James Maddison on why he has to ‘pinch myself’ over Tottenham teenage talent

As Tottenham Hotspur prepare for their second Europa League game tomorrow night against Ferencvaros, James Maddison has been discussing the talent of Mikey Moore.

Mikey Moore is Tottenham’s brightest talent

So far this season, the Spurs injury list has been fairly forgiving, but Ange Postecoglou will not want to push his luck after seeing how destructive those injuries to key players were last season.

Within the last week, we have already seen first-team regulars Heung-min Son and Destiny Udogie pull up with injury concerns during games, and the pair may yet be unavailable for the clash with Ferencvaros on Thursday night.

With this in mind, and the fact that the Hungarian side are one of the so-called weaker teams in the competition, many have called for and expect Postecoglou to switch up his lineup for the next game in order to give some players a much-needed rest.

James Maddison has been speaking at the pre-match press conference about Mikey Moore, who could be set for more minutes tomorrow.

Discussing the teenager with Football.London, Maddison said: “Mikey, I have to sometimes pinch myself and remember how young he is. He’s 17 and came into the group when he was 16. He’s a man already. When I watch him play, he’s very powerful and only going to get stronger as his body grows.

“He’s a great kid. A really well-mannered, polite young man and that’s a credit to his parents. That’s the first thing you look to as a senior player. And then there’s that ability which we see in training all the time and the Spurs fans want to see more of.

“I try to think of what the 17-year-old James Maddison would want to hear from a senior player and it’s to be treated like a man but also give advice whenever possible.”

Ange Postecoglou isn’t keen on rotation

Postecoglou has touched on this topic before, and appeared to suggest that, while rotation is necessary, he is not particularly keen to make wholesale changes too often as he wants to maintain momentum for his key players.

He previously told Football.London: “You’re not going to expect players to play all of [the games in a season]. You’re hoping for around 35 games. We don’t really want to rotate hugely for each game.”

Who could benefit from squad rotation?

While the likes of Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall are almost guaranteed to start these kinds of Europa League games, fans will also be hoping to see Mikey Moore get more minutes. If Son isn’t quite ready for the next game, it would make a lot of sense to give the teenager his spot in the team.

Will Lankshear should also get some minutes at some point tomorrow night, though it’s highly likely Dominic Solanke will be given the chance to keep his good run of form going first.

The post James Maddison on why he has to ‘pinch myself’ over Tottenham teenage talent appeared first on Spurs Web.