Alasdair Gold has claimed that frustrations are starting to grow with Antonio Conte within the Tottenham Hotspur academy.
Spurs have been able to bring through a number of academy stars over the last few years including the likes of Harry Kane, Harry Winks and Japhet Tanganga, while they also have stars in the making such as Dane Scarlett, Troy Parrott and Harvey White in their ranks.
However, there appears to be a reluctance from Conte to hand youngsters chances, and that hasn’t gone down well within the youth department, according to Gold.
Speaking on the Gold and Guest Talk Tottenham podcast, Gold claimed Spurs must ensure there’s a pathway for their young players, or they’ll be looking to leave amid the frustration.
He said: “From what I understand, there’s a little bit of a frustration, more in the academy side of things that this pathway doesn’t really seem to be there.
Is Conte the right manager for Spurs?
Yes!
No!
“Where Conte differs with previous managers at Tottenham is Conte’s belief is very much [that] it’s the role of the academy and the academy staff to develop the young players there to be in a position that they can slot straight into his squad if he needs to use them.
“So his role is less on the development side of the young players and that’s more to do with the academy staff’s role.
“I can understand his logic… however, we also know that there’s a lot of managers out there who take a great deal of pleasure in being that final stage of development for young players. And it’s very difficult to see how an 18-year-old or 19-year-old can be developed at an academy level to be ready to slot straight into a Premier League/Champions League-challenging football team.
“That, for me, doesn’t entirely match up.”
TIF Thoughts on Spurs’ academy situation…
Considering Spurs’ younger senior players like Djed Spence and the lack of minutes he’s been handed this season despite his Championship experience under his belt in a promotion-winning season, this could be a worrying sign for promising prospects and their futures.
Tottenham don’t want to be looking back in five years’ time at players tearing it up elsewhere and thinking that they should have handed them a few chances to keep them hungry and committed.
Daniel Levy will know that Conte is a manager that wishes to play for the here and now and win silverware as soon as possible, but we think he must also acknowledge that the Italian won’t be Spurs boss forever and that the club’s long-term future has to be looked after.