Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that Tottenham whizzkid Marcus Edwards must overcome serious “behavioural problems” if he is to make it as a professional.
The Spurs manager has made the stunning revelation in a new book about the club just a year after hailing the 18-year-old attacking midfielder as the new Lionel Messi.
Edwards is regarded as one of the brightest products to have emerged from the productive Tottenham academy, but he is yet to properly break into the first team picture.
The manager’s thoughts on Edwards in his new book Brave New World: Inside Pochettino’s Spurs provides fascinating insight as he explained how the youngster has behavioural issues and problems with dealing with authority.
“Sometimes I wonder whether it was wise to liken him (Edwards) to Messi,” Pochettino explained. “He’s only 17. At that age, Messi was making his debut for a Barcelona side featuring Ronaldinho,” wrote the Argentine.
“They’re from different families, backgrounds and cultures. One of them thinks like an Argentinian and the other like an Englishman. Marcus is still in the process of adapting to the rigours or being a professional, which require you to act and think differently, be disciplined and make sacrifices.
“He has authority and behavioural problems, and we have to look at the bigger picture to find out the root cause. There was a time when it would have been seen as impossible for him to play professionally, let alone make it in the Premier League.
“Our challenge is to get him to accept the pathway we’ve laid out for him, and it’s our responsibility to make sure he behaves himself when he trains with the first team (with all the rules and obligations this involves). He has no shortage of talent, but there are gaps to be filled: he has to learn to score ugly, run more and be committed.”
OPINION
Of all the Pochettino revelations from his new book, none will alarm supporters more than the bombshell that the gifted youngster has serious issues to overcome. The manager’s admission that it would have been “impossible” for the the left-footed dribbler to have made it in times gone by is a stunning one, and makes a mockery of his own comparisons to Messi 12 months ago. Supporters urging the manager to fast-track Edwards into the first team will now need to think again. He clearly has an awfully long way to go.