If you are saying who, to this young man’s name then let me educate you upon why Ryan Fredericks is the next Kyle Walker for Spurs.
Ryan Fredericks plays as a RB, although likes to bomb forward when he can. He has made one appearance in his entire Spurs career against Anzhi, where he played a solid 45 minutes. He made 3 tackles as well as 15 passes and two clearances. One of which, was a vital one. On that evening, he showed he was capable of playing to an acceptable role, and maybe more. Of course, at the age of 21 he still has many years of football ahead of him and many footballing lessons to learn. But, early on in his career he has shown great promise.
Signing a professional contract with Spurs in July 2010 after joining the youth set-up in July 2009, Fredericks was part of the very sucessful U-21’s team that went all the way to the final of the U-21’s Premier league. However, they were beaten by the Manchester United U21 squad. The League had a very unusual set up, where the top two teams in the final league table played against each other to win the tournament. Spurs had gone many points clear from United, and suffered a bad day at the office in the final. The rules are soon to be changed for this tournament however.
Loaned to Brentwood, he has made four appearances in League 2. He returned to the club to play in the Europa league qualifier against Hearts and made three first team appearances in Europe. He started out as an attacking player, grabbing seven goals in sixteen appearances.
First game, first goal. Ryan scored a fantastic goal (or perhaps an overhit cross as his team-mates joked) on his debut for Millwall, on loan. It was enough to secure the points for Millwall in their match against Ipswich Town. This was similiar to Andros Townsend’s goal earlier in the season for Spurs, where the cross missed everyone including the keeper and found it’s way into the goal.
Lightning quick, Ryan can speed past his man on the wing and leave them trailing behind. To have this attribute really helps at right back, for it means he can get up and down the pitch both offensively and defensively and can use his speed to cover himself if he makes an error. Just like Kyle Walker, his pace is truly mesmerizing.
Walker is still young of course, but he does not have a lot of backup when he is injured. Naughton would be his replacement, but he is often used to cover the left back position too. If Fredericks keeps improving, he will be able to get into the first team for sure. With the amount of injuries Spurs seem to pick up lately, it is best to have as much cover as you can.
Sherwood is very keen on introducing more of his youth players to the first team, Bentaleb as the main example. Fredericks is currently still out on loan to Millwall, but it shouldn’t be too long before he’s making an impact on the backline for the Lilywhites.
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