Pochettino really loves Cameron Carter-Vickers

Kevin Wimmer is an established defender in top European soccer. He appeared 10 times for Spurs last season and featured for Austria at this summer’s European championships. Spurs fans are very curious as to why 18-year-old American defender Cameron Carter-Vickers has been named to the team’s match day squad over him in every match so far this season.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino isn’t afraid to defend his decision either. He told the media in his pre-game press conference that the U.S. youth international just deserves it more based off his preseason work.

"I believe that Cameron is doing well," said Pochettino. "If you watch again the games against Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Inter Milan, I think that maybe he deserves to play in the starting 11, because he can give to the team better quality than another player – it’s for that.

"All my decisions are because I think a player can give more things than another player. It’s for that that I’ve picked him on the bench.

"Kevin arrived late to pre-season and he was injured, remember. He didn’t play in Australia and Cameron did very well. You can watch the games – and if he deserves to be on the bench, then why not? Because he is young and another is…? It’s about performance."

These are very encouraging words for the young defender. Even though he’s made the squad in every match this season and some last season, he’s yet to make his competitive debut for the club. However, remarks like this lead us to believe that his debut could be right around the corner.

With the congested fixture schedule of Spurs, who are in four different competitions this season, if CCV can stay healthy that special moment will surely come for him at this rate.

Jurgen Klinsmann has to be delighted at this news as well. He’s surely keeping tabs on the talented dual-national. CCV has represented the USA at both the U-17 and U-20 levels. He’s still eligible for the current U-20 team but at this rate he’ll have his sights set on a senior team call-up before too long.

Klinsmann resisted the urge to call him up and cap-tie him against the likes of St. Vincent and the Grenadines last month, which means he’ll likely have to earn a call-up instead of being granted one based on his dual-national status. He’s eligible to play for England if he so chooses, but every indication is that he’s committed to the U.S. Soccer program.

If he keeps up his current pace it won’t be too long before Klinsmann picks up that phone and makes the call.