Ange Postecoglou’s attempt to soften the hype surrounding Mikey Moore was dashed by James Maddison’s Neymar comparisons.
Moore starred in Thursday’s 1-0 Europa League victory over AZ Alkmaar and was given a standing ovation when replaced in the 87th minute.
Mikey Moore shined for Tottenham in the 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar
And it wasn’t just Spurs fans who were left dazzled by the winger’s promise, with teammate Maddison giving him the highest of praise.
“From minute 45 to 65 I thought we had Neymar on the left wing. He was brilliant, demanding the ball, fearless, with that young fearless mentality and you never want to take that away from him,” Maddison told TNT Sports.
The England international later admitted his comparison with the Brazilian was ‘tongue in cheek’ but his remarks did Postecoglou no favours in his own post-match interview when pressed on the 17-year-old’s display.
“It was exciting,” Postecoglou said. “I was going to try and downplay it but I’ve heard Madders has called him Neymar!
“The beauty of Mikey is I know it won’t affect him at all. He’s such a mature young man and he was so exciting. I was willing the boys to pass the ball to him.
“He’s got the ability to go past people which is the hardest thing to do in our game apart from scoring goals.
“If he’s not successful it doesn’t faze him, he’ll go again.
“He’s just turned 17, even physically he’s such a strong man and I know he’s going to get better. He’s brilliant but he’s brilliant every time he’s played for us.
“We’ve just got to be careful how we use him because for us I think he’s going to be a really special player.”
It could have been even better for Moore who should have opened the scoring five minutes into the game.
Ange Postecoglou was full of praise for Moore on his sixth senior appearance of the season
Maddison told TNT Sports that Moore reminded him of Neymar
The Spurs boss reacted to Maddison’s comparison to the Brazilian star
The starlet aimed a glancing header just wide of the post from Timo Werner’s pinpoint cross.
“He has to work on his heading – he had a couple of those opportunities,” Postecoglou added.
“He is not the complete product. He has got a really mature outlook. He doesn’t let those things faze him.”
Moore has already etched his name into Tottenham history having become the youngest player to play in the Premier League at the age of 16 years and 277 days in the 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in May.
His debut saw him become the 883rd player to be awarded a unique legacy number which is handed out to every player in its history that has made a senior competitive appearance for Tottenham Hotspur.
Moore has made six appearances so far this season with three coming in the Europa League and three Premier League substitute appearances.
