Barnett was the pick of the bunch among a Spurs team managed by U21s boss Wayne Burnett that contained plenty of players to keep an eye on.

There was the centre-back pairing of Jun’ai Byfield, who was on the bench for the recent UEFA Super Cup despite also only being 16, and 17-year-old Malachi Hardy, who has also been involved with the first set-up and on the bench in various games.

Captain Callum Olusesi has made his Spurs senior debut and at 18 looks a player ready to take a loan move in the Football League while Tynan Thompson and Reiss Elliott-Parris are young attackers to watch.

Villarreal were the first visitors to Hotspur Way in the competition and swiftly showed that their technical ability and counter-attacking instincts were going to be something Spurs would have to get to grips with.

It would be Williams-Barnett who first grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. He picked up the ball in his number 10 role and threaded a perfect little through ball to Thompson and the left winger slotted home comfortably over the onrushing keeper.

Williams-Barnett had further opportunities. Soon after that goal he picked up a loose ball from a poor goal kick and rounded the keeper only to somehow screw his shot wide of the covering defender. He then volleyed over unmarked from a good position after the half hour mark.

Villarreal punished that profligacy as they grabbed a goal back with a bit of magic of their own as Sergio Martin curled a fine finish from distance over goalkeeper Sam Archer.

It took a rocket of a first-time strike into the top corner from Reiss Elliott-Parris on the turn to put Spurs back into the lead after good work from Leo Black to press and win the ball in the Villarreal box.

The see-saw nature of the game continued though as Iker Mateos fired home a low equaliser early in the second half for the Spanish side.

It came after a little reminder that Williams-Barnett is only 16, as he tried a complacent flick on the edge of his own box which gave the ball to the visitors out of nothing in a dangerous position.

It’s all part of a young player’s development. For this teenager in particular, his natural gifts are clear. There are very early shades of the instinctive flair of Spurs mavericks of the past like Hoddle, Ginola and Berbatov.

Williams-Barnett knows he can beat an opponent at will and can control the ball as if it’s part of him, but the key will be knowing when to unleash his creativity and when to play it safe and also how to fit into a team structure and tactic.

It took James Rowsell’s header from close range to shove the home side back into the lead from Harry Byrne’s free-kick, only for the visitors to peg them back again as Iker Baranano used his head after some messy Spurs defending from a corner.

It was then that Williams-Barnett stepped up as the best players do. Minutes after seeing a powerful low shot tipped around the post by the goalkeeper he would take a ball into his stride, surge down the right and fire across the six-yard box where Villarreal defender Pedro Luque Gimeno could only get a foot in ahead of Elliott-Parris to send the ball into his own net.

Williams-Barnett then made it 5-3 with a clever finish. Substitute Miracle Adewole had replaced early goalscorer Thompson, who had struggled with a back problem since the first half, and the newcomer struck a powerful shot that was saved and came back to him.

He looked up and sent the ball across to Williams-Barnett who took a clever touch as the defender slid past him and then fired the ball low into the bottom right corner.

The 16-year-old limped off in the game’s final stages after a little off the ball clash as a Villarreal defender left his mark on him. He was replaced by Oliver Boast, signed from Leeds this summer and already among the goals for the U18s, which shows the quality now coming through or brought into the academy.

Williams-Barnett had showed his talent and his age at times but this was his first performance on the European stage and plenty will have taken notice, along with the displays of some of his team-mates.

Some of the Thomas Frank’s first team coaches were sat in the stands, including Matt Wells, Andreas Georgson and Justin Cochrane as well as Stuart Lewis watching many of his former U18s. Lewis was working with various academy players in training on Monday who are expected to fill out the big subs bench in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Williams-Barnett, who comes from a big Spurs supporting family, will likely get that chance this season at some point after his experiences in the previous campaign.

Spurs will need to make sure they show him that there’s a pathway for him to succeed at the club rather than have to head out as many others have. He now has U21s, international and European experience and the senior game is what awaits.

For Tottenham have a real talent in the youngster, but..  Read . .More