Cameron Carter-Vickers

[skiathospurs]

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has declared that young defender Cameron Carter-Vickers can be one of the best defenders in England.

The 18-year-old Southend-born centre-back, whose father Howard Carter played basketball in the NBA, has been spoken about in hushed tones for a couple of years now as one of the brightest defensive prospects to have come out of the Lilywhites' academy.

Some have even compared him to Spurs legend Ledley King, in terms of his positioning, strength and ease on the ball as well as the ability to lead by example rather than bellowing out instructions.

He impressed at the U20 World Cup last year for the USA despite his tender years and former Spurs star Jurgen Klinsmann is believed to be looking to fast track him into their senior set-up.

So impressed was Pochettino with the teenager's performances this summer in high profile pre-season friendlies against Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan that Kevin Wimmer, so assured in deputising for the injured Jan Vertonghen last season, has lost his spot on the bench for every game this season until the win against Sunderland on Sunday when the bench contained no conventional central defender.
Carter-Vickers' Tottenham debut is likely to come against Gillingham in the EFL Cup. When asked whether the talented youngster would start, Pochettino would only say 'Maybe', albeit with a big grin on his face.

Pochettino will rotate his players against Gillingham, with Tottenham in the throes of a seven-game sequence in the space of 22 days and he is expected to include the 18-year-old centre-half Cameron Carter-Vickers, in the starting lineup for what would be his debut. Pochettino has extremely high hopes for the USA youth international and, as with Edwards, he was not shy about talking them up.

“For me, he can be one of the best centre-backs in England in the future,” Pochettino said. “He has a strong mentality and all the qualities for playing centre-back. Does he remind me of myself as a player? No, he is better than me. I said one of the best centre-backs in England.”

 

[skiathospurs]

Three Tottenham Hotspur academy graduates made their first-team debuts for Mauricio Pochettino on Wednesday night.

Cameron Carter-Vickers, Marcus Edwards and Anton Walkes all received game time as Spurs smashed Gillingham 5-0 in the third round of the EFL Cup at White Hart Lane in what was a monumental night for the North London club.

The match was even more special as fellow academy star Josh Onomah scored his first senior goal which was celebrated with gusto by a group of Spurs youngsters.

Carter-Vickers, who played a full 90 minutes in central defence, told Spurs TV: "It's fantastic.

"You could see when Josh scored, me and Harry Winks were the first to run over and congratulate him (with Edwards and Walkes involved on the touchline).

"It was good for him and for us to see someone that you've payed with for years score a goal at White Hart Lane.

"We've been together since we were 10 or 11. Everybody gets on, we know each other really well, so we all want each other to do well.

"You can look all through the academy, right from the younger ages, there's a lot of talent there.

"I think, especially with this manager, you will get your opportunity."

 

[skiathospurs]

Amid Marcus Edwards-mania, a good week for another of Tottenham's teenage academy graduates went relatively unnoticed.

"For me, he will be one of the best centre-backs in England in the future. He has a strong mentality and all the qualities for playing centre-back," coach Mauricio Pochettino said on Monday.
The Spurs manager was talking about Cameron Carter-Vickers, the 18-year-old USA youth international, but the bold prediction came after he had compared Edwards to Lionel Messi, and it was lost in the reaction to that.

The pair made their Tottenham debuts in Wednesday's 5-0 win against Gillingham in the EFL Cup third-round and Edwards' lively 15-minute cameo again generated more buzz than an assured 90 minutes from Carter-Vickers at centre-back.

"I'm very happy because if you see the confidence of Carter-Vickers, he was fantastic," said Pochettino after the match. "He came through the academy but he has the quality to impress us and play for the first team. It's important for Tottenham."

After nearly heading home a second-minute corner, Carter-Vickers had little more than a watching brief against a League One side who offered nothing going forward and left lone-striker Cody McDonald isolated between the teenager and Kevin Wimmer.

It was a stroll but Pochettino trusts Carter-Vickers to play at a higher level. He was hooked from the Under-21s last season and deployed full-time with the first team, and he may have made his debut sooner had a back injury not ruled him out from March. He has been on the bench for four of Spurs' five league matches and the Champions League defeat to AS Monaco -- ahead of Austria international Wimmer, who has been so impressive for the club and signed a new five-year contract in July.

"Cameron can give the team better quality than another player. All my decisions are because I think a player can give more things than another player. It's for that that I picked him on the bench," explained Pochettino.

