PLAYER WATCH: Soldado

[theShiznit]

What annoys me is we seemed to have an excellent combo developing with Ade and Eriksen, then Sherwood tinkers with it in the next 2 games.

TBH i think he had to play Soldado in the Hull game otherwise it would have been 3 weeks with no game time. and you cannot expect anyone to come in under those circumstances. our strikers need to be managed well by TS in the upcoming period to get the best out of both.

 

[Gassin's finest]

What annoys me is we seemed to have an excellent combo developing with Ade and Eriksen, then Sherwood tinkers with it in the next 2 games.

You'd have thought that usually a 2 man strike force like that would do well against Hull though, so Sherwood was probably confident in that selection.

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

Iirc the penalty v Hull in November was his last league goal. He was dreadful in that match too, I was there. I think it's when I first realised he wasn't what a lot of people said he was.

The only goal from open play came against Villa. When was that?

 

[dagraham]

Difficult, as he is severly lacking in confidence and needs a goal but the team comes first and he doesn't really warrant his place at the moment. I had rservations about whether he was suitable for the PL and its beggining to look like there is some truth in that, although we can't totally write him off.

Earlier in the season you could say that if he was playing for say Arsenal etc he would be scoring for fun but he has been missing sitters galore in the last month or so. We can't say he hasn't had chances and I'm struggling to think of any time he's even properly worked the keeper.

We could have another Morientes on our hands.

 

[SEANSPURS1975]

Don't like kicking a man when he's down, but on the whole Soldado has been utter crap for us. Forget his previous stats and all I see is an average striker at best. If Adebayor stays fit and our midfielders are fit, we've spent £26m on a sub. I reckon we might cut our loses in the summer and try and get back as much as we can for him. Who knows he might prove us doubters wrong, I just can't see it...

 

[fieryjack]

We could have another Morientes on our hands.

What do you mean, could?

 

[Shea]

I used to take solace in my memories of Gary Lineker when he first came

He got of to a slow start and I rememeber going to every home game of that season with my dad and up until he scored all the people we'd talk to in the cafe before the game and in the stands would be moaning about Lineker being a waste of money and lazy etc

Then he finally got his first goal away to Norwich (mind you this was only about his sixth game) which he quickly followed with a home hattrick against Trevor Francis' QPR. He then famously went on to be the leagues top scorer and shine for England in the World cup that year.

So I hoped that Soldado may take a similar path - struggle to adapt to the English game having become accustom to playing in Spain but eventually find his feet as he gets used to the attacking players who need to supply him and they do get used to his movement.

I was even prepared to extend his settling in period long beyond what Lineker took - due to the fact that Lineker was english and had played in the league before and that Soldado was clearly very poorly managed by AVB and shot for confidence as a result.

I maintained my faith that it would just talk a goal for him to magically get going and show everyone how good he really is.

But then that goal came at Villa - and still nothing

Then the Europa hattrick - surely this would be enough to give him the confidence boost needed to go on and shine in the league.....but no - still nothing but composed penalty taking.

Then Sherwood took over and to be fair he seemed to get an instant boost - without scoring he looked lively and created chances for others while making great runs and holding up the ball well to link play. He even got into some very good positions and could well have had a few goals - was possibly unlucky not to have.

But still how much time does he get to prove himself before fans are allowed to question his signing? he's afterall not a young prospect striker, he's a player bought for huge money with the expectations of being the goal scorer we needed to help elevate us from best of the rest to one of the best.

I'm not really ready to write him off just yet - I still hold out hope that he will click into gear and I look to his finishing during his Valenica days and his movement and link play when at his best for us as evidence for what he can do and hopefully will do.

However its impossible now not to question whether he will ever prove to be a worth while signing or as massive transfer market mistake. As things stand, at £26m, he looks like the wrong player for the wrong club and shows no real sign of becoming the striker we paid for. It's worrying and obvious that if we do decide to cut our losses we'd be lucky to recoup half of our investment - so a major gamble lies ahead of us, Soldado may just prove to be the wrong player bought at the wrong time, he hasn't solved any of our issues thus far and he's looked like a very square peg for our rather round hole since he signed.

I hope he proves us all wrong - I really do - but as of now I struggle to understand how any Spurs fan can defend him as a signing without the use of blind hope.

 

[EastLondonYid]

We are 3pts off 4th without a goalscorer, a defence, a settled midfield, a decent manager or even a decent atmosphere anymore....

Just imagine what we could have achieved this season?

 

[BringBack_leGin]

We are 3pts off 4th without a goalscorer, a defence, a settled midfield, a decent manager or even a decent atmosphere anymore....

Just imagine what we could have achieved this season?

I think what you're saying is

'We all dream of a team of Hugo Lloriseseseses (pre concussion)'

 

[EastLondonYid]

I think what you're saying is

'We all dream of a team of Hugo Lloriseseseses (pre concussion)'

I feel in some respects we are so close to being a good side, but right now that seems like a million miles away with each passing game....

 

[senseispab]

Right.

Soldado looks pony to me.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

With our wingers offering the square root of 0 and Tim favouring Bentaleb I'm not sure why he hasn't tried a 4-3-1-2

Paulinho - Capoue - Bentaleb
----------Eriksen-----------
-----Soldado----Ade-------

Fullbacks providing the width.

