As Spurs Stumble, The Youth Rises

So.. Saturday was not a fun day Spurs supporters. We again saw the gift and the curse of Emmanuel Adebayor, but the 5-2 loss in the North London Derby has Spurs in a tailspin.

However, at the youth level we are continuing to see a renaissance. Tom Carroll is breaking through with the first team, impressing with the first team to a point where his creativity might force him into the starting XI. A homegrown player in Steven Caulker has become and England international. And young acquisitions like Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton continue to play.

Spurs youth sides continue to put in impressive performances. The U-21 side has now gone five points clear in its U-21 Premier League group after beating Stoke City 4-1 on Sunday. The team is built around its midfield quintet, as Dean Parrett, Ryan Mason, Cristan Ceballos, Alex Pritchard and Andros Townsend have put in consistent dominant performances together. Add Jon Obika proving an adept goalscorer and the combo of Ryan Fredericks and Massimo Luongo starring in defense and you have a potent young core.

Pritchard, Ceballos, Mason, and Obika all tallied goals in the game, while dynamic runs from Townsend and great passing from Dean Parrett set the table. This is not to mention another substitute appearance from Souleymane Coulibaly, the 17-year old U-17 World Cup star who is playing at a level with players far older than him.

At the same time, the Tottenham U-18s tallied a 4-3 win over Stoke City. The star of the team is becoming Kenny McEvoy, the Irish youth international and Gareth Bale clone. McEvoy tallied a hat trick and assist in the game, a truly dominant performance from the promising young attacker.

All in all, it again is seeming more likely than ever that we might see Spurs rebuke that "You'll never win anything with kids." As the first team's fortunes fall, could the answer come in this youth contingent? Sound off with who you want to see getting a chance with the first team.