Spurs under 21’s 0-1 EA Guingamp: (match report)

Our under 21’s final game of this seasons Tournoi Europeen took place on Sunday morning in Ploufragan. Burnett’s side faced local team EA Guingamp in the fifth/sixth place play off on Sunday morning. There was torrential rainfall in Ploufragan for Spurs’ final game, the bad conditions would ultimately affect how they played. Burnett decided to change things up for Tottenham’s final game of the tournament. He picked a 4-2-3-1 formation which saw Spurs lineup with De Bie in goal, whist Duncan, Statham, Ogilvie (c) and Hinds made up the back four in place of Jonathan Dinzeyi who was sent off against Stade Rennais. It also turns out that the young centre halve is injured at this moment in time along with Brooklyn Lyons-Foster and Shayon Harrison. Bowden and Roles played behind the attacking trio of Markanday, Samuel Shashoua and his younger brother Armando, 16 year old centre forward Troy Parrott lead the line for Spurs on his second start of the tournament, (I gather that Harrison has picked up an injury!). Spurs got the game underway at the Henri Guérin centre as the rain continued to pour down, after some decent early passes Guingamp took a surprise lead through Ryade Hachem in the seventh minute. Quite out of nowhere Mattias Phaeton burst down the left wing before forcing a brilliant save out of De Bie with a venomous effort from the edge of the penalty area. The Belgian could only palm the ball towards the feet of Hachem who managed to convert from close range, 0-1. Burnett’s side almost made an immediate response when they went on a promising attack a couple of moments later.

The lively Samuel Shashoua was able to weave his way into the Guingamp box before playing a quick one – two with Parrott before being brought down by an opposition player inside the box. The ball eventually rolled out to his younger brother Armando as the referee ignored any protests for a penalty. The younger Shashoua squared it for Parrott in the centre of the box but his first time effort was straight at Youfeigane who produced a good save to deny the Irishman a certain goal. Samuel Shashoua threaded a promising through ball into Parrott a couple of minutes later but the centre forwards touch let him down as Youfeigane came out to smother the ball. The prominent Jack Roles then curled an effort narrowly wide as Spurs began to really push for an equaliser. The slippery surface wasn’t helping either side, centre halve Connor Ogilvie had a bit of a scare when Phaeton robbed the ball off of him in the final third before sprinting towards the goal, dragging an effort across the face of De Bie’s goal. The lively Dilan Markanday was proving to be a tricky customer out on the right wing, the 16 year olds menacing free kick on 20 minutes was only narrowly poked wide by Duncan who was lurking at the back post. Spurs began to ask questions of the Guingamp defence, the spritely Parrott did well to win a free kick in promising area for Burnett’s side. The captain Connor Ogilvie stepped up to bend the ball narrowly wide of Youfeigane’s left hand post as the French side continued to keep Spurs at bay. The torrential weather conditions were beginning to really affect Spurs’ passing style and this began to frustrate them in the final third. There was an unpredictability about the game and both sides seemed vulnerable on the counter. Guingamp came close to doubling their lead after Ilan Radenac connected with Phaeton’s cross inside the danger zone, thankfully Radenac nodded the ball narrowly wide at the back post.

