Spurs fans were shocked to hear Jose Mourinho say that Harry Kane is the only striker at the club in Friday’s press conference.
In the press conference ahead of the match against Liverpool on Saturday, Mourinho discussed the injury to Kane, saying: “We don’t have another one. There is not a striker in the squad. We have only one, he’s not fit, we don’t have another one. You know you can’t play like we normally do when Harry Kane is not in the team.” (via Alasdair Gold). This does not come as good news for Troy Parrott, who is perhaps still considered a youth team player by Mourinho, despite the 17-year-old making his Premier League debut in the 5-0 win over Burnley last month.
The Portuguese manager may well have been hinting to chairman Daniel Levy that he is keen on signing a striker to replace Kane during this month’s transfer window. The 56-year-old manager opted to play Heung-Min Son up front in their recent 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough but the South Korean struggled to have much impact.
Is Mourinho right to dismiss Troy Parrott?
Yes
No
Reaction from Spurs fans to Mourinho’s comments can be seen in the tweets below.
God Mourinho is stupid. This is already starting to be ridiculous.
I’m literally still crying thinking of what we had just 6 weeks ago, and where we are now…
Mourinho will set us back 6 years, out of CL, no identity…— Øivind Lundberg (@OeivindLundberg) January 10, 2020
Not a fan of kids. Doesn’t believe his job is helping kids develop. You’re either a fully fledged professional or you are no use to him. This the direction we’re going in now. Get used to it. All our promising youngsters will soon learn. Check out Mourinho’s Chelsea.
— thecockerel (@FelixTandoh2) January 10, 2020
Morinio doesn’t trust youth , his teams are built & bought in the transfer market , sadly Troy might turn out to be the next Harry Kane but we’ll never know unless tried
— james savage (@jamessa96333598) January 10, 2020
We played better last season when Kane was out and Son lead the line. Scary he can’t see that. Get Poch back quick
— Graeme Mair (@GraemeMair4) January 10, 2020
Jose out
— rosey 316 (@rosy316) January 10, 2020
Probably a tactic to try and get levy to sign someone rather than no belief in Parrott
— Anthony Turner (@_TurnerTurner) January 10, 2020
Some of these Spurs fans were far from impressed with Mourinho’s dismissal of Parrott, whilst others believe this is just a tactic to try and convince Levy he needs a new striker.
What do we think?
Whilst Parrott is only 17-years-old and probably isn’t ready to be starting regular games, Spurs need only look at Mason Greenwood at Manchester United to see the sort of impact young strikers can have if given the opportunity.