Tottenham Hotspur journalist Alasdair Gold caught the attention of some Spurs fans after he posted a tweet which shared an article that he wrote for Football.London in which he relayed some comments that ex-Spurs striker Roberto Soldado recently made during an interview with Spanish publication, AS.
As Gold explained in this article, Soldado joined the Lilywhites ‘in the summer of 2013 with the money to come from Gareth Bale’s world-record move to Real Madrid.’
As per Transfermarkt, Soldado commanded the joint-highest outlay of any Tottenham signing that summer, as he and Erik Lamela were both signed for £27m. However, it may be fair to say that the Spaniard didn’t exactly set the world alight at Spurs, as he scored a fairly modest total of just 16 goals in 76 appearances for the Lilywhites before departing from the club for £14.4m in the summer of 2015 – just two years after joining.
In his recent interview with AS, the former Spain international indicated that he struggled with the physicality of the Premier League during his time with Spurs, while he also shared that he had some difficulty off the pitch during his time with the north London club, as he and his family struggled to adapt to life in London.
So, how did these Spurs fans react to Soldado’s comments after Gold shared his article via Twitter?
As Spurs' latest new striker prepares for his debut, Roberto Soldado has opened up on the problems he faced at Tottenham during his two years at the club. https://t.co/5mB4uRkRpK
— Alasdair Gold (@AlasdairGold) October 16, 2020
Some of the Tottenham fans who replied to Gold’s tweet had some sympathy for Soldado.
The one thing I always admired about Soldado was his work ethic on the pitch. He would try and try and try to make things happen, but unfortunately not everything works out. There’s no denying that he loved the club and that’s why he’s always gotten love from me.
— Vlad Benitez (@VladBenitez09) October 16, 2020
Soldado needed more time to be honest. If they played him behind Kane it would have been explosive. But hopefully he’s happier as a player now
— Stephen Geldenhuys (@StephenGeldenh1) October 16, 2020
Thank you Roberto Soldado. You tried your best & you were grateful for playing for us, things just didn’t work out.
— Amro (@lnvertedWinger) October 16, 2020
I did feel for him at times.. always tried his best, the fans got behind him.. but wasn’t getting played in the best position.
— graham.. (@downatthelane00) October 16, 2020
Some Lilywhites fans suggested that the club’s style of play didn’t suit the Spaniard.
We played totally the wrong way when this guy was playing for us. Avb possession based slow build up, always ending with an Andros Townsend shot from outside the box that went in to the crowd.
— Fraser (@fraser8814) October 16, 2020
We never played to his strengths
— Jay (@mcr_thfc) October 16, 2020
Not all of the Spurs fans who replied to this tweet had positive words for the ex-Tottenham striker and one particular Spurs supporter declared that Soldado ‘was useless’ during his time with the north London club.
However, another Tottenham fan jumped to the Spaniard’s defence in response to that critical tweet.
The problem was he was useless
— RobMaTHFC (@robmathfc) October 16, 2020
He worked hard for the club, just didn’t work out for him. He’s clearly not useless giving his record in Spain prior
— Josh ???? (@Joshuarrrrrrrr) October 16, 2020
Do you have positive memories of Soldado's time with Spurs?
YES
NO
So, while one particular Spurs fan is clearly not a fan of Soldado, it seems as though plenty of Tottenham supporters do have fond feelings for their former striker despite his less-than-stellar goalscoring record with the north London club.