Tottenham: On loan Troy Parrott Makes First League Start for Millwall

Troy Parrott has had a rough start to his loan from Tottenham to Millwall struggling for fitness, now healthy Parrott went an hour in his first career league start.

This was a moment many fans and I am sure Troy Parrott himself have long waited for; the Tottenham youngster finally got his first career league start on loan at Millwall. It looked like maybe it would come earlier in his career, but, at just 18-years of age, Troy Parrott is right where he needs to be. Now if the young striker can stay healthy, he has a chance to earn himself some real playing time and the experience he so desperately needs.

A Little Time at Tottenham

When then 17-year-old Troy Parrott was not sent on loan by then coach Mauricio Pochettino it seemed the young striker was going to have a role to play for Tottenham Hotspur in the 2019-20 campaign. Parrott did start once for Spurs in the Carabao Cup in September of 2019. Troy went off at 66 minutes for Christian Eriksen as Pochettino and Spurs pushed for a winner.

Ironically, it was Eriksen that missed the final penalty attempt which put Colchester United through to the fourth round. Following that hour in the Cup, Parrott made the bench one further time under Pochettino in the draw with Everton in early November. However, as the Argentine was looking for answers he was not calling on young Parrott.

After Jose Mourinho arrived and players started getting injured in greater numbers, Parrott was more involved in the team. Howver, even as the cabinet got bare, Mourinho never put the pressure on Parrott to be ‘the man’ and that is probably a good thing, but that is debatable. Parrott was on the bench a further four games for Tottenham and ‘played’ for 30 minutes across three late substitute appearances.

Covid hit and Spurs pulled out Europa League and then this summer Troy went on loan to Millwall. Millwall has been a struggle for Parrott as he has missed 13 games with an ankle injury for the Lions. However, Parrott played in the last match against Cardiff and with injuries mounting at Millwall started against Reading, so what happened.

Troy’s Full Championship Debut

According to Millwall manager Gary Rowett care of the LondonNewsOnline, Parrott “was bright, for an 18-year-old player to make his league debut, I thought he was excellent”. Parrott was the tip of the spear lined up as the sole striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

The Lions coach went on to note that Parrott “showed what great vision he’s got; his link play was good’ I’d have like him to get a little higher at times”. As Rowett noted, Parrott spent most of the match in the space between the penalty box and midfield. Parrott tried to be active by dropping a bit deeper, but unlike Spurs, Millwall were not getting the push past Parrott into the attack.

Part of this was because Reading set deep making it difficult to get behind and then part of it was just the lack of experience on the pitch for Millwall to better unlock the defense. Gary Rowett shared that “maybe an older player with more physical presence stays higher and tries to fight in the box” but that will be concepts Parrott picks up “with more games and exposure in the Championship”.

Troy was active and worked winning an aerial due, a tackle, and completing two key passes in his 20 played on the night, according to statistics from whoscored.com. Although Parrott only had one touch in the box, it did set up a shot and he was the one fouled at the end of the first half to earn the free kick that Jed Wallace scored for Millwall’s only goal.

Parrott could only be played an hour on the night, according to Rowett, for fear of losing him again with an already depleted striking core for the Lions. While not some hat-trick debut, it was good for Parrott to get this first one out of the way.  Hopefully he gets start number two against Birmingham on the weekend and we are writing about his first senior goal.