View: 33% Tottenham player never stood a chance v Palace, O'Hara right to call out Ange

Jamie O’Hara berated Ange Postecoglou over his “harsh” treatment of Mikey Moore at Tottenham after the 1-0 loss against Crystal Palace on Sunday (27 October).

The 17-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the first team in North London this season and was handed his first Premier League start at Selhurst Park in the absence of injured captain Son Heung-min.

Moore struggled to keep pace against Crystal Palace in his full English top-flight bow, and former Spurs player O’Hara was quick to point the finger at Postecoglou live on talkSPORT’s Sports Bar [28 October, 10:07pm] for introducing the youngster against a stubborn Palace side.

He said: “Tottenham were stinking at the weekend. Ange got it really wrong playing all those attackers.

“[James] Maddison, [Dejan] Kulusevski… it doesn’t work. He has to play one of them as number 10.

“Mikey Moore, 17, big game for him and he’s used on the left – it’s a bit harsh on him.”

Mikey Moore thrown into the deep end for Tottenham v Crystal Palace

Tottenham were expected to make easy work against a then-winless Crystal Palace, but Son’s absence proved to be a bigger obstacle than initially expected.

The Lilywhites struggled to break down Palace’s back five and in an ironic turn of events, Spurs-linked Eberechi Eze set up Jean-Philippe Mateta to score the only goal of the game and hand Oliver Glasner his first league win in nine outings this term.

Moore was handed a big task to fill in for Son at Selhurst Park. However, it was an easy decision for Postecoglou to make given his “fearless” performances in the Europa League this season, plus Timo Werner falling far below expectations in his second year in North London.

Still, regular game time in the Premier League may be a step too far for the forward as the intensity of the occasion took Moore completely out of the game.

As per Sofascore, his usual attacking presence was non-existent, as he failed to register a single shot, failed to complete one of his three dribbles.

Defensively, meanwhile, he lost possession of the ball 10 times and completes just one defensive action, which was the joint-lowest of any Spurs starter.

He also won only 33 per cent of his duels contested (3/9). For context, Maddison won exactly double that number (six).

Moore was limited to only 12 passes for 83 per cent accuracy, meanwhile, and failed to find a teammate with his two crossing attempts.

It is not the youngster’s fault he was thrown into the deep end on such a big occasion, but his performance is a stark reminder to Postecoglou that he must manage Moore’s time more efficiently throughout the early stages of his development.

While Tottenham await to learn whether Son will be available to feature against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday [30 October], Moore will himself be wondering if he will be selected at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

With Werner lacking confidence in North London and hardly showing the form worthy of a starting berth, Postecoglou is now facing a selection dilemma ahead of the midweek clash – his decision could ultimately decide whether Spurs progress to the quarter-finals of the cup.

In other Tottenham news, Spurs can secure a ‘shrewd’ Arda Guler loan transfer amid the latest Real Madrid exit update.

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