Colchester United 0-0 Tottenham (4-3 after penalties): 3 Talking Points

#2 Fringe players fail to take their chances

Arsenal FC v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League

Tottenham are one of the biggest sides in England, and concordantly have a relatively large squad to boot.

As with all other big sides, there are several quality players who are regularly left out of the first-team picture, relegated to substitute appearances.

The League Cup is generally used as a testing ground for the bigger teams, and the fact that Tottenham were paired with a much weaker opposition offered Pochettino to chance to try out players on the fringes as well as young academy prospects.

Starts were handed to forgotten first teamers like Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama, while players like Dele Alli were also given opportunities to find their best form.

There was also space for academy youngsters like Troy Parrott and Japhet Tanganga who got first starts for the senior team.

Mauricio Pochettino would have been hoping for the fielded players to step up to the plate, but that failed to happen, as Tottenham toiled in vain for the first 60 minutes of the fixture.

Ultimately, the 47-year-old had to turn to his bench, bringing on Heung-Min Son, Eric Lamela and Christian Eriksen for the last half hour in a bid to swing the pendulum in his side's favour, but it was a little too late, as the visitors simply could not break down a determined Colchester backline.

In a damning indictment of the performances of the youngsters sent out against Colchester, all three substitutions made by Pochettino saw him remove the academy prospects, with Oliver Skipp, Troy Parrott and Japhet Tanganga all substituted for their more accomplished colleagues.

The game against Colchester offered an opportunity for young players and fringe players to send their statement of intent to the manager, but they failed to take the opportunity and it is hard to imagine when such opportunity would arise again.