Mason Melia scouting report – Is Tottenham wonderkid ready for Roberto De Zerbi?

The Tottenham Hotspur attacker is looking to catch the eye of the new head coach but is he ready yet to make an impact for the first team?

Mason Melia has already got Tottenham fans calling for him to get a chance in the first team so football.london went to watch the talented teenager to see just how close he is to getting that call from Roberto De Zerbi.

The young striker walked through the doors of Hotspur Way in January, almost a year after Spurs had agreed a deal to bring him in once he turned 18 from St Patrick’s Athletic, with the transfer worth an initial £1.6million – a record amount for the League of Ireland – with the potential for future add-ons to double that figure.

Tottenham worked hard to see off numerous top Premier League and European clubs to sign Melia, one of the brightest young talents in Irish football, and the north London club duly handed him a long-term contract until 2031.

Melia’s early months at Spurs did not bring much fortune as the Irishman arrived with a back injury that needed to heal and then he picked up a chest infection, delaying his debut for the club’s U21s until last month.

The Republic of Ireland U21 international, who had 98 senior games with St Pat’s to his name, with 25 goal and eight assists despite his age, has been settling into Wayne Burnett’s development squad at Tottenham while also joining in occasionally with De Zerbi’s first team training sessions.

football.london went to watch Spurs’ 3-1 Premier League 2 play-off semi-final defeat to Brighton on Friday night with Melia scoring his first goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Here’s a look at the teenager’s key touches on the pitch followed by our verdict on just how close he is to getting into De Zerbi’s thinking.

First half

Melia began the game by playing up front as a number nine ahead of an advanced Reiss Russell-Denny. On-loan Hearts striker James Wilson found himself once again moved out to play on the right wing.

Melia started the match brightly, pressing high up the pitch but just seven minutes in and it looked like his night might be over as he took a big hit from a Brighton sliding challenge. Burnett sent substitute striker Ellie Lehane out to warm-up but after some treatment and a bit of hobbling on a sore foot, Melia was robust enough to be able to continue.

Touches were few and far between for the Irishman as Spurs struggled to get the ball to him and he quickly became isolated. On 13 minutes he was beaten in a foot race by Noel Atom to a ball down the flank and five minutes later, he came deep to pick up a ball in midfield but took far too long to put Wilson away down the right and a potential break was lost.

The frustration of not being able to impress led him, on 20 minutes, to try to take the ball into a cluster of defenders outside the Brighton box but it was too much and he was dispossessed.

The teenager then faded out of the game for 22 minutes as Brighton upped their efforts and pinned Tottenham back until a little burst of activity before the break. First in the 42nd minute, Melia executed a good touch and turn but lost the ball with the next touch and gave away a foul.

He then tried to tee up Russell-Denny for an effort just inside the visitors’ box but couldn’t get the ball to him before Melia headed over the crossbar from captain James Rowswell’s cross. In added time, he again showed some nice skill on the ball to turn his man in the centre of the pitch and get the ball out to Wilson on the flank.

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Second half

Melia’s first real action of the second period was a good defensive header in his own box from a Brighton free-kick six minutes in.

Then he suddenly came alive in the 56th minute as he looked to drag Spurs back into the game at 2-0 down. He reacted quickly to a loose ball in the Seagulls’ box, got there just before the visiting player and was sent tumbling.

The penalty was awarded to Tottenham and Melia took it himself, powering a pinpoint effort into the top right corner of the net, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.

The 18-year-old was in full flow at this point and just two minutes he nodded a ball forward on the run into the Brighton area and was sent to the floor again but the referee waved this one away.

The problem for Melia again in this half was a lack of service, but he did make an excellent sliding block in his own box on 67 minutes to stop a dangerous Brighton cross. Three minutes later, he caught the eye again in the other half with a lovely touch and turn before sending the ball wide to Spurs left-back Calum Logan.

Two minutes into added time at the end of the game, Melia had a great opportunity to double his tally for the night. However, he took a loose touch in the box when a better one would have put him in to score from a low ball into the area. That gave the defender the chance to whip the ball away and the youngster had to be content with just the one goal on the night.

Verdict

So is Melia ready for first team minutes under De Zerbi on the evidence of this performance? The answer is probably not quite yet, but if he continues on his current trajectory and works hard he should get there.

For context, the lack of service to him on the night has to be taken into account, although he could have come deeper himself at times to prevent getting so isolated. The skilful Irishman looked better in those few moments when he did work back to collect the ball than when asked to play as an old fashioned number nine leading the line.

He’s not yet got the physical stature of someone like Will Lankshear, who is three years older and was as much of an out-and-out number nine as you could find at Premier League 2 level as he lifted the best player award in the 2023/24 season as its top goalscorer. Lankshear has improved his hold-up play hugely since those days when he was mostly a finisher.

It’s also worth noting that Melia was up against a 29-year-old in centre-back Ben Barclay, who plays for Brighton’s academy as an overage player and mentor, and 21-year-old Atom, who been named in a Brighton Premier League matchday squad before. Melia gave them some problems but not enough on the night.

Melia’s finish for his penalty was top drawer though and there’s no doubt that as a finisher he would have profited from more service. Luca Williams-Barnett has missed recent months with a back issue and you can’t help but wonder how the gifted 17-year-old and Melia would work as a duo at the top end of the pitch.

Woking boss and former Spurs forward Jermain Defoe was in attendance at the match on Friday night and he would have been watching Melia closely as a member of the striker fraternity.

It’s still very early days for Melia and despite his experience in the Irish game, he’s still very raw – as he should be at this age – and he’s got plenty to learn with his all-round game and how to grab matches by the scruff of the neck rather than let them pass him by. His fellow Irishman Troy Parrott was able to do that at U21s level after being set the challenge by Jose Mourinho of showing the right attitude when stepping back down from the first team training and it’s served him well to this day with his all-action style.

Melia certainly has the natural quality that Parrott had and has. It was there on Friday night in little touches, turns and in his anticipation. It just needs to be married now as he matures with a reading of the game, knowing the right spaces to drive into and when to drop deep as a creator. He’s got the ability on the ball to do that.

So the Republic of Ireland U21 international needs more time. His finishing means that if he got a chance for the first team in the final weeks of the season and the ball found him in the box he might well put it away, but Premier League football with its brutal pace and physicality is so much more than that and De Zerbi’s football has tactical layers galore to learn until they become instinct.

A big summer awaits for Melia and if he impresses when he returns in July for pre-season then De Zerbi could well take him on the club’s tour to New Zealand and Australia, a vital time for young players to impress the coach and his staff and learn what is required. Melia has the natural ability, now it is all about building an all-round game to service it in the best way.