Watching Roberto Soldado struggle to fit in at Spurs has been rather trying. He was one of the players brought in to soften the blow of losing Gareth Bale, but he hasn’t really helped in that regard. In fact, he seems to be causing the Tottenham hierarchy an even bigger headache.
The leaden-footed Spaniard seemed to be custom built for the Premier League when he first arrived on British soil, but has failed to make the grade for the last couple of months.
If you look at the statistics and don’t break it down further the problem isn’t all that apparent. After all, he’s scored 10 goals in 26 games, which isn’t a bad return for a striker that’s still adapting to his new surroundings. But it’s worth noting that 5 of those goals came from the penalty spot.
His accuracy in other areas of the pitch is severely lacking. He has a tendency to snap at shots, when a cooler, calmer striker would favour a more precise finish. This is a man who recently scooped a shot over the bar from five yards away during Spurs’ 1-0 defeat to FC Dnipro.
This prompted Sir Alan Sugar to tweet: “Is Soldado a donkey or what? My old grandmother could have scored the one he just missed. Nearly as bad as the Ronny Rosenthal miss.”
Oof. That’s a little harsh and not particularly supportive of the player, who’s clearly trying his best. Just check out his comments from after the Dnipro game:
“Many thanks for the messages of support. I am sure that if I had scored my chance we would have won the game. I know that the people expect a lot from me and they still haven’t seen it yet. I will keep working hard for those people and I will get there.” (Source: The Mirror)
After those comments, I can’t help but feel bad for him. But the sympathy soon fades when you watch him struggle on a near weekly basis.
If Spurs had more options upfront, Soldado wouldn’t get much game time. For now at least, he’s likely to remain a key player for Spurs. But Tim Sherwood needs to ensure that won’t be the case next summer.
Whilst a good pre-season could turn around his fortunes, there’s no point gambling. Bringing in somebody who can provide a little more support upfront is paramount to Tottenham’s chances of success next season.
Let’s just hope that Sherwood doesn’t give the Spaniard a sympathy vote.
What’s your take? How much longer does Soldado have to prove himself?
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There is no point having a striker who is not scoring. Soldado failed again to score yesterday. He should be sold and replaced by a better and more consistent striker.
Sadly Soldado was at RM with Michael Owen who did not rate him,perhaps someone at THFC should have asked him.We will loose our top players in the summer our season is over and possibly we will never recover?