Mikey Moore played a starring role in Tottenham’s win over AZ Alkmaar last night, earning rave reviews from fans and pundits, but Glenn Hoddle thinks we shouldn’t get too excited just yet.
Mikey Moore praised after Europa League win
Ange Postecoglou made a lot of changes to his line-up for the Europa League clash with AZ Alkmaar on Thursday, and Mikey Moore was one of the young players given the opportunity to start the game.
The 17-year-old started the game on the right wing and didn’t quite make the desired impact in the first half. But, after the interval, Moore made the move to the left side, and ended up changing the game.
Moore was a constant nuisance for the Alkmaar defenders, and dictated the flow of the game so much that his teammates seemingly decided the best course of action was to feed him the ball and let him work his magic.
The youngster was replaced late on to rapturous applause from the home crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and now has a legitimate claim to start again in the Premier League this weekend.
Hoddle impressed, but demands patience for Moore
But, according to Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle, we should not get too carried away by what we’ve seen from Mikey Moore so far, and remember that he is only 17-years-old and has room to grow.
He told TNT Sports 1 (24/10/24 – 22:32): “When he is 21, that is when you have got to judge players. There are a lot of ups and downs they go through but he has got natural talent.
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“It looks like he has got the right attitude as James Maddison said but he is a talent that wants to go and play, and play off the cuff to a certain degree and that’s what you get when you get youngsters going in the team. They play off the cuff and they are fearless.
“The test will be when he is older and people double up on him, they will understand what he is all about. He has got lots of challenges ahead of him but it is exciting. Every club, particularly Tottenham love a homegrown, they love to see somebody come through the ranks and make it into the first team.
“They will get behind him week in, week out. They’ll be talking about him in the pubs and bars now. It will be about Mikey Moore.”
Start Mikey Moore at the weekend
With Heung-min Son unlikely to feature against Crystal Palace this weekend, Postecoglou will surely turn to Mikey Moore and give him his first Premier League start. Timo Werner has proven he cannot be depended upon, and Moore is hungry to show what he can do, so he should be allowed to go out and make his mark. If he’s good enough, he’s old enough, and he’s definitely good enough.