Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan has claimed that Dane Scarlett’s teammates let him down during Thursday night’s defeat at Vitesse Arnhem.
The 17-year-old was one of eleven changes that Nuno Espirito Santo made to his side for the Europa Conference League group stage match in Holland, having decided to leave those who started the Premier League victory against Newcastle United back in London.
The young forward made plenty of runs into space against the Dutch outfit but found himself in a side which lacked creativity and rarely received the ball in threatening positions in the final third of the pitch.
Scarlett has started three matches in the Europa Conference League and has been on the bench for all but two of Spurs’ Premier League matches to date this season.
The teenager found himself having been replaced in the 75th minute by debutant and fellow academy graduate Dilan Markanday.
Whelan was critical of the performance of those who took to the field at the GelreDome and believes that such performances can affect Scarlett’s development.
He told Football Insider: “The thing is, if other people aren’t producing, the experienced players around you, I feel sorry for young players.
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“It makes it a lot more difficult for them to progress and improve in their own game.
“The players let the manager down. The manager gave a chance to the players out there.
“There’s no doubt in my mind they should be going out and winning that game, whether they leave star men out or not.
“It just puts more pressure on the players and the manager when you can’t go across and beat a team you should be beating. It still shows underlying problems with players’ attitudes.”
SpursWeb Opinion
The likes of Giovani Lo Celso and Dele Alli did little to try and bring Scarlett into the game with the teenager having cut a lonely figure in attack, a loan move to a Championship club could certainly be of more benefit to the striker in the January transfer window to further progress his development.
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