Poch challenges Spurs starlets to step up

Mauricio Pochettino has challenged his young Tottenham Hotspur players to make a name for themselves during the tour of the USA.

With the likes of Hugo Lloris, Kieran Trippier, Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Harry Kane all missing following their World Cup involvement, it has opened the door to the host of Tottenham’s academy players to train on a daily basis with the first team and try and catch the eye of Pochettino.

Among those one the plane to the States were Anthony Georgiou, Kaziah Sterling and Tashan Oalkey-Boothe.

Tottenham play three matches as part of their involvement in the International Champions Cup, with matches against AS Roma (San Diego), Barcelona (Los Angeles) and AC Milan (Minneapolis).

I’m particularly hoping that Sterling is given a chance to impress, with Kane absent and Fernando Llorente potentially likely to leave, we are desperate for a player who can put the ball in the back of the net.

“It’s a massive opportunity for our younger players to show their quality and for players to show they are in condition to fight for a place in the first team,” Pochettino told the official Spurs website.

“We have three very good tests and more than results, it’s about how we are going to approach the games and both collective and individual performances,” he added.

“It’s about players showing they are in condition to fight for a place in the starting 11 and to share that with our fans in America will be fantastic.”

“We’re looking forward to playing, looking forward to a nice Tour and sharing [time] with our fans, that’s important too.”