PLAYER WATCH: Soldado

[E17yid]

You can never be sure and Modric is an example of a player whom many were wrong about.

You can however see that certain players have attributes that are more conducive to our league than others. A striker like Soldado, for example, who has no pace, no strength, poor in the air, can't score from outside the box and relies 100% on service is not really a great fit to play up front on his own in the PL.

Lamela is also weak physically and can't beat a man. Looking at him and Depay for example, it's clear to me who has the better attributes to succeed in this league, despite them both being talented.

And Fazio being brought into a fast paced league in a team that likes the press him up the pitch is not exactly an ideal match either.

You can't always get it right but its the job of our scouting department and the manager/coach and DOF to recognise the players who have the right ingredients, even if their "stats" aren't as good as a different player.

Attributes are just that though, attributes. They are/can be a good indicator but are no means a guarantee for success.

If we went on attributes alone then Dembele and Townsend would be playing for barca and Madrid.

 

[dagraham]

Attributes are just that though, attributes. They are/can be a good indicator but are no means a guarantee for success.

If we went on attributes alone then Dembele and Townsend would be playing for barca and Madrid.

Say wat?!

 

[iluvsteffenfreund]

I feel we can only really judge poch next season. He will of had a whole season with these players and if he hasn't worked out who needs to be replaced by next season then the knives will be out. Soldado and lamela are just two that need replacing. We need a proper centre half to at alongside jan we need a schniederlin in central midfield, a winger who chips in with goals and can run the fullback the other way and we need another goalscorer who is not afraid to score a one on one when the pressure is on. He gets these players in and next season will be bright. He will of course have to hold on to lloris Kane and eriksen!

 

[wallyjakeman]

No problem wallyjakeman it wasn't meant literally its just my turn of phrase, basically I could see no way any professional footballer could mess that up.
I agree with your post otherwise and I don't hate or dislike any of our players, not even Soldado, I really wanted him to succeed but it just hasn't happened and there's no point keeping him here if he's not contributing and I'll wish him luck when he goes.

Aah, I see.
I think Bobby will go to Spain and turn back to his old self again. A shame it won't work out for him here, even though I feel that his failure is sometimes quite exaggerated. I do think he could become successful in the PL, but it would take more time and patience than we as an aspiring top club can give him.

 

[StartingPrice]

You can never be sure and Modric is an example of a player whom many were wrong about.

You can however see that certain players have attributes that are more conducive to our league than others. A striker like Soldado, for example, who has no pace, no strength, poor in the air, can't score from outside the box and relies 100% on service is not really a great fit to play up front on his own in the PL.

Lamela is also weak physically and can't beat a man. Looking at him and Depay for example, it's clear to me who has the better attributes to succeed in this league, despite them both being talented.

And Fazio being brought into a fast paced league in a team that likes the press him up the pitch is not exactly an ideal match either.

You can't always get it right but its the job of our scouting department and the manager/coach and DOF to recognise the players who have the right ingredients, even if their "stats" aren't as good as a different player.

You never can tell. And, in this instance, there are so many intangibles, and the almost irresistible tendency to reflect backwards with current understanding.

In the case of Soldado, for instance, no matter how much you really believe you felt all these things when we signed him (and I have zero way of knowing whether you personally did or not), there will always be a large number who didn't think this at all, but are looking at it from the present knowing these things have hindered him and imagining they really felt that when we signed him. And we have no idea of just how much playing in a floundering team effected him; playing in a team that seemed to do anything but play to his strengths; playing in a team who had two managers in his first season, one of whom clearly didn't trust him and dropped him as soon as he could; of being dropped almost every time he did finally score. We have no idea of just how much these factors effected his confidence. We have no idea of just how much AVB's attack-averse football effected him. I'll tell you, now, I think all these things together would have effected me. We have no way of knowing whether, if all these factors had played out the opposite, if we had played more attack-minded under AVB, played to his strengths a little more, and if he'd banged a couple of goals in early-doors, then maybe Soldado may have proven a little more successful for the club.

Speaking for myself, I have stated over and over again that I don't give a flying fahook how much or how little we pay for a player (I actually prefer it that we produce our own players and buy 'steal' players at bargain prices). But it is true, as anyone who has followed these and other boards, blogs etc., will admit, that our fan-base has been virtually hysterical for us to make a big money striker signing. Virtually as soon as Soldado didn't hit the ground running, they were off with their screaming that we bought the wrong Spaniard, we should have got Negredo, Levy is a ****, blah blah blah - they stopped mentioning that one when Negredo was shipped out of Citeh as soon as they could get shot! I've heard them ranting that we could have got Michu, Levy's a ****, etc., only to continue blaming the signing policy and Levy while pretending they didn't personally believe Michu was the answer to all our prayers. I seen them do the same with Jelavic when he first signed for Everton. Do they go on about how their personal genius could have got us...dum dum dum dum DUUUMMMMM...Jelavic? No, they don't.

