THE REAL DEAL?
There are, you suspect, quite a few folk with links to the London postcode of N17 who would be thoroughly grateful if Troy Parrott could stop popping up to score winning goals for a bit. The Republic of Ireland striker has barely unpacked his bags at Real Betis, yet he’s already ruined the afternoon of his former manager at Tottenham, pouncing to sink José Mourinho’s Real Madrid. Four days later? He made headlines again on his Bigger Cup debut at Lille. Two games, two goals, two match-winners. Not entirely shabby for a lad who was once given the classic Mourinho treatment and declared “not ready”. Mourinho, as ever, remains a central character in this particular soap opera. It was the Special One who handed a teenage Parrott his Premier League debut in December 2019, throwing him on during a 5-0 win over Burnley. It was also Mourinho who promptly decided the youngster needed a fair bit longer in the oven.
When Harry Kane and Son Heung-min were both sidelined in March 2020, Tottenham fans dared to dream that Parrott might get a go. Instead, Mourinho simply declared that the youngster was not prepared for the cut and thrust of regular top-flight football. A brief cameo against Norwich followed before the pandemic halted the season – and, for all intents and purposes, Parrott’s Spurs career. What followed was the classic, harrowing English loan circuit: Millwall, Ipswich, MK Dons and Preston. Ouch. None of them quite took. The Spurs academy hope was beginning to look less like the next Kane and more like another promising youngster destined to become a pub quiz answer. Enter the Netherlands. A formative spell at Excelsior steadying the ship was followed by a proper explosion at AZ, where he smashed in 51 goals across 97 games – giving Robin van Persie nightmares along the way.
That – and a high-profile international hat-trick last year – was more than enough to persuade Betis to fork out £17m for him this summer. His full debut was, it is fair to say, forgettable – a 5-2 hammering by Levante – that prompted Manuel Pellegrini to sigh forlornly about his new forward’s mistakes. But the beauty of Parrott these days is his refusal to sulk. Coming off the bench in the 68th minute against Madrid, he reacted quickest to a Thibaut Courtois parry, shoving the ball into the net from close range. No stepovers, no 30-yard curlers, just pure instinct. “That’s a striker’s job,” Parrott squawked. “In a game, I might do this 10 times, and it might not happen. So, it’s a mentality thing to just keep on going in there, hoping it comes. Today, it did.”
It also happened to come against Mourinho. The same Mourinho who had decided Parrott was not quite ready was now watching the 24-year-old end his perfect start to his second spell at Madrid. Football does enjoy a punchline. And Parrott had another one ready for Lille, pouncing on some poor defending by Nathan Ngoy to fire a low effort into the far corner in a thrilling 3-2 win. Four appearances, two goals, two winners, Madrid slain, and a Bigger Cup debut goal logged. Meanwhile, Tottenham sit in the Premier League’s bottom three still waiting for their first league goal. There is, naturally, a danger in getting carried away. Two goals do not suddenly mean Spurs made the biggest transfer blunder since selling Gareth Bale. Parrott is 24 now, not the teenager Mourinho was dealing with, and his development has been anything but straightforward. But that is what makes his current run so enjoyable: he has had to take the scenic route.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Rob Smyth from 8pm BST for hot Bigger Cup coverage of Napoli 1-1 Arsenal, while Daniel Harris will have a clockwatch on the rest of Wednesday’s action.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I appeal to all Ugandans to remain patient and allow the Omusuuga and the committee to perform their duties in accordance with our cultural traditions for enthroning a new Omukama. Let us focus entirely on mourning my cousin, His Majesty King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV” – South East Dons keeper, George Desmond Kamurasi, calls for calm amid speculation that he may succeed his cousin and become the next king of the Tooro Kingdom. It’ll be quite the step up from the Southern Counties East League Premier Division.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Re: Ken Muir’s letter (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) and mention of Arbroath’s famous 36-0 victory over Bon Accord in 1885. On the same day, in the same competition and just 18 miles away, Dundee Harp defeated Aberdeen Rovers 35-0. Arbroath and Harp were rivals and after the final whistle, officials from Harp sent a telegram to Arbroath simply containing the result of their match and then retired to a pub to celebrate their world record. Later that evening, a reply was received which read ‘Arbroath 36-0 Bon Accord’. Both sides thought the other was winding them up. The results were not a surprise. Rovers and Bon Accord were both playing only their third official fixtures. Bon Accord arrived for their match with nine players and no goalkeeper, so played an outfield player in goal and two spectators made up their XI. The Aberdeen Weekly News reported that Arbroath’s keeper ‘neither touched the ball with hand or foot … but remained under the friendly shelter of an umbrella the whole time’. Arbroath also had seven goals disallowed. Unsurprisingly, the qualification rules for the Scottish Cup were changed for the following season” – Jamie Gaukroger.
Call me one of those bluffers and chancers with ‘fantastic theories and philosophies’ if you will but, after sitting through the chaotic mess that was Real Madrid v Inter in Bigger Cup, two things spring to mind. Firstly, if Madrid has had an obvious gap of no central midfielder who can control the momentum and flow of the game for over two seasons, since Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, why ignore it yet again but spend £115m on yet another left-sided attacker? Secondly, even if you don’t have one, never mind two of those types of players, once you go 2-0 up in the 23rd minute against a team at home, can’t you just kick the ball five-10 yards to a teammate consistently, keep possession and tire the opposition out? As the late, great Johan Cruyff used to say: ‘As long as we’ve got the ball, they’re never going to score’” – Noble Francis.
OK, Mike Wilner (Monday’s letters), I’ll bite. ‘What isn’t what it is?’ Football Daily is not a humorous teatime newsletter. ‘What has a club not won what it won?’ Senegal did not win Afcon. ‘When does a team not lose what it’s lost?’ USA USA USA ... did not lose Folarin Balogun against Belgium in the GWC. Is there a plausible weeklong riff here? Oh, yes. Yes there is. There most certainly is” – Chi.
If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Jamie Gaukroger, who gets a copy of The Mbappé Project by Philippe Auclair. Copies are available in the Guardian Bookshop if you are not the lucky scribe. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.
This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.
