Tottenham Hotspur are struggling at under-23 level.
Tottenham Hotspur’s under-23 side were hammered by Arsenal on Friday night.
The 4-0 defeat led to coach Wayne Burnett lambasting the team’s performance.
Burnett was clearly angry with the performance, telling the club website he felt the display was below the standards expected.
He said: “We’re bitterly disappointed that we’ve not managed to compete in a north London derby.
“That isn’t a representation of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and we can’t allow that to happen. We improved slightly in the second half but the game was pretty much done in the first half-an-hour.
“We need to have a long, hard look at ourselves as a group. I’ve got a lot of emotions and at the end of the night, we’re all bitterly disappointed.”
Burnett is right to be emotional; a heavy derby defeat tends to bring out that sort of reaction.
Unfortunately for Spurs, the defeat is not a one off.
The team sits 10th in the Premier League 2 table in their section out of 12 teams, and one team two points below them has two games in hand.
Spurs’ goal difference of minus 13 is the worst in the division.
Tottenham have a track record of bringing through top young players, and there are bright talents in the team like under-17 World Cup winner Tashan Oakley-Boothe.
Burnett was appointed after the sad and sudden death of Ugo Ehiogu and he has not enjoyed a strong run of results.
Tottenham’s under-23 side now have only four wins from 17 league games.
One option for Spurs is to change coach at the end of the season and hope it inspires better results.
Another possibility for Tottenham is to recruit in the summer, bringing in young players at a cheap costs to go straight into the under-23 team.
If results continue like this, a change of approach will be needed, and Bennett’s reaction at the weekend highlighted the frustration which appears to be building.
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