The truth is, when I look at the way Soldado has failed to adjust here, I don't imagine I knew all the things that were wrong with his game when he first signed that made me 100% certain that he would fail...and hence had me ranting about how crap he was from virtually his first game. No. What I see is that maybe the clue is in the mention of Negredo, above. He flopped, too - and he is also a Spanish striker who played exclusively (afaik) in the Spanish league. Then I remember that this happened with Morientes, too, when he went to Liverpool. In fact, thinking of Spanish strikers in the EPL, the most obvious one I can think to add to this group is Torres. He was a success at Liverpool, and an absolute beyond a joke flop at Chelsea. His form picked up, a bit under Mourinho. And you know what the common denominator there is? At Liverpool he played under Benitez - a Spanish manager; and Mourinho is Portuguese, and so from the Iberian peninsula and so able to speak his language and from a very similar culture.

Thus it is possible to see a whole host of factors that may have had an impact on whether or not Solado succeed. Not least of which is that Spanish strikers just do not seem to adjust to the EPL very well (and did anyone notice that our old friend Llorente has hardly adjusted to life in Juventus, either!). Maybe Spanish strikers just don't travel very well.

 

[MetalFace D]

Heart and head isn't it. Pragmatically, I think yes, the strongest argument is that he is sold. But Jesus Christ, what I wouldn't give to see him line up on the first day of next season and smash in a first half hat-trick at the Emirates, finishing with a penalty driven so hard down Szczęsny's throat, they have to scrape off some of the stomach lining still left on the ball before resuming play.

Mate, believe me i want him to do well sooo badly, but I honestly think his time at Spurs is well and truly over.

 

[E17yid]

Say wat?!

He has some great attributes. Ones that you'd think would be good for the EPL

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

Dear Soldado supporters....

 

[Good Doctor M]

He has some great attributes. Ones that you'd think would be good for the EPL

I think he has all the attributes to do well in the EPL. But his head isn't there. At Valencia, if in the position he was in last night, he wouldn't even have known Chadli was there, nevermind consider him the best option while bearing down on a goalkeeper.

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

I think he has all the attributes to do well in the EPL. .

Like what?
Strong?
Fast?
Dribbled?
Finds space?
Good in the air?
Holds the ball up?

 

[E17yid]

I think he has all the attributes to do well in the EPL. But his head isn't there. At Valencia, if in the position he was in last night, he wouldn't even have known Chadli was there, nevermind consider him the best option while bearing down on a goalkeeper.

I was referring to Townsend in that post.

 

[Hoddle&Waddle]

He has some great attributes. Ones that you'd think would be good for the MLS

Fixed.

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

@THFCSPURS19
Did you accidentally rate that spam or are you mad that soldado actually IS shit?

 

[E17yid]

Fixed.

So you don't think Townsend has any good attributes?

 

[ultimateloner]

Agree - it was an effort by a player so lacking in confidence that he seemingly just lost all ability to decide what to do and ended up panicking.
There have been far worse misses by players at the top of their game.

I recall Les Ferdinand's failed attempt against was it Leciester or Blackburn? a cup final it was too i think.

Its a reflection of how bad Soldado is now. However my belief is ability is perm, form is temp. Clearly he has failed to adjust his style for the PL, or for the team. Poch needs to work him into the system. Don't just blast the player.

 

[ultimateloner]

Out of curiosity: can someone name players/flops that managed to turn the table after 2 seasons? Maybe not to 'super star' level but at least to an acceptable level?

I can think of Forlan as one example but can't think of who else.

 

[spursbri111]

In a cup final. And lost because of too players huge cock ups. Poch can't control what a player does on the field to such an extent that you can lay any blame on him for our goals conceded last night. We lost last night because Verts and Fazio had two seperate nightmares.

You can argue that we didn't win because Soldado missed a chance, but neither him nor Poch can take the blame for a defeat.

Arguing that Ade should have played is ludicrous at this point and too easy an argument to make. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but Ade's clearly poison - his record speaks for itself. I'm all for defending him when it's warranted, but how can one player lose the confidence of so many managers without being a bit of a bad egg when he feels like it. The Chelsea and Arsenal games showed, beyond doubt that we're better when there is squad unity. If Ade is a threat to that, then he stays home, I don't care who we're playing. Anyone that can't see that, is kidding themselves.

spot on. but i have been one of soldados biggest fans but last night finished me with him. the commentator was right when he said that pass was unprofessional. I can handle players that try their best but have bad games but lazy players ( ade) and sloppy players (soldado) just drive fans mad

 

[mano-obe]

For the first time in months he looked genuinely happy being in a Spurs shirt. All he needed was for Townsend to stroke up his inner thigh. He will score a few before the season is out, Townsend just needs to keep working his magic

 

[NEVILLEB]

Out of curiosity: can someone name players/flops that managed to turn the table after 2 seasons? Maybe not to 'super star' level but at least to an acceptable level?

I can think of Forlan as one example but can't think of who else.

Bale?

 

[TheChosenOne]

That ''Jonah' Bale as he was called.