Alasdair Gold has shared how he has been told that one Tottenham Hotspur youngster was ‘excellent’ in their friendly with Cambridge United over the weekend – despite featuring out of position.
Tottenham got their preparations underway for the new season, with a 7-2 victory, with Brennan Johnson and Heung-min Son scoring five goals between them before the break. It does appear that the fixture was largely an opportunity for the Spurs players to get minutes in their legs before pre-season gets into full swing.
But there was a chance for some of the club’s brightest youngsters to impress Ange Postecoglou, as he look to force their way into his plans. And one of those the Tottenham boss may have his eye on is Jamie Donley.
Postecoglou plans to give Donley a chance in pre-season, but the 19-year-old was tasked with playing at left-back for some of the friendly with the League One side.
Jamie Donley impresses in new role in Tottenham win
And speaking on Gold and Guest Talk Tottenham, journalist Alasdair Gold suggested that he had received glowing reviews about Donley’s performance in the friendly.
“Jamie Donley at left-back, that was an interesting one, having to fill in there, which would presumably – I haven’t seen any photos yet – but we’re presuming maybe Destiny Udogie’s not quite there yet in terms of fitness,” he said.
“From what I understood, apparently Jamie Donley was excellent as a left-back, which I guess we’ve spoken about this before, and using midfielders in the inverted full-back roles, they’re kind of going to take to a lot of aspects of it because the role brings them into the middle anyway.”
Ange Postecoglou will not be afraid to include teenager in his plans on more regular basis
Postecoglou showed on a few occasions last season that he is not afraid to make tough decisions – which may seem unpopular – if he feels that they will help Tottenham in the long run. Perhaps there was no better example of this than the way he made his strong feelings known on the clash with Manchester City late on in the campaign.
So he will not be worried about putting his faith in a young player who really impresses him over the summer, and that perhaps presents an opportunity to someone like Donley to force their way into his plans.
Postecoglou will loan him out if he feels out that his development would be best-served that way, but there is arguably no better manager for Donley to have if he feels that he is ready to start knocking on the first-team door on a more consistent basis.
