JayB
Well-Known Member
- Aug 24, 2011
- 6,723
- 26,382
Although I've considered myself a big fan of Soldado and have backed him on this forum and elsewhere there's no escaping the fact that we overpaid massively for him. He's always been a poacher who was rather limited when it came to anything but finishing, as well as in his athleticism. Never a 26m player.
That being said he did not finish last season with the highest chance conversion rate in Europe by accident. He may be little more than a poacher, but in Spain he was an absolutely brilliant one.
Although his return for us thus far has been so poor as to be inexcusable I do think he has been mismanaged. Confidence is crucially important for any striker and he really ought to have been given a number of runouts in the group stage of the Europa in order to find his shooting boots in a Spurs shirt. There was no pressure whatsoever in those matches and we opened up the mickey mouse defenses at will whereas we found ourselves creating sweet FA in the league.
Unfortunately given that Ade had been banished to the reserves AVB left himself with little option but to play Soldado in the league, and it wasn't long at all into the campaign that there were whispers of him being a flop or a foreign myth, putting him under pressure. This despite the fact that under AVB he legitimately had very, very little service to work with and was involved in a large percentage of our paltry goal tally. He hit a real low point near the end of AVB's reign where he had basically given up on even making runs, knowing that the ball would never come. His confidence was utterly destroyed.
Under Sherwood he seemed to be reinvigorated somewhat, but has been dropping deeper to pick up the ball and contribute to our build up. Whether this is a tactical choice by Sherwood or Soldado doing it of his own volition because he feels pressure to contribute somehow given his lack of goals, I'm not sure. Regardless, I think it's ultimately counterproductive. Soldado is a poacher, even if he's woefully off form, and should be positioned in and around the box looking primarily to get on the end of things. He can still contribute creatively from more advanced positions, as we saw under AVB, and if he continues to drop deep he's never going to get back to his best.
I'm concerned that he won't find any semblance of form this season. I do think that if he were to bag a few goals it would go a long way toward alleviating the mental strain he is under, but I don't see where the opportunities will come from. Every remaining league match is a life or death affair and the way he's currently snatching at chances he really ought to be left out of the side, and who knows how many Europa matches he'll have to get back on track.
I'm still optimistic that he'll eventually come good for us, however. We've seen flashes of his class and he's most certainly not going anywhere given the way that his value has plummeted. Even if he goes into next season as second or third choice it should mean that he's played against rather poor opposition and he should get plenty of opportunities to find the back of the net and regain his mojo. I just hope it happens before he is permanently ruined ala Torres.
That being said he did not finish last season with the highest chance conversion rate in Europe by accident. He may be little more than a poacher, but in Spain he was an absolutely brilliant one.
Although his return for us thus far has been so poor as to be inexcusable I do think he has been mismanaged. Confidence is crucially important for any striker and he really ought to have been given a number of runouts in the group stage of the Europa in order to find his shooting boots in a Spurs shirt. There was no pressure whatsoever in those matches and we opened up the mickey mouse defenses at will whereas we found ourselves creating sweet FA in the league.
Unfortunately given that Ade had been banished to the reserves AVB left himself with little option but to play Soldado in the league, and it wasn't long at all into the campaign that there were whispers of him being a flop or a foreign myth, putting him under pressure. This despite the fact that under AVB he legitimately had very, very little service to work with and was involved in a large percentage of our paltry goal tally. He hit a real low point near the end of AVB's reign where he had basically given up on even making runs, knowing that the ball would never come. His confidence was utterly destroyed.
Under Sherwood he seemed to be reinvigorated somewhat, but has been dropping deeper to pick up the ball and contribute to our build up. Whether this is a tactical choice by Sherwood or Soldado doing it of his own volition because he feels pressure to contribute somehow given his lack of goals, I'm not sure. Regardless, I think it's ultimately counterproductive. Soldado is a poacher, even if he's woefully off form, and should be positioned in and around the box looking primarily to get on the end of things. He can still contribute creatively from more advanced positions, as we saw under AVB, and if he continues to drop deep he's never going to get back to his best.
I'm concerned that he won't find any semblance of form this season. I do think that if he were to bag a few goals it would go a long way toward alleviating the mental strain he is under, but I don't see where the opportunities will come from. Every remaining league match is a life or death affair and the way he's currently snatching at chances he really ought to be left out of the side, and who knows how many Europa matches he'll have to get back on track.
I'm still optimistic that he'll eventually come good for us, however. We've seen flashes of his class and he's most certainly not going anywhere given the way that his value has plummeted. Even if he goes into next season as second or third choice it should mean that he's played against rather poor opposition and he should get plenty of opportunities to find the back of the net and regain his mojo. I just hope it happens before he is permanently ruined ala Torres.
