Tottenham: Youngster compared to Messi; ex-defender returns; Kane Twitter update

By Dan Zeqiri

The League Cup always gives clubs an opportunity to blood youngsters, and the name on the tongues of many Spurs fans at the moment is Marcus Edwards. His manager Mauricio Pochettino has not been hesitant to give him a big billing before tonight’s tie with Gillingham at White Hart Lane, comparing the 17-year-old to Lionel Messi. Edwards signed a new two-year contract in July to fend off interest from other clubs, and is widely regarded as one of the best young players in the country. Pochettino said:

“Well, Marcus Edwards, he is still 17 years old. The qualities… it’s only looks, his body and the way that he plays, [we] remember a little bit from the beginning of Messi.”

“He’s small, he’s left-footed. OK, OK, remember a little bit [Erik] Lamela when he was at River Plate, remember he had long hair, when he was 14, 15 years old.”

We live in a time when people really object to the media heaping praise on young players, fearful that they could be ‘over-hyping’ them. This has probably happened with young English players in the past, but it would be a dull world if we arrived in post-modern state where we were not allowed to pay the slightest complement to talent in case we were accused of ‘going overboard’. It is refreshing to hear Pochettino put a little bit of pressure on the player rather than talk him down; the key with this type of man management is knowing which players will react well to these types of comments.

Elsewhere, tonight’s tie sees Gillingham manager Justin Edinburgh return to the white half of north London where he spent 10 years as a defender from 1990 to 2000. Edinburgh impressed as a manger in non-league football and has firmly established himself at the Gills. Speaking before the game he made no secret of his desire to manage his old club one day:

“I have ambitions and I want to manage in the Premier League. If I could pick a club, Spurs would be my dream job.

“But then do you ever get your dream job? Some people do. I started in the seventh tier of English football and I’m now two away. I’m a lot closer than I was.

“That’s my dream. Winning at White Hart Lane would help of course. You get recognised by your team doing well and getting good results, and hopefully that’s the case come Wednesday.”

Finally, Harry Kane has provided an update on his ankle injury via, vying to return to action as soon as possible (what else was he going to say?). The England international is expected to miss around two months after damaging his ankle ligaments in Sunday’s win over Sunderland, with new signing Vincent Janssen tasked with filling the void:

An intriguing aspect to the this lay off is that Spurs face Arsenal at the Emirates on 6th November in the season’s first North London Derby. Pochettino will want to get his star striker back for that fixture, and set up a potentially dramatic return to action.

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