Stuart on new Under-18s season: “We love to play on the front foot”
Fri 16 August 2024, 23:20|
Tottenham Hotspur
Under-18s Coach Stuart Lewis wants his players to continue the good work of pre-season when the new Under-18 Premier League campaign gets underway at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday (11am UK, live on SPURSPLAY).
Since returning from the summer break, our new-look squad – which now includes 13 new first-year scholars alongside the second-year group, boosted even further by some talented Under-16s players – has won four behind-closed-doors friendlies, scoring 22 goals and conceding just once, while also reaching the final of the Premier League Next Generation Cup in Birmingham, where we lost narrowly to Stellenbosch.
For Stuart, it’s important for the players to continue making progress when the competitive action gets underway this weekend.
“It’s been a productive pre-season period with two trips – a training camp in York and a tournament weekend in Birmingham – and we’ve had some good time on the training pitch,” he said.
We’ll have to be switched on and be at our best at all times. It’s important for us to play well.
“The new first-years have settled into training and are making progress alongside the second-year group, so it’s really positive and we’re looking forward to the start of the season at home to Crystal Palace. It’ll be a good, physical challenge for us – they’re always very good on the counter, on the transition and they play with energy so we’ll have to be switched on and be at our best at all times. It’s important for us to play well.”
After enjoying a high-scoring pre-season campaign, Stuart underlined the importance of dominating all areas of the pitch if we’re to continue to make progress.
“The Club’s philosophy is to play attacking football and for myself and the staff, we love to see players playing on the front foot,” he said. “That’s something that we continue to implement, but it’s vitally important that we defend our box collectively and with purpose as well. We have that attacking style that we love to see and which the Club demands, we want to play on the front foot and play with courage, but we have to defend in one-v-ones and be brave in defensive moments too.”
