Crystal Palace: Matt Woosnam discusses Tyrick Mitchell

In a recent article for The Athletic, Crystal Palace correspondent for the website, Matt Woosnam, discussed Palace youngster, Tyrick Mitchell.

Back on 11 June, Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson spoke to BT Sport about the return of Premier League football, and the potential strain that playing the remaining fixtures of the season over such a short period of time could have on Premier League squads.

The former England boss went on to suggest that he would likely turn to some of Palace’s younger talents to help share the load, stating: “I think this period coming up, the nine games in very quick succession, it’s a good opportunity to see what there is behind the first-team, players we haven’t maybe dared to risk in the quest to achieve our goal, we might put some of those players in there. That could be really interesting.”

In further comments made before the resumption of the Premier League, Hodgson stated: “At the moment, there is only one player who is a standout player who could possibly come in and we would be happy to see him taking a starting position… I would be lying if I said that we were awash with players knocking on the door.”

And, in a recent article on The Athletic, Woosnam took a look at some of ‘what there is behind the first team’ at Crystal Palace – in particular left-back, Tyrick Mitchell, who it is clear that Woosman believes is the player to which Hodgson is referring to as the ‘standout’ of their academy.

According to Woosnam, the left-back impressed for Palace in their pre-season tour of Switzerland last summer, during which he ‘brought excitement to supporters’, drawing comparisons to former academy graduate Aaron Wan-Bissaka – who moved to Manchester United for a fee of £49.5 million last year.

However, despite the potential and hype surrounding Mitchell, he remained yet to feature for the first-team prior to the match with Burnley on Monday night, although, he has made the bench four times this season.

Here’s what was stated in full:

‘The player in question is likely to be the left-back Tyrick Mitchell. His presence on last summer’s pre-season tour of Switzerland brought excitement to supporters. A superb recovery challenge on the edge of his box against FC Luzern in which he wrapped his leg around the forward to nick the ball away drew comparisons with recently departed Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Unfortunately for him, it resulted in a torn thigh tendon and he was out for several months.

‘Any references to the “South London and Proud moniker” Palace have used for their academy in the past decade may have to be put aside. Mitchell is from north-west London, arriving from Brentford in 2016. His style is similar to that of Wan-Bissaka, he is quick and energetic, capable of supporting offensively but equally content to focus on the defensive side of the game.

‘Since his return to fitness he has worked hard and impressed the first-team management with his attitude, while also fully integrating into the dressing room. He is particularly well thought of by Gary Issott, the Palace academy director. Impressive performances with the under-23 side have piqued the interest of Tottenham in particular, with whom Mitchell had previously trialled. Watford’s Hayden Mullins is another who is believed to have kept a close eye on him when he was in charge of the club’s under-23 side.’

TIF Thoughts…

Following both Hodgson’s and Woosnam’s comments on the 20-year-old, and with Palace’s games coming thick and fast over the coming weeks, it would not surprise us at all to see Mitchell finally make his Premier League debut before the end of the current season.