- Jul 25, 2005
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No his biggest obstacle is what is missing between his ears. The amount of times this season we were in good attacking positions only for him to cut inside and whack a shot from 30 yards that threatened the crowd more than the goal was ridiculous. People are just making excuses for him. Last season he did nothing of note for us other than being a very direct runner. If you compare him to the likes of Oxlade-Chamberlin and Sterling you can see just how bad his end product is.Absolutely agreed. Townsend's biggest obstacle is that he made the mental leap to glory far too prematurely, and AVB said himself Townsend wasn't even really ready for a call-up. It, and all the subsequent media attention, heavily affected his game.
Nine loan stints, some not at all successful (Watford), gets a Prem loan, does well, Spurs starter, England darling, injured, comes back to a tactical mess in which inverted wingers aren't really even used. All this in the span of 18 months after all those loans. I don't care who you are or what you know, that kind of psychological ride will fuck with any head.
I really want him to succeed but if I am honest with myself I think he needs too much development to be a good option for us. We have better prospects such as Pritchard and Kane who merit squad places over him. I think it is a bit like the Caulker deal, yes we would like to develop him, but if we get a good offer it makes plenty of sense to move him on.
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