The impressive Jamie Bowden tried to play the lively Dilan Markanday through on goal with a lovely lofted pass. However, the speedy winger didn’t have enough time to open his body up as Youfeigane came rushing out to assertively clear the ball. Connor Ogilvie made an important block at the other end to prevent Aly Guedard from getting a clean shot away at goal, after the winger cut inside onto his right foot on the edge of the penalty area. Dilan Markanday then curled an effort well wide of the mark as Parrott exclaimed ’ Why didn’t you pass to me ! ’ Whilst Spurs were seeing a lot more of the ball in the central areas of the pitch neither they nor Guingamp could string that many passes together. The rain was coming down heavier and the conditions were worsening by the half. Burnett’s side had to remain alert at the back as the half progressed, Guedard tested Duncan down the left once again with a surging run. As the winger cut inside onto his right foot before hitting a venomous effort at the Tottenham goal from the edge of the penalty. Of which was brilliantly blocked behind for a corner by Maxwell Statham. Guingamp’s resulting corner kick was whipped in by Louis Carnot as Antoine Hequet flicked the ball into the arms of De Bie, in what was the last real piece of action from the first half. Guingamp got the second half back underway as Spurs went in desperate such of that all important equaliser. However, Burnett’s side found themselves in a spot of bother early on in the half as the newly introduced Es Sahal won the ball off of Bowden in the middle of the park. Es Sahal drove forwards down the middle before lashing an effort wide of De Bie’s goal. Dylan Duncan then made a good challenge inside the Tottenham penalty area to prevent an opening for the French side. Whilst Burnett’s side created a good move at the opposite end of the pitch which culminated in Roles having his shot blocked on the edge of the penalty area.

One of Tottenham’s main creative outlets was Samuel Shashoua and the tricky winger was constantly trying to work his way through the brick wall that was the Guingamp defence. After embarking on a mesmeric run Shashoua managed to take the ball into the Guingamp penalty area but with such limited space to aim at, the winger had his shot blocked at the last moment by a Guingamp defender. Spurs were beginning to play a lot more fluently and they were now able to dominate possession. The hardworking Parrott couldn’t create any openings of his own as Guingamp’s tight defence was strangling the Spurs forwards as they desperately tried to get into space. After conceding a supposed foul on Hachem out on the right wing the referee awarded a free kick against the Dubliner. Clearly unhappy at this decision Parrott asked the referee to open his eyes this resulted in him receiving a yellow card. The referee was getting a bit carried away with handing out yellow cards and only a couple of minutes later he put Spurs captain Connor Ogilvie in the book despite the fact that the 22 year old had won the ball. Spurs were working extremely hard to get back into the game, young defender Maxwell Statham could be heard urging his teammates to keep going as spurs reached a critical stage in the game. About ten minutes from the end the French club almost doubled their advantage through Yohann Baret. After Luc Heumel drilled a low free kick towards goal the ball ended up deflecting into the feet of Baret inside the Tottenham box. The youngster fired a powerful low effort at goal which was excellently saved low down by De Bie who did ever so well to collapse his body in time. Shortly afterwards Jamie Bowden became the third Spurs player to enter the book after a rash challenge on a Guingamp player. The 17 year old was quickly replaced by Paris Maghoma who was brought on in the hope of adding to Spurs’ attack.

Es Sahal tried to beat De Bie in the Spurs goal with an audacious effort from ridiculously far out as Spurs tried desperately hard to work the ball up the pitch. Burnett threw on Edwards and Tracey into the game in a final attempt to try and carve through that rigid Guingamp defence. The alert De Bie did well to snuff out a dangerous looking through ball towards Es Sahal. As Spurs were throwing everything at Guingamp as the clock ticked down, Parrott tried once again to test Youfeigane but was crowded out inside the box before having his shot blocked by a defender. Whilst at the other end Phaeton tore down the left wing before squaring the ball to Es Sahal inside the penalty area. The forward spun around before firing an effort narrowly over the top of De Bie’s goal. Spurs managed to get into a promising position during our last attack of the game but it was as if we were trying to score the perfect goal. Samuel Shashoua and Edwards linked up well before the former worked his way past a couple of defenders on the edge of the penalty area but once again he didn’t shoot. This greatly frustrated Maghoma who could be heard roaring at him on the final whistle, asking him why didn’t he pass the ball to him. The final score from the Henri Guérin centre on a tough morning for Burnett’s side was Spurs under 21’s 0-1 EA Guingamp, Spurs finish the tournament in sixth place. A lot of fans will come to the assumption that this wasn’t a particularly impressive tournament for the Spurs youngsters but I strongly disagree. We were only 25 minutes away from reaching the final during our final group game against Stade Rennais, throughout the group stage we put in three very impressive performances. We were the better team against the eventual winners of the tournament PSG in our opening game. We followed that up with two competent performances against Nice and Stade Rennais in our next two games.

