Lambeth born defender Marqes Muir (18) has been part of Spurs’ Academy setup since a young age, and the centre-half has been a player who has made big strides since joining the Academy full-time in the summer of 2019. Muir first made a Spurs Under 18 squad in a competitive game back in the April of the 2018/19 season as a schoolboy footballer, when he made the bench against Aston Villa in a league game (he didn’t play in that game). Signing scholarship forms with Spurs in the summer of 2019, Marqes Muir made his competitive Under 18 debut for Spurs in a 4-0 opening day league defeat to a very talented Fulham side at the start of the 2019/20 season. During that season which ended early Marqes made over 15 competitive appearances for Matt Taylor’s side, and I felt that he improved by each game. Muir also featured for the Under 23’s in a pre-season friendly against Enfield Town just before the season started. During the 2020/21 season Marqes made 24 competitive appearances (all starts) for the Spurs Under 18 side, captaining them on a good number of occasions, and he also made two competitive appearances for the Spurs Under 23 side (his first two competitive appearances for them). An important player for Matt Taylor’s Under 18 side last season as a second year scholar, Muir has started this pre-season with Spurs’ Under 23 side, now that he is a first year pro with the club. He played the Under 23’s opening pre-season friendly against Ramsgate FC last Saturday, and also our most recent one against Enfield Town, playing well in both at RCB.

So what type of defender is Marqes Muir? Well he is mainly a centre-half, who plays on the right hand side of defence. Although he is also capable of playing at right-back, a position that I have been impressed with him playing at. However, as a centre-half, Marqes is one of the best Academy centre-halves that I have ever seen at bringing the ball out from the back. He brings it out with such ease and skill, something which helps him to play right-back so effectively. A leader in defence, Muir is in my opinion a complete centre-half, in the sense that I don’t think that there are any real faults to his game. He is an alert centre-half who is quick, has a great positional sense, has very good distribution and is courageous when defending. Really good at making blocks, owing to his fine positioning, the Londoner has so many very good and important attributes. A player that I really enjoy watching defend, Marqes is a good one on one defender whose strength and ability not to get bullied by defenders makes him a real defensive force. However, Marqes also has good reactions, and he is a commanding player. Dominant in the air and calm under pressure, Muir is good at making well timed interceptions and challenges (he is intelligent and only slides in if he has too), and also at stepping in front of forwards, being assertive and winning the ball in important areas of the pitch. A classy defender who is so good on the ball, I have been really impressed with his ability on the ball ever since I first saw him play.

There are some games that Marqes has played in for Spurs during recent seasons, that I would just like to focus in on. A league game against Fulham’s Under 18 side at home during the 2019/20 season saw Marqes play at right-back, where he defended against Fulham winger Imani Lanquedoc. Muir totally neutralised the threat that the Fulham player posed, and he also stayed tight to the Fulham player, kept really good positioning and also defended solidly throughout the entirety of the match. In another game during the same season and this time playing at RCB, Marqes Muir had to defend against Norwich City’s then Under 18 centre-forward Tyrese Omotoye, and again Muir put in a very good defensive performance, as he teamed up with former Spurs player Aaron Skinner at centre-half. During that game Marqes made countless blocks, interceptions and clearances, and he was also very strong on the ball, as he put in a very intelligent defensive performance. During the two Under 23 pre-season friendlies played so far this summer Marqes has looked very solid. Good at bringing the ball out from the back in both games against Ramsgate FC and Enfield Town, Muir made a fine block in the Enfield game and also cut out a promising attack for the home side. And he put in another strong defensive performance in the game against Ramsgate. I’m really looking forward to seeing Marqes hopefully get a really good amount of games for the Under 23 side this season. And I wish him all the very best of luck for the new season and congratulate him on two fine years of scholarship at Spurs.