Liverpool academy director Alex Inglethorpe has hailed his Tottenham counterpart John McDermott as the “best in the business”.
Inglethorpe, who spent six years at Spurs before joining Liverpool in 2012, revealed in an interview with the Coaches Voice site that longstanding Spurs academy chief McDermott has been hugely influential in his own career.
“I learnt from so many good people at Tottenham,” the Anfield man explained. “I consider John McDermott to be the best in the business at doing what he does. I was very lucky to spend the time I did with him.
“He taught me about standards. That’s not just standards of actions. It’s standards of thinking. Standards of my thinking as a coach, and being able to pass those standards on to the players I was working with.”
OPINION
McDermott’s influence at Spurs has grown during the Mauricio Pochettino era. His job title now is head of coaching & player development, and he has the ear and respect of the first-team manager, as well as chairman Daniel Levy. The Argentine will often spend afternoons sat on the sofa in McDermott’s office across the main building at Spurs’ Hotspur Way training headquarters, chewing the fat and getting away from the stresses of Premier League life. McDermott is all the all-seeing eye when it comes to the club’s development squad and academy. His knowledge and understanding of youth-team football, in the UK and across Europe, is also second to none. The long-standing youth expert, who joined Spurs from Watford over a decade ago, is well placed to deliver his verdict on when players are ready to come into the first team – it was McDermott who encouraged Pochettino to promote Ryan Mason in 2014 – and on the young players the club are targeting in the transfer market.