Tottenham Hotspur’s incredible start to life under Ange Postecoglou, who has brought back the feel-good factor after a turbulent few years, should not be diminished by the team’s current two-match losing streak.
Spurs, who placed seventh in the Premier League the previous year, have roared back to victory this year and held the lead until their early-week loss to Chelsea.
The team was rather thin going into the weekend’s match at Molineux against Wolverhampton Wanderers due to an abundance of injuries and suspensions. However, despite holding an 87-minute lead, Pablo Sarabia of the home team orchestrated a thrilling comeback.
Even if Richarlison has had an improvement, Postecoglou has undoubtedly brought about a revolution down the N17, and not all of the players have realized their full potential yet. Yves Bissouma and Cristian Romero, for example, were among the underachievers from the previous year who have now recovered.
Richarlison’s tenure at Tottenham
Richarlison, who cost £60 million to sign from divisional rivals Everton in July 2022, had a terrible debut season in London, scoring just one goal in the league and earning the moniker “useless” from Chris Pajak of The RedMen TV.
He has performed better this year, recording one goal and three assists from 10 Premier League games. Despite playing 17 fewer games than last year, he is now only one direct contribution behind the total.
The importance of the £90k-per-week forward to Tottenham is further highlighted by the fact that, according to FBref, he ranks in the top 13% of positional peers across the top five leagues in Europe for assists per 90 during the previous year.
As a result of a groin procedure, the Brazilian is currently out of action for Tottenham. Although Brennan Johnson is getting back into form, Joe Strange, the editor of Goal, has pointed out that Richarlison’s “relentless” running would be missed.
Hope exists. Coming off the bench in September, Richarlison’s performance against bottom-tier Sheffield United proved to be crucial. He scored a goal and provided an assist in the closing moments to preserve the team’s early comeback that sent them to the top of the Premier League standings.
His best traits and big-game potential are demonstrated by such a powerful performance, and it will be important to seize and mold this when he recovers from his current ailment.
Postecoglou could have a formidable weapon at his disposal if he can rekindle the clinical touch that was so effective for him at Everton. However, given that he has been outscored by Spurs rookie Troy Parrott since joining the team, he will need to make big improvements to reach the pinnacle of his career.
The current career of Troy Parrott
Parrott, who has spent the last few years honing his skills on loan, is still a promising young player at the age of 21, even though he is not exactly among the current wave of extraordinary talent sweeping Spurs’ development academy.
The 20-cap Republic of Ireland international (with four goals) has been tipped for a strong future after racking up 31 goals and six assists from 38 games for Spurs’ youth sides. While he still has room to grow, there is undoubtedly a natural ability to score goals that can be developed.
Parrott had a great loan season in the Championship with Preston North End last year, making 22 appearances and scoring four goals. However, he was playing for the second-lowest scoring team in the division, which may have been unfortunate.
Ryan Lowe, the manager of Preston, stated of his loan addition: “His work rate is phenomenal.” He’s a bit of a unit inside, considering his size. Though not particularly large, he is extremely strong, adept at using his body, and has frequently been down the sides.”
Postecoglou will be aware of Parrott’s scoring rate now that he’s moving around again, even though he’s not always getting started.
Troy Parrott’s stats for the season
Following in the footsteps of former Lilywhite Marcus Edwards, Parrott completed a season-long loan transfer to Dutch side Excelsior after his stint with Preston last season.
Alasdair Gold has praised Parrott’s “exciting” efforts in the Netherlands this season. In nine Eredivisie games, Parrott has scored three goals and provided one assist.
The Irishman has only started a game from the beginning twice, according to Sofascore. Considering that he plays 30 minutes a game on average, this works out to one goal every 90.
Parrott will be hoping for more opportunities from the outset, but since he has shown his value with his predatory abilities, he will undoubtedly get opportunity to make more impressions throughout the 2022–2023 campaign.
The striker is outperforming Dane Scarlett, a fellow Spurs loan star who, at just 19 years old, has yet to score or provide an assist from 10 appearances on loan with Ipswich Town in the Championship, even though Scarlett would like a regular starting spot.
Scarlett, who is regarded as one of the team’s most promising prospects, spent the previous season playing for Portsmouth in League One, where she started 19 games and scored six goals and two assists in all competitions.
However, it’s evident that he still needs time to settle in. Parrott, who has scored a lot of goals this season, might be self-assured enough to take shots and serve Postecoglou well; additionally, with the first team lacking depth, he could have been a useful asset to have in the pack.
Parrott is outscoring the five-goal Spurs player and has scored seven goals since Richarlison joined the team. Although the circumstances are different, Postecoglou will need to step up Parrott’s scoring if he wants to avoid having to make a decision about the £60 million player’s future at the team.
Maybe the sharpened cutting edge that all Spurs supporters hope for will materialize with talented hopefuls like Parrott and Scarlett nipping at his heels. However, if it doesn’t, and the club’s Australian manager feels inclined to dabble in the transfer market, such emerging talents will be able to serve as understudies.