Tottenham have high hopes for academy prospect Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Promotion beyond his years has been a theme of Carter-Vickers' fledging career. The USA -- aware that England could try to recruit the defender who was born to an English mother in Southend-on-Sea -- have fast-tracked him through their youth set-up.

At 16, he represented the Under-23s. "He's a special player. We didn't have any hesitation to bring him in," said youth coach Javier Perez.

And at 17, he was one of his country's best players at the U20 World Cup.

"Even though he's the youngest player on the squad, he's probably one of the most mature on the field in terms of the way he plays," coach Tab Ramos said. USMNT boss Jurgen Klinsmann must be considering a senior call-up.

Any centre-back that comes through Tottenham's academy will be compared to Ledley King -- Steven Caulker was -- but in the case of Carter-Vickers, club sources admit the comparison is apt. He is strong as an ox, comfortable on the ball and passing with both feet, and he reads the game well. He showed these qualities in Spurs' preseason trip to Melbourne, where he started the friendlies against Juventus and Atletico Madrid.

But it is his temperament that makes him most like King. He was a quiet captain of Spurs' U21s, leading by example and never losing control. He is placid off the pitch but a fierce competitor on it. It's possible, also, that Pochettino sees something of himself in Carter-Vickers -- both are just 6-foot, smaller than the average centre-back, but stocky and athletic -- but the former Argentina international said: "He is better than [I was]. I said one of the best centre-backs in England, and I wasn't one of the best in Spain!"

Carter-Vickers is unlikely to get carried away, though. He comes from good stock and his father, Howard "Hi-C" Carter had a promising but ultimately short-lived career in the NBA.

"My dad has had a big influence on me, in sporting terms," Carter-Vickers said last year. "He always tells me to stay level-headed."

If only Pochettino could do the same.

 

[J.spurs]

Obviously excited about this one on two fronts. Honestly, I really haven't seen that much of him since the U20 World Cup, but he's pretty highly-rated in our national setup, and we have a few fairly decent CBs. If Poch thinks he's better than Wimmer, that speaks volumes in itself..

 

[skiathospurs]

Tottenham Hotspur ‏@SpursOfficial 35m35 minutes ago


NEW CONTRACT: We are delighted to announce that @cameroncv2 has signed a new contract with the Club until 2019. #COYS

 

[Basskadet]

He's the...
Heart of our defence
Always up for the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rivals
He's a mighty defender
He's a true Lilywhite
And he's one of our own Cameron
Carter Vickers


Giant slayed

 

[Ted the Yid]

He still hasn't played for the US senior squad so could come in and save England.

 

[J.spurs]

He still hasn't played for the US senior squad so could come in and save England.

Probably won't be for a while either. I'm actually a little concerned this might happen.

 

[boo]

Tottenham teenager Cameron Carter-Vickers was "over the moon" to get a personal call from U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann to inform him of his first senior call-up.

Carter-Vickers, 18, has played just twice for Spurs -- against Gillingham and Liverpool in the EFL Cup -- but he is in Klinsmann's 26-man group for the World Cup qualifiers against Mexico and Costa Rica.

The centre-back, praised by Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino in September, has already represented his country at under-23 and U21 level, and he captained the U20s in a youth tournament last month.

"Jurgen called me to let me know that I was going to be in the squad -- I was over the moon!" the defender told Tottenham's official website.

"It was nice to talk to him, exciting as well. He did a lot of good things at Tottenham, he's regarded as a legend so it's definitely good to have that link."

Carter-Vickers in the son of former NBA player Howard "Hi-C" Carter but his mother is English and the Football Association has raised enquiries about the possibility he could switch allegiances to England.

However, the Southend-born teenager said he had been "working towards" a senior call-up for the United States, and added that he was hopeful of facing rivals Mexico for the first time.

"This is what I've been working towards and I'm really excited to go out there and get training with the team," he said.

"Especially the cup game at Anfield recently, it was a really good experience for me, I learned a lot from that game so this call-up is another step in the right direction and now I have to keep working.

"I'll go there, work hard in training and see what happens.

"It'll be great to be around the team and see what it's like to be around a big game like that. Through the youth ranks, I've never played against Mexico and since I've been with the U.S. it's something that I've always wanted to do."

Carter-Vickers will be reunited with U.S. full-back DeAndre Yedlin, who left Spurs for Newcastle in the summer, and he said: "It will be good to see DeAndre, I haven't seen him since he left for Newcastle but it's good to see that he's doing well up there and it will be nice to see him and have a chat."

