The movie "Moneyball" illustrates you don't need
to invest as heavy as New York Yankees to enjoy success in the business of
sports. The message might not be well-received by Premier League club owners.
Manchester City did not get their return of investment until the final minute
of 2011-12 season. The flop last season only means they need to spend more.
Despite their generous spending, Tottenham's balance book
looks relatively healthy, offset by the income from the sale of Gareth Bale.
The board would still be convinced this has in fact upgraded the team from
over-relying on individual flair to become more all-rounded and complete, not
until the recent humiliating defeat at Etihad Stadium.
 |
| Soldado has only scored from the spot this season |
It leaves Andre Villas-Boas puzzling about the lack of
firepower in his squad, with more than half of Bale's sale was spent on Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela, also seeing Andros Townsend bursts into the first
team, so as the National team. If the concept of expecting one goal per £1
million invested in a striker is to apply, Robin Van Persie was a bargain for
Manchester United, whereas Soldado will have to be in goals galore to reach the
minimum expectation.
Jermain Defoe's eye-catching form put more pressure on
Soldado. The Spaniard goal-scoring ability is beyond doubt. The difference in
performance of the two strikers does not only lie in the level of competition
they have regularly been featured in, but it is AVB's failure to get the best
out of Soldado under his system.
Neither physically gifted nor possessing enormous pace, it
is Soldado's technique, delicate touch and football intelligence that makes him
one of the most prolific strikers in Europe. Playing in AVB's 4-2-3-1
formation, the former Valencia centre-forward struggles with opportunities to
showcase his talents, while often finds himself being outnumbered in the final
third.
Although the depth of the bench is not of a worry for
Tottenham, they are in fact over-abundant in central midfielders and wingers,
but relatively short in the no.10 position, whose presence alongside Soldado is
exactly what is missing in Tottenham's attack. Christian Eriksen is the best
fit to the vacancy since Rafael Van der Vaart's departure, although he has yet
to flourish since his impressive home debut. The next closest match, Gylfi
Sigurdsson, has instead found his new comfort zone on the left.
On Thursday night, Soldado was given a rare start in Europa
League, as if an ultimatum given by AVB to his starting berth. Moussa Dembele was
the man behind him, but the Belgian's terrible goal-scoring record has
reflected his unsuitability to the role. Dembele is indeed way better as a
distributor and looks more threatening arriving late at the box.
Soldado thus spent more time showing his frustration in the
first half, rather than contributing in the attack. Lack of penetration,
mobility and creativity on Tottenham's side saw the ball often stall on both
flanks, which by no means Soldado can find an easy way to threaten the
opponents' goal. It appeared to be another night the striker again failed to
impress his manager.
 |
| Constant pressure from Jermain Defoe |
The own goal by Tromso's Adnan Cauevic opened up the game in
the second half, also relieved the pressure of AVB's side. Playing with more
liberty, Soldado showed glimpses of what he can bring to Tottenham's offense. The timely dummy run in the box freed Dembele
that saw him score again for Tottenham in over a year. Minutes later, he placed
a first time flick perfectly to release Dembele once again but only saw the
post deny the Belgian a brace.
The skills are elementary, yet executing to perfection while
making it look simple, Tottenham has gone in the right direction in investing
in Soldado. If not contributing by putting the ball in the net himself, Soldado
has a complete package to help the group of talented attackers Tottenham
possessess to shine. Rather than suspecting his main striker's form and
confidence, AVB might have to understand better his player's strength and the
adaptability into his gameplan.
No comments:
Post a Comment