Whilst it would have been nice to reach the final for a second consecutive season the primary objective about these tournaments is about testing the young players mettle. Burnett’s side have performed really well at this years Tournoi Europeen and I for one am extremely proud of their efforts. Young Paris Maghoma (17) was awarded the player of the tournament award after a string of impressive performances in the centre of the park. Whilst Tottenham manager Wayne Burnett was awarded the fair play award by the tournament officials. There have been a whole host of extremely impressive performances from the Spurs players. Those from Connor Ogilvie, Maxwell Statham, Tariq Hinds, Paris Maghoma, Jamie Bowden and Jonathan De Bie all come to mind but I’ve been impressed with all of our players performances throughout the entirety of the tournament. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reporting on our lads progress at the tournament and I would like to thank the Henri Guérin centre for putting on such a welcoming and enjoyable tournament. I would also like to extend my thanks to the Tottenham Hotspur players who kindly took the time to take photographs with me before yesterday’s game with Guingamp, they were all top, top lads. Our development sides first league game of the season is at home to West Ham on Monday the 13th of August.

Player reviews: – Jonathan De Bie: My motm, see below.
– Dylan Duncan: The 19 year old put in a really competent performance in the unfamiliar role of right back. He was strong and flexible and read the game well.
– Tariq Hinds: Another extremely impressive defensive performance from the fullback this time at left back. Hinds remained solid throughout our encounter with Guingamp and hardly put a foot wrong. I can’t remember him getting beaten once down the wing.
– Connor Ogilvie: The commanding defender reverted into playing as a centre halve for our game with Guingamp. Ogilvie put in another strong defensive performance and despite his lack of pace he managed to form a really strong defensive partnership alongside Statham.
– Maxwell Statham: It was another excellent performance from the 17 year old centre back. Statham snuffed out danger throughout the match and managed to marshal the backline well whilst remaining dominant in the air. It was another performance of great maturity.
– Jack Roles: Somewhat of an orchestrator in the centre of the park the industrious midfielder initiated some good moves and made some promising runs in and around the six yard box.
– Jamie Bowden: Cool, calm and collected. The young midfielder capped off an excellent performance with another strong showing in the centre of the park against much older and more physical opposition. He also moved the ball around well.
– Dilan Markanday: Electric inside the first 30 minutes Markanday’s excellent balance and surging runs down the right wing caused a whole host of problems for the Guingamp defence. Whilst he had a quieter second half the 16 year olds strong performance was extremely impressive and effective.
– Armando Shashoua: Another energetic performance in the number 10 role, the intricate midfielder was key to us creating openings. He also linked up really well with his older brother out on the left wing.
– Samuel Shashoua: He made some really dangerous forays into the penalty area whilst constantly peeling into areas of space throughout the game. He was one of Spurs’ main attacking outlets.
– Troy Parrott: Worked incredibly hard up top whilst dropping deep and committing himself to the more defensive aspects of the game. He had one good chance but it was a real battle for the 16 year old agains some extremely well drilled and strong defenders.
– Paris Maghoma: Bright cameo. Maghoma linked up well with the forwards.
– Marcus Edwards: N/A.
– Shilow Tracey: N/A.

My man of the match: Jonathan De Bie: An excellent performance from De Bie saw the Belgian make a string of top class saves. Two of which could only be described as world class!

The Superhotspur player of the tournament: Connor Ogilvie. Strong, powerful and decisive at both ends of the pitch. 22 year old Connor Ogilvie had a magnificent tournament, the skipper lead the team by example and was without doubt our most effective player. He put in some heroic defensive performances whilst combing that with some lovely galavanting runs down the left wing. Please may Pochettino integrate him into the first team squad this season !!

Goals: EA Guingamp – Ryade Hachem (7 minutes).

Our under 23’s pre season stats during the 2018/19 season:

Goals: Marcus Edwards – 2
Connor Ogilvie – 1

Assists: Marcus Edwards – 2
Jamie Bowden – 1