 

[skiathospurs]

Tottenham Hotspur‏Verified account @SpursOfficial 39m39 minutes ago




.@cameroncv2 has signed a new contract with the Club until 2020 & has joined sheff utd on loan for the remainder of the 2017/18 season.

 

[wilson]

Tottenham Hotspur‏Verified account @SpursOfficial 39m39 minutes ago




.@cameroncv2 has signed a new contract with the Club until 2020 & has joined sheff utd on loan for the remainder of the 2017/18 season.

Makes sense now we have brought in Sanchez and also if the rumours are true and we are buying Foyth he's likely even further back in the pecking order.. Better that he gets some game time out on loan as I doubt he would feature in more than 1 or 2 matches this season for us.

Hope he smashes it there and gives Poch a real selection headache when he returns!

 

[Don Diaz]

I'd forgotten he had gone to Sheffield Inited, not sure how he's getting on but he's playing tonight against Leeds - big game.

 

[J.spurs]

I'd forgotten he had gone to Sheffield Inited, not sure how he's getting on but he's playing tonight against Leeds - big game.

Won 2-1, by all accounts, he's been very solid for them this year, I think he's started every game for them since the loan. I've only seen them once, but have read they're playing 3 in the back. Seems a good deal for all involved.

 

[skiathospurs]

Cameron Carter-Vickers has returned to the Club after spending the first half of the season on loan at Sheffield United.


Cameron, 20, played 17 times for the Blades in the Championship and scored on his debut at Bolton. He earned his first full cap for the USA in November.

 

[Don Diaz]

Cameron Carter-Vickers has returned to the Club after spending the first half of the season on loan at Sheffield United.


Cameron, 20, played 17 times for the Blades in the Championship and scored on his debut at Bolton. He earned his first full cap for the USA in November.

That loan has been a real success. He's played consistently well by all accounts.

 

[Yid]

It's good that he's been called back in but it makes you think that if he may be ready there may be one of the existing group not in the long term plans or falling doen the pecking order... good problem to have.

 

[skiathospurs]

 

[Don Diaz]

Not sure I understand that? Is he better/worse than Foyth for example, who I might have loaned instead and had CCV train with the squad for 4 months?

 

[skiathospurs]

Not sure I understand that? Is he better/worse than Foyth for example, who I might have loaned instead and had CCV train with the squad for 4 months?

word on the street is it wasnt working out at sheff utd regards playing time,simple as that they say.

 

[skiathospurs]

Poch "After 2 years training with us, he deserves to play. He needs to build his career. We're thinking one day he can come back and have success at Tottenham."

 

[Don Diaz]

word on the street is it wasnt working out at sheff utd regards playing time,simple as that they say.

I don't get that, he's played 17 times this season for them only 7 have appeared more times and he joined new, fresh out of the box.

 

[skiathospurs]

I don't get that, he's played 17 times this season for them only 7 have appeared more times and he joined new, fresh out of the box.

then i guess it was a question of how he was being asked to play?or have they bought someone in that position?cos it seems ipswich was done&dusted for it to happen so quick

 

[Don Diaz]

then i guess it was a question of how he was being asked to play?or have they bought someone in that position?cos it seems ipswich was done&dusted for it to happen so quick

I don't know...but I agree. He was getting good reviews on their forums I think.

 

[BrooklynYid]

Hope he does well. My take on him though is that he's not a top 4 defender. Hope I am wrong, but he just doesn't appear to have to pace to be an elite CB. It appears Sheffield brought in an experienced player at his position and that he wasn't going to play.

 

[skiathospurs]

 

[Don Diaz]

That's brilliant and he's still very young, I really hope he makes it with Spurs, he's such a huge presence in defence. I just wonder what the thinking at the club is if he hasn't yet been drafted in to train with the first team. I get the 'experience' and game time bit, but Foyth I would imagine is ahead of CCV in the pecking order?

It might end up being a similar situation to de Yedlin and Alex Pritchard, .....who btw was very good today before he was substituted. Alex and CCV may have found their level without really having a proper shot at Spurs team? I don't know, let's see. Good luck Cameron.

 

[Finchbee]

 

[Don Diaz]

Pleased but surprised, why buy Foyth and Sanchez? very long term strategy ie post Vertonghen

 

[Finchbee]

Pleased but surprised, why buy Foyth and Sanchez? very long term strategy ie post Vertonghen

Increasing value for Sale

 

[Don Diaz]

Bloody hell the bloke is still only 20 years old.......not surprised we want to keep him.