Ange Postecoglou has said the praise Mikey Moore has received this season will not impact the Spurs youngster.
Moore caught the eye during Tottenham’s 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday, with teammate James Maddison saying the 17-year-old reminded him of Neymar with his confidence on the ball.
“From minute 45 to 65, I thought we had Neymar on the left wing! (Moore) was brilliant,” Maddison told TNT Sports.
“Demanded the ball, fearless. That young fearless mentality, you never want to take that away from him.
“He’s a young kid, a brilliant lad. He’s a lovely boy, takes on information and he has got bags of ability. So, I will be there as an older player, hopefully with some wise words, to help him along the way. He has all the ability. It is about knuckling down and keep working hard which he does to be fair to him.”
Postecoglou said it’s important to be ‘careful’ with young players but outlined his belief that Moore is ready for the demands of the Premier League.
“I think we all understand with young players, you have to be careful, but after the game, I don’t get the sense that that’s going to affect Mikey at all,” the Australian said at his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Crystal Palace.
“There’s no denying he was great last night, I thought he was great the whole game, especially that period. It’s exciting for us.
“He’s ready to start any game. I just feel, especially with younger players, you’ve got to be really careful about their introduction into senior football. He’s still physically growing. You have to take that into account so I think he’s ready to play, to start a Premier League game, for sure. But for me it’s about making sure, for us, that we develop Mikey in the right way and so far whatever we’ve asked from him, he’s made a good impact.”
