I thought that I’d write a little piece where I would do a profile on every Spurs goalkeeper who is part of the Spurs Under 23 squad. In the following piece I have tried to describe what the Spurs Under 23’s goalkeepers’ greatest attributes are, and also what their style of play as a goalkeeper is. We have some very promising young goalkeepers in the Academy setup at Spurs, and whilst I haven’t included Under 18’s goalkeepers Aaron Maguire, Adam Hayton and Luca Gunter (as I have hardly seen them play), they too are very promising goalkeepers that I’m sure Spurs fans will be hearing a lot more about over the coming seasons.

Alfie Whiteman: Although not technically part of the Spurs Under 23 squad, Alfie Whiteman is still under 23. The Londoner who is 22 and who has already made his competitive debut for Spurs’ first team (last season) is a former England youth international who has been at Spurs for many years. Part of the Spurs Academy age group which included Marcus Edwards, Japhet Tanganga and Samuel Shashoua, Alfie Whiteman was very good at Under 18 level for Spurs and he got a good number of games for the club at that level. At times stepping up to play for the Spurs Under 23 side when he was still an Academy scholar, Alfie first made a Spurs first team squad (made the bench for the first team) for the first time during the 2015/16 season. A goalkeeper with very good positioning and good reflexes, Alfie Whiteman has a good goal kick, is reliable and is also quite good at saving penalties. Often part of Spurs’ first team squads over the course of recent seasons, the goalkeeper hasn’t had a good run of games for the Under 23 side since the 2017/18 season, when him and Brandon Austin were the two main goalkeepers for the Under 23’s. Alfie has only featured on a small number of occasions for the Under 23 side in the seasons since then, and he has mainly been with the first team, where he has more often than not trained with them on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see whether the promising and clearly highly rated goalkeeper goes out on his first loan move this season, or whether he remains with the Spurs first team squad for another season.

Brandon Austin: An excellent young goalkeeper who is currently on loan at American MLS side Orlando City SC, Brandon Austin (22) was part of the same Spurs Academy age group as the previously mentioned Alfie Whiteman. The goalkeeper from Hemel Hempstead has been a regular at Academy level for Spurs since joining the Academy full-time in the summer of 2015. The former Chelsea Academy player was mainly the second choice goalkeeper to Alfie Whiteman in the Under 18 side during the 2015/16 season, but during the following season he got a lot more minutes for the Under 18 side. A regular and very important player for our Under 23 side during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, Austin went out on his first loan move to Danish side Viborg FF (they played in the second division at the time), halfway into the 2019/20 season, and he became their first choice goalkeeper, putting in a series of impressive performances during the second half of their season. Returning to Spurs for the following 2020/21 season, the goalkeeper who has been called up to the England Under 21 side on occasions over the past few years would go onto make eight competitive appearances for Spurs’ Under 23 side last season. He joined MLS side Orlando City SC in early 2021, and although he has played five matches for them in the MLS during the current season, he is currently their second choice goalkeeper. Austin has done well when he has played for them so far and I’m hoping that he’ll get more opportunities to impress before the end of the MLS season.

Austin is a terrific shot stopper who has great reflexes, is very quick on his feet, maintains good positioning throughout matches and also commands his box very well. Really good in my opinion at coming out to catch the ball from corner kicks and crosses, the Spurs man has also improved on his distribution during recent seasons. A very vocal goalkeeper on the pitch, Brandon talks his defence through matches really well. I definitely see him as somebody who has the potential to become a future Spurs first choice goalkeeper at some point in the future, as in my opinion Brandon has all of the important attributes needed to succeed.

Joshua Oluwayemi: London born goalkeeper Joshua Oluwayemi was recently called up to the Nigeria senior national team for an international friendly against Mexico (he was unused substitute), after impressing for Spurs’ Under 23 side during the 2020/21 season. The 20 year old is not the tallest of goalkeepers but is still very commanding inside his penalty area. Oluwayemi signed scholarship forms with Spurs for the 2017/18 season, but during that campaign he only played a handful of games. During the following 2018/19 season Joshua established himself as an important player for the Spurs Under 18 side, and he made a really good number of appearances for them that season. During the 2019/20 season Oluwayemi made five Premier League 2 appearances for the Spurs Under 23 side, but for the start of the following 2020/21 season he joined National League side Maidenhead United on loan. Oluwayemi made two competitive appearances for Maidenhead United before returning to Spurs and going on to make 12 appearances for Wayne Burnett’s Spurs Under 23 side, and he impressed in the games that I saw him play. A goalkeeper who is alert, has really good reactions, commands his box well and is also somewhat of an expert at saving penalties. Joshua made the bench for the Spurs first team against Colchester United in a pre-season friendly earlier in the week, and it will be very interesting to see whether or not he goes out on another loan this season. Joshua is another very promising Spurs Academy goalkeeper.

Kacper Kurylowicz: A former Poland youth international who was born in Luton but brought up in Milton Keynes. Kacper Kurylowicz is a goalkeeper who I am a big fan of, and now in his second year full-time with the Spurs Under 23 side Kurylowicz will be hoping to get more game time for the Under 23 side this season. The 19 year old only made three appearances for the Spurs Under 18 side during his first season of scholarship at Spurs. Kurylowicz then made 11 Under 18 Premier League South appearances during the following 2019/20, doing well in all of those games in my opinion. During the 2020/21 season Kacper made two competitive appearances for the Spurs Under 23 side, in what was his first season full-time with the Under 23 squad. Kurylowicz is a goalkeeper who is quick out of his penalty area and at sweeping up outside of his box, he is a really good shot stopper and has always impressed me with his distribution. Kacper is also good at dealing with crosses and set-pieces, but most of all he is a leader, and a goalkeeper whose organisation skills and encouragement of his defence are top quality attributes of his. In addition Kurylowicz is very good in one on one situations, and he often makes saves from those situations. I’m really hoping that Kacper gets a really good run of games for the Under 23 side during the 2021/22 season, as I think that he has a promising future in the game and is a goalkeeper that Spurs fans will hopefully be hearing more about over the coming seasons.

Thimothée Lo-Tutala: Paris born former Brentford youth goalkeeper Thimothée Lo-Tutala was often the captain of Spurs’ Under 18 side last season (2020/21). Lo-Tutala made 17 competitive appearances for the Spurs Under 18 side last season, plus one appearance for the Spurs Under 23 side. A tall goalkeeper who has good distribution, is commanding from crosses and who reads the game well from inside his penalty area, Thimothée also has very good reflexes. After competing for a place in the Spurs Under 18 side with Kacper Kurylowicz during the 2019/20 season, Lo-Tutala improved even more last season as he became the first choice goalkeeper for the Under 18 side. And the fact that the now first year pro has already made his competitive Under 23 debut for Spurs, as well as featuring in two friendlies for them in pre-season (he impressed in the friendly game against Ramsgate) will help Thimothée for this season when he’ll be with the Under 23 side on a full-time basis.

Isak Solberg: Norway Under 18 international Isak Solberg is a very tall goalkeeper who is a good shot stopper, and who is also not afraid to be vocal on the pitch. Unfortunately I can’t really elaborate further on what type of goalkeeper Isak is, as he has only played one competitive game for Spurs (at Under 18 level) in two seasons. Solberg will be a part of the Spurs Under 23 side on a full-time basis this season.