Tottenham finally have a striker who can provide cover for Harry Kane. Troy Parrott is ready for a meaningful role in Mauricio Pochettino’s first team.
Mauricio Pochettino has enjoyed plenty of successes during his tenure at Tottenham, but acquiring a quality backup striker for Harry Kane has always tormented the Argentine gaffer. The likes of Roberto Soldado, Vincent Janssen and Fernando Llorente have all failed to fill that void with any consistency. It’s time for Pochettino to try a much different tactic.
The solution for Spurs is alarmingly simple. They must hand 17-year-old Troy Parrott an opportunity to hold down the job of becoming the club’s second striker. That’s a gigantic ask for a player with such little experience, but Parrott’s massive talent level gives him an opportunity to beat the odds stacked against him.
The fact that Parrott was even included in the club’s preseason travel squad should have been a clue for all Tottenham fans about their manager’s intentions. Pochettino doesn’t bring young players along for the fun of it. The fact that the young Irishman was making the trip to Singapore was a clear signal that Pochettino was at least curious about his ability to impact the first team squad this season.
Pochettino gave everyone their second clue about Parrott’s immediate future when he was named as the team’s starting striker against Juventus on Sunday. The normal course of action would have been to give Kane the start and take him off at the half. Instead, Pochettino elected to take the opposite route. It was a subtle way to challenge Parrott and see what he’d do under the bright lights in Singapore.
Casual fans might look at a match recap of Tottenham’s efforts against Juventus and assume that Parrott was a passenger for his squad. Nothing could be further from the truth. The starlet was hugely influential for his club during the first half. Short of scoring a goal himself, he did everything Pochettino could have asked in his first start with the first team.
His work to set up Tottenham’s opening goal was a brilliant example of what he’s capable of as a player. Parrott was the recipient of a poor giveaway by the Old Lady and he immediately transitioned the ball to a teammate to start the break. Then, he showed real effort and maturity by sprinting out to the wing to give his teammates an option. Ultimately, he received a pass on the right flank and fired a smart shot across the Juventus goal. Gianluigi Buffon parried to make a fine save, but he couldn’t keep the ball in his hands. The end result was a tap-in for Erik Lamela to give Spurs the lead.
Parrott’s ability to link up with his teammates was evident during his half of action. Perhaps more importantly, he showed a real knack for pulling opposing defenders out of position with his well-timed runs in and around the box. That gave his attacking teammates a lot of space to run into with and without the ball. Parrott’s work in that regard won’t show up in the box score, but it will jump off the screen to Pochettino and his coaching staff when they analyze the match in the coming days.
Parrott still has a ton of work to do if he wants to secure his place as Kane’s primary backup, but he’s got the talent to make it happen this season. If he can keep his nose to the grindstone, he’s got a great chance to solve one of Pochettino’s toughest challenges.