Ange Postecoglou will remain cautious with Tottenham winger Mikey Moore but is said to be considering giving the 17-year-old a full Premier League debut at Crystal Palace, with captain Son Heung-min ‘unlikely’ to feature.
Moore made only his second Spurs start in Thursday’s 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League and after catching the eye again, teammate James Maddison made a tongue-in-cheek reference that it was like Brazilian Neymar was playing on the pitch . wing.
With Son still not 100 percent after reporting muscle pain at the beginning of this week, Moore is in the race against Palace.
“He is ready to start every game, but I feel that, especially with young players, you have to be very careful when introducing them to senior football,” Postecoglou said.
“Even last year he didn’t really have a full football season, he had quite a few injuries, a few injuries that kept him out and he went from under-18 football to very little under-21 football before we integrated him. You have to look at that.
Seventeen-year-old Mikey Moore surprised the home supporter with pace and guile against AZ
Ange Postecoglou admitted it is now difficult to ‘keep an eye’ on the hype surrounding the youngster
‘I think he is still growing physically and you take that into account. I think he is definitely ready to start a Premier League game.
“For us, we want to continue to develop Mikey in the right way and give him a platform to continue to improve. Whatever we have asked of him so far, he has made a real impact and the plan is to continue to do so.”
The absence of Son, who only returned from a hamstring injury to score against West Ham on Saturday, opened the door for Moore to make his full home debut on Thursday.
Postecoglou had hoped the South Korean would be fit for the clash with Palace, but was more gloomy on Friday.
He added, “Sonny still isn’t right or feeling 100 percent. He will not train today so that is unlikely for the weekend. We’ll see how he goes.’
It could be a straight shoot-out between Moore and Timo Werner on the left wing, despite a difficult spell in front of goal for the Germany international.
After Werner was substituted at half-time against AZ, Moore moved from the right wing to his favorite spot on the left and made a number of dazzling runs.
However, Postecoglou expects the Spurs Academy graduate to keep his feet on the ground and hopes to simply be his manager in four years’ time.
“I think Mikey just wants to be Mikey and like I said after the match, what I see with him is that he is very mature for a 17-year-old, he can handle things very well,” Postecoglou added.
It is ‘unlikely’ that Spurs captain Son Heung-min will play against Crystal Palace on Sunday
“It’s exciting because it ripples through the whole club and everyone in the academy will be extremely proud of that. The whole club feels good about seeing someone come through the program.
‘As a manager you are happy that at 17 you have a player who shows maturity and has a mentality where he gives himself every opportunity to be the best player he can be.
‘Sometimes young players are exciting, but you see pitfalls along the way, but I don’t see that with him. At 17 you think what he’ll be like at 21 and hopefully I’ll be the manager!’
