Legendary former keeper Brad helps Academy stoppers during lockdown

Brad Friedel was among three members of the goalkeepers’ union to lend guidance to some of our current Academy keepers over the last few days.

The popular former USA international, who played 67 times for us between 2011 and 2015 and holds the record for the most consecutive Premier League starts of any player in history, took part in a live video Q&A session from his home in the States for our Under-15 to Under-18 stoppers, where he gave them some valuable insight into the mentality required to reach the top of their game and passed on some useful practical tips for them to work on while they remain at home during this period of unprecedented social shutdown.

Spurs Academy graduate and Sweden international Oscar Jansson, who was with us between 2007 and 2012 and has since gone on to enjoy a fine career in the Swedish top flight with home town club Orebro SK, also gave up his time to take part in a similar session, as did current Spur Brandon Austin, 21, who is this season on loan at Danish club Viborg FF, having progressed through our Academy since the age of nine, putting him in a great position to explain what the Club expects of its young players.

The online video classes were introduced by Academy Coach Perry Suckling as an additional means for our young keepers to further their development, alongside the daily coaching and exercise programmes the Club is providing for our Academy players to work on while in isolation.

All of our young goalkeepers are also able to benefit from the tutelage of our current senior keepers, led by first team goalkeeper coach Nuno Santos and club captain Hugo Lloris, over the course of their time in the Academy.

“The sessions with Brad, Oscar and Brandon were a great privilege and an excellent opportunity for our young goalkeepers to listen and participate,” said Perry. “All three passed on invaluable words of wisdom and provided an insight, based on their own playing careers and experiences, of the role of a goalkeeper, including the mindset, resilience and determination that is needed, plus, importantly, the psychological aspect of playing in goal. We as a Club are very fortunate to have former and current players as role models and our thanks go to Brad, Oscar and Brandon for taking the time to speak with us – everyone really enjoyed the sessions.”

Kacper Kurylowicz was one of a group of six young keepers who took part, which also included his fellow Under-18 squad members Thimothee Lo-Tutala and Isak Solberg. Kacper said: “It was a great experience being able to speak with Brad, Oscar and Brandon – they really put things into perspective for us. We had the privilege of speaking to Brad, whose story in the game is incredible. A big factor for me was to discover how he was addicted to the game, being so passionate about football and studying other goalkeepers whenever he could. Oscar told us about how he went out on loan when he was 18 and the realities of senior football that he discovered at that time, and Brandon shared his current experiences of being out on loan, telling us more about how crucial it is to win games in senior competitive football so that players can support their families. Brandon is also a great example of becoming independent at a young age, living in his own apartment in a foreign country – definitely a big life skill.”