 

[danielneeds]

I used to take solace in my memories of Gary Lineker when he first came

He got of to a slow start and I rememeber going to every home game of that season with my dad and up until he scored all the people we'd talk to in the cafe before the game and in the stands would be moaning about Lineker being a waste of money and lazy etc

Then he finally got his first goal away to Norwich (mind you this was only about his sixth game) which he quickly followed with a home hattrick against Trevor Francis' QPR. He then famously went on to be the leagues top scorer and shine for England in the World cup that year.

So I hoped that Soldado may take a similar path - struggle to adapt to the English game having become accustom to playing in Spain but eventually find his feet as he gets used to the attacking players who need to supply him and they do get used to his movement.

I was even prepared to extend his settling in period long beyond what Lineker took - due to the fact that Lineker was english and had played in the league before and that Soldado was clearly very poorly managed by AVB and shot for confidence as a result.

I maintained my faith that it would just talk a goal for him to magically get going and show everyone how good he really is.

But then that goal came at Villa - and still nothing

Then the Europa hattrick - surely this would be enough to give him the confidence boost needed to go on and shine in the league.....but no - still nothing but composed penalty taking.

Then Sherwood took over and to be fair he seemed to get an instant boost - without scoring he looked lively and created chances for others while making great runs and holding up the ball well to link play. He even got into some very good positions and could well have had a few goals - was possibly unlucky not to have.

But still how much time does he get to prove himself before fans are allowed to question his signing? he's afterall not a young prospect striker, he's a player bought for huge money with the expectations of being the goal scorer we needed to help elevate us from best of the rest to one of the best.

I'm not really ready to write him off just yet - I still hold out hope that he will click into gear and I look to his finishing during his Valenica days and his movement and link play when at his best for us as evidence for what he can do and hopefully will do.

However its impossible now not to question whether he will ever prove to be a worth while signing or as massive transfer market mistake. As things stand, at £26m, he looks like the wrong player for the wrong club and shows no real sign of becoming the striker we paid for. It's worrying and obvious that if we do decide to cut our losses we'd be lucky to recoup half of our investment - so a major gamble lies ahead of us, Soldado may just prove to be the wrong player bought at the wrong time, he hasn't solved any of our issues thus far and he's looked like a very square peg for our rather round hole since he signed.

I hope he proves us all wrong - I really do - but as of now I struggle to understand how any Spurs fan can defend him as a signing without the use of blind hope.

I see where you are going with the Lineker analogy, there were games with Spurs and England where he was a complete passenger, and you wandered what the point of him was, and then he would pop up with a scrappy little goal. Soldado is getting 1st bit spot on at the moment, without the goal. I guess the feeling is football has moved on the PL and you need strikers who could be midfielder, in that they can run all day, tackle and get involved in the game.

 

[RuskyM]

With our wingers offering the square root of 0 and Tim favouring Bentaleb I'm not sure why he hasn't tried a 4-3-1-2

Paulinho - Capoue - Bentaleb
----------Eriksen-----------
-----Soldado----Ade-------

Fullbacks providing the width.

that's dangerously close to a tactic and we know how tim feels about those

 

[dagraham]

I see where you are going with the Lineker analogy, there were games with Spurs and England where he was a complete passenger, and you wandered what the point of him was, and then he would pop up with a scrappy little goal. Soldado is getting 1st bit spot on at the moment, without the goal. I guess the feeling is football has moved on the PL and you need strikers who could be midfielder, in that they can run all day, tackle and get involved in the game.

Which unfortunately makes him as useful as a chocolate teapot at the moment.

 

[danielneeds]

Which unfortunately makes him as useful as a chocolate teapot at the moment.

He was the same at Valencia and Getafe, only with the goals. I do wonder if he can it round...

 

[fridgemagnet]

Sorry if this has been asked already but, how many Spanish players (not Spanish speaking) have we had at Spurs? (i could be missing an obvious one but off the top of my head i can only think of Falque) and also are there/have there ever been a shit hot Spanish striker playing for a London team? (again i could missing an obvious one)

Torres went downhill when he moved to London.

I've liked a lot of what i've seen of Robbie but our "wingers" are screwing him six ways from Sunday i'm not saying he's immune from criticism but we have rarely played to his strengths, let alone the others we signed.

 

[senseispab]

Sorry if this has been asked already but, how many Spanish players (not Spanish speaking) have we had at Spurs? (i could be missing an obvious one but off the top of my head i can only think of Falque) and also are there/have there ever been a shit hot Spanish striker playing for a London team? (again i could missing an obvious one)

Torres went downhill when he moved to London.

I've liked a lot of what i've seen of Robbie but our "wingers" are screwing him six ways from Sunday i'm not saying he's immune from criticism but we have rarely played to his strengths, let alone the others we signed.

From what I've seen, his strength(s) is tap ins from the 6 yard area....

Seriously, I can't see things changing, he's just not dynamic enough for the Prem.

 

[Blake Griffin]

From what I've seen, his strength(s) is tap ins from the 6 yard area....

Seriously, I can't see things changing, he's just not dynamic enough for the Prem.

he can't even manage that lately though. off the top of my head he's missed three of those alone since sherwood took over;

chadli cross vs southampton
lennon cross vs man utd
lennon laid one off to him vs stoke

all from an average of about 4 yards out

he's nothing but a finisher who currently can't finish. so basically right now he's just some guy in a kit.

 

[chrissivad]

Can we cut out the little insults to each other, and the larger ones as well.
not sure what started it all, but it can stop now