Christian Eriksen led by example in Tottenham’s 5-0 win over Gillingham in the EFL Cup.
The Dane scored Spurs’ first two goals, before Vincent Janssen, Josh Onomah, and Erik Lamela added the others.
However, Mauricio Pochettino will have no doubt had little interest in how senior players blitzed the League One side, and will have been keeping a far closer eye on his youngsters.
Onomah, Anton Walkes, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Marcus Edwards all featured, and all four put in impressive performances.
Onomah – this was his first goal at senior level, but he generally looked comfortable in the midfield and showed why he’s been getting the odd game in the Premier League too.
Walkes – the young defender didn’t have an awful lot to do, but was similarly comfortable.
Edwards – while he came on later than many expected, that may have been to ease the pressure on his shoulders, a shrewd move by Pochettino having earlier compared him to Lionel Messi. Dribbling wise, he was excellent, and was unlucky not to score with a decent shot.
Carter-Vickers – Pochettino is 100% right about the 18-year-old judging by this game. The USA youth international is a thoroughly solid centre-back, a position his manager knows well. Full marks, too, for not having Spurs’ Academy products’ trademark haircut.
All four could be ones for the future, so it will be interesting to see if Pochettino puts the ultimate faith in them by giving any of them a run-out in the Premier League.
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