Players focused on “being really effective” – Stuart Lewis
Sat 08 March 2025, 20:10|
Tottenham Hotspur
Under-18s Coach Stuart Lewis revealed how his players worked on their ruthlessness on the pitch in the lead-up to Saturday’s high-scoring north London derby victory.
Three goals either side of half-time gave our youngsters a remarkable 6-4 triumph over Arsenal at Hotspur Way, keeping us in with a chance of going top of the Under-18 Premier League southern division table if we win our games in hand.
After the dust had settled on the contest, which featured some outstanding goals, Stuart underlined the importance of showing conviction in the final third – something that he’s been working on with the squad in recent times.
“There’s been a big drive this week for the players on being really effective,” he told SPURSPLAY. “I felt that last week against Southampton in the final third we lacked that little bit of conviction and ruthlessness, but that was definitely on show today and obviously there were some brilliant individual goals within that.
“To beat Arsenal at any level is always a really proud day for the staff and the players, so to get the three points was great and the performance we had at times today was excellent as well. Some of the in-possession and final-third work was outstanding and the goals were worthy of winning any game.”
While naturally pleased with the outcome, Stuart emphasised the constant hunger among the group to improve, particularly with another Under-17 Premier League Cup final – our fourth youth team cup final in as many years under the former midfielder – still to come later this season.
“As I’ve said on a few occasions this year, we’re a young group with predominantly first-years and some second-years too, but the players have made brilliant progress as a collective and there have been some really enjoyable matchdays for the squad so hopefully there’s more to come, in the cup final but also in the league,” he said.
“Individually, the strides the players have made in their personal development have been excellent so we’ll continue to drive that and continue to hopefully get the players to show that maturity to their play – that was definitely evident in the second half today.”