Chadder View: Jamie Donley’s Tottenham opportunity has now arrived
Matthew Chadder is a lifelong Tottenham fan who grew up just down the road from his beloved club in North London. He’s now putting his passion for Spurs into words with a daily fan view for Tottenham News…
Now is the time for Jamie Donley to make a name for himself at Tottenham.
Donley is still just 20 years old and has only recently emerged on the radar of most Spurs supporters. Nonetheless, the young striker could soon be handed his first senior start for his boyhood club.
It is a start which would arrive much sooner than most people would have anticipated, and perhaps some might suggest too soon, but either way, Donley could soon have the chance to put his name up in lights at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Just last week I was writing about how now is the time for Alejo Veliz to burst onto the scene in north London, and here we are a week later, and I am writing about how a different 20-year-old striker could be handed his golden opportunity after the other 20-year-old striker was injured.
That is just the way the season has gone for Tottenham, who have been hit by arguably the worst injury crisis I have ever seen.
Just as one player returns, another gets hurt, with a revolving door of injured stars disrupting the positive start Postecoglou had made to life in the Premier League.
It leaves the Australian in a situation where he is now being forced to turn toward his academy, and with Son Heung-min set to compete at the Asia Cup this month, the 58-year-old could soon be forced to rely even more heavily on the young resources at Hotspur Way.
While on paper that makes for concerning reading, Tottenham’s fixture list looks light this month after a hectic December, which could align perfectly with Donley’s introduction to the team.
Apart from a trip to Manchester United in the middle of the month, the visit of Brentford on 31 January is Spurs’ only other league fixture in January, with the FA Cup set to take centre stage.
Burnley visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Friday 5 January, and if Postecoglou’s side can get the better of Vincent Kompany’s men, then they will have a fourth-round FA Cup tie later on in the month.
In years gone by cup competitions have been the perfect battleground for young players to make their names, and Donley could become the latest academy product to do just that.
He has been performing at a high standard for Spurs’ Under-21s this season, who sit comfortably atop Premier League 2, while he has also made an impression at international level for England’s youth teams.
A start against Burnley would be a message from Postecoglou that he is not afraid to call upon his youth players when needs must and could be the perfect motivation for the rest of Tottenham’s academy.
Veliz was the man I was hoping to see take advantage of Son’s absence, but that now doesn’t look possible, and there is no reason why Donley can’t be just as effective.
In football, you need to take your chances when they come, no matter how soon they arrive, and Spurs fans might soon find out if Donley is the real deal.
In other Tottenham news, one BBC pundit was wowed by the performance of a “fantastic” 86 per cent Spurs ace.