Month: February 2023

Looking at how former Spurs Academy player Chay Cooper is getting on in his footballing career:

Posted on by superhotspur

Chay Cooper is one of the most skilful players that I have seen play for Spurs at Academy level. From Harlow in Essex, and formerly of Southend United’s Academy set-up, winger Chay Cooper was at Spurs for a number of seasons as an Academy player, up until leaving the club at the end of the 2020/21 season. Mainly playing as a winger, Chay could also play in central-midfield or as a CAM. Another player who was a part of the very talented 2018/19 Academy first year group, Chay Cooper is a player with an excellent low centre of gravity. He is a very creative player, who is direct with the ball, and has tremendous ability to go past players with skill. Chay also has a real eye for goal, and he scored a good number of goals for Spurs at Academy level. Chay loves to test the goalkeeper from distance, and the player who first featured for the Spurs Under 18 side in 2018/19, would get a lot more game time for them in the following 2019/20 season. It was to be a season that I thought Chay excelled in for the Spurs Under 18 side.

Getting a good number of goals and assists during 2019/20, the then second year scholar Chay Cooper did really well during that season for Spurs. In the important FA Youth Cup fourth round tie away to Wigan Athletic, which Spurs lost 2-0. Chay unfortunately missed that game through injury, but such was the form that he was in that season for Spurs’ Under 18 side, I reckon that he could well have given  Spurs a much better chance of winning that game, had he played. After featuring for the Spurs Development side during the 2020/21 pre-season, Chay Cooper didn’t actually feature for the then Spurs Under 23 side that season, in competitive matches. He left Spurs at the end of 2020/21, and would go onto sign for League Two side Colchester United for the following season. A regular and very important player for Colchester’s Development side during that season, Chay scored an impressive 13 goals for the then Colchester Under 23 side. 

I attended one of the Colchester Under 23’s league matches (against Watford) during the 2021/22 season, and I thought that Chay was Colchester’s best player, in what were very windy conditions in Essex, on that day. The former Spurs man also made five competitive appearances for the Colchester United first team in 2021/22, scoring one goal and providing one assist from those matches. His goal, which came on the final day of the 2021/22 League Two season against Hartlepool, was yet another stylish and well taken goal. This season however, Chay hasn’t played a lot of football for Colchester, because of injury. He has made one appearance for Colchester’s first team, and some for their Under 21 side. And on his fairly recent return from injury he scored two goals for Colchester against Saffron Walden Town. Just this week it was announced that Chay had joined National League South side St Albans City, on loan until the end of the season. He could well make his debut for St Albans on Saturday afternoon, in their home league game against Hampton & Richmond Borough. 

I would like to wish Chay a very successful remainder of the season. I look forward to hopefully attending a St Albans game before the end of the season.

Some notes on Spurs’ very promising Academy goalkeeper Luca Gunter:

Posted on by superhotspur

17 year old Spurs Academy goalkeeper Luca Gunter is a tall, very commanding, vocal goalkeeper, who has great reflexes and organisation skills. Previously with West London club QPR, Luca joined the Spurs Academy set-up a number of years ago now. And the Enfield born second year scholar has represented England at youth level for a number of years, and is a current England Under 18 international. Luca made his competitive Under 18’s debut for Spurs in the autumn of the 2021/22 season, and he had some really fine games in goal, before missing quite a lot of the second half of last season, because of injury. This season, and after making his first appearance for the Spurs Under 21 side in a pre-season friendly with Enfield Town, Luca has started all 16 competitive games that the Spurs Under 18 side have played so far this season, and he has been the captain of the side. Luca also made three appearances for the Spurs Under 19 side earlier on this season, a competition which he did well in. 

Luca Gunter is a commanding goalkeeper, and in the good number of games that I have seen him play for Spurs at Academy level, I have been impressed with his all-round goalkeeping. He is great at making reflex saves, organising his defence, and leading by example from inside his penalty area. He had a terrific game against Wolverhampton Wanderers last season in the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup, making a great number of impressive saves, in a 3-0 loss for Spurs. He was without doubt Spurs’ best player in that game. He reads the game well, and is very good at rushing off his line to close down the angles to make that all important save. Also, Luca had an outstanding game in an Under 18 Premier League Cup fixture on his competitive debut for the Spurs Under 18 side last season, against Stoke City. A game in which he kept a clean-sheet in. So far this season he has kept five clean-sheets (four for the Spurs Under 18 side and one for the Spurs Under 19 side).

One of Luca’s finest games of this season came against his old club QPR in the third round of the FA Youth Cup. Unfortunately Spurs lost that game, but Luca had a very good match. He also really impressed against Marseille in the UEFA Youth League, keeping a clean-sheet in that game as well as making a number of important saves. As recent as the Spurs Under 18’s last competitive game (against Chelsea), Luca made a hugely important and excellent late save to stop a fine effort from winning the game for Chelsea. I’m looking forward to seeing how he progresses over the next couple of seasons. And I wish Luca all the very best of luck for the remainder of 2022/23.