Tottenham scouting report on four wonderkids as Mikey Moore sends message vs Ferencvaros

Ange Postecoglou gave four Tottenham teenagers a chance to shine in the Europa League.

Posted Friday, October 04, 2024 by Express.co.uk

A youthful Tottenham side squeezed past Ferencvaros at Groupama Arena to make it two wins from two in the league phase of the Europa League.

Pape Sarr's first-half strike and Brennan Johnson's late effort made the difference in a 2-1 victory, with Ange Postecoglou getting the chance to cast a close eye over teenagers Mikey Moore, Archie Gray, Will Lankshear and Lucas Bergvall on a tough trip to rainy Budapest.

Mikey Moore was Tottenham's standout youngster against Ferencvaros

Here, Express Sport takes you through how the four Spurs youngsters performed...

Mikey Moore: 8/10

Stationed out on the right wing, Moore, aged 17 years and 53 days old, showed no signs of fear on his first European start. He didn’t just outshine the three other wonderkids on show in Budapest, he far outperformed Timo Werner on the opposite flank, who once set Chelsea back more than £50million.

Moore’s game is all about running with the ball. Inside or outside, it didn’t matter against Ferencvaros as he made things happen from start to finish.

The teenager’s darting run inside started the move which led to Sarr’s winning goal, and it was telling that Spurs’ senior stars were more than happy to give Moore the ball whenever possible. His display told Postecoglou that he is ready for more responsibility.

Archie Gray: 6/10

Still five months shy of his 19th birthday, it’s easy to forget Gray is still a wonderkid due to the fact he’s been playing first-team football for well over a year. In Hungary he started at centre-back - another string to his bow after previously featuring at right-back and in central midfield.

That being said, Gray didn’t look particularly assured alongside Cristian Romero in central defence, partly because the Argentinian was also wayward at times.

But a position change with Ben Davies, which moved Gray out to left-back for the second half, did the trick, as there he showed his ability to wriggle out of tight spaces and venture upfield.

Will Lankshear: 6/10

Standing in for Dominic Solanke up top, 19-year-old Lankshear will have been gutted not to etch his name onto the scoresheet. He certainly had the chances to do so.

A cross from Werner landed square on Lankshear’s head in the centre of the six-yard box, but scruffy contact with his shoulder sent the ball careering over the crossbar. Another good opportunity after the break saw him volley a bouncing effort off target before being subbed off.

Though he was wasteful, nobody can criticise Lankshear for not being involved in the game, while his hold-up play was decent and he relished physical battles in the penalty area.

Lucas Bergvall: 4/10

The Swede will have been desperate to impress after being hauled off early on in last week’s Europa League win over Qarabag due to Radu Dragusin’s red card. But it was a poor performance from him against Ferencvaros.

Sloppy touches, unsuccessful attempts to dribble out of his own final third and a reluctance to pass the ball forward all stood out in a negative sense. And while he will technically claim the assist for Sarr’s goal, he didn’t know much about it.