Tottenham academy graduate Kazaiah Sterling has recounted his experience working with Mauricio Pochettino and many of the superstars in the club’s first-team squad.
Sterling, who joined Tottenham’s academy from Leyton Orient in 2015, starred for the club at the youth levels and was seen as a potential first-team prospect by many at Hotspur Way.
However, the former England Under-18 international never managed to break through at Spurs, and following a few spells in the EFL, has forged a career in the United States, playing in the second tier behind the MLS.
Now 27 years old, Sterling is one of the stars of the Baller League, an indoor six-a-side competition, which is quickly gaining popularity in the UK.
The former Tottenham man was on the cusp of the first-team when Pochettino was in charge and had opportunities to train with the Spurs squad.
He admitted that at first, he was scared of the Argentine, explaining that the former Spurs boss was extremely demanding in training.
When asked about working with Pochettino, Sterling said (via Football.London): “He was really good, but my first years, I was very scared, because he didn’t really speak to us, he didn’t give too much away. My first encounter with him, I was definitely very scared. Obviously, as a young player, you want to really impress.
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“But the more I got to work with him, I really enjoyed it. He’s very professional, very demanding. I feel like even to this day, a lot of the habits he kind of forced upon us stick.
“With him, because he’s very professional, if you’re not doing certain things, you won’t be in the first team. When I first came up, he didn’t really care who you were, if weren’t training properly, not professional all the time, you weren’t going to be anywhere near the first team.
“That’s how Harry Kane got his chance. That was Pochettino’s philosophy. It doesn’t matter who you are, as long as you work and show that you’re willing to listen and be professional, then he’ll give you a chance. It was really good to be around that sort of environment.”
Sterling names the senior Spurs stars who took him under their wing
The former Tottenham man confessed that the likes of Aaron Lennon and Danny Rose were helpful when he was coming through the ranks at Hotspur Way.
However, unsurprisingly, he named Harry Kane as the player he looked up to the most, given that the now-England captain had come from the club’s academy.
When asked about his experience training with the big-name stars at Spurs, Sterling responded: “Adebayor was hilarious, honestly. When he was training with us, he was quite good to be fair. Aaron Lennon was really good. I’d say that definitely helped me.
“In my first few months, I was paired up with Aaron for a lot of time training against him. It was good to see what the level of a first-team player was like. I enjoyed them training with us. It helped me get a taste for what first-team football is like.”
“Danny Rose was really good with me. He really looked out for me,” he remembered. “Eric Dier, he was really good with the young players. Michel Vorm as well. Danny took me under his wing and was very encouraging, as was Eric.
“To me, Harry Kane wasn’t just a first-team player, he was an academy prospect as well. Knowing I was going to be training with someone like that, taking the same steps, was so inspiring and encouraging.
“And on top of that, his quality was like… well it was a joke, honestly. Everything he’d do was literally perfect, each strike was perfect, honestly. Training, even replicating it in games, seeing what he’s doing now is no surprise to me at all.”