5 Tottenham Players Who Need To Pull Their Socks Up This Season

Andre Villas-Boas was one busy bee this summer. With a huge transfer budget to dig into thanks to the impending Gareth Bale move, he moved for several players. They have made a good start to this season, sitting three points off the top in fifth. But, for me at least, some players haven’t quite hit the mark.

 Sandro

It will have been frustrating for Sandro that, after such impressive performances in the first half of last season, he picked up a serious knee injury that kept him out for the second half of last year. Players such as Paulinho have come in and he has struggled to regain his form. He has been limited to just one full game and three sub appearances but his lack of impact in these games has done nothing to convince AVB that he should play. When in full form Sandro can display a wonderful array of passing and a thundering shot, but AVB may feel he is too a like Paulinho and Sandro may face a battle to regain his place.

Lewis Holtby 

Another man who has found himself down the pecking order after the all the new recruits is Lewis Holtby. After joining the club in January, he struggled to make any real impact and it hasn’t been much better this season, not scoring or creating a goal either. With the likes of Townsend shining this season, Holtby will need to find some sparkling form to wrestle a place into the team.

 Christian Eriksen 

I was very excited to see Eriksen come to the Premier League, he’s been a standout youngster in Holland for a few years now, but an early injury set back his start and he hasn’t really found his feet yet. Just one assist next to his name will have not been how he would’ve wanted to start.  He hasn’t been great so far this season but the last couple of performances have shown some form and I think once he is fully fit we’ll all see his wonderful creative ability that will suit Spurs’ strikers down to the ground.

Erik Lamela

But even more disappointing than Eriksen has been Lamela. In a way the emergence of Townsend has taken the pressure of the £30m man, who was the one most thought to be replacing Bale, when it comes to like for like. The 21-year-old has publicly admitted that he has seriously struggled with the physicality of the league which is not really what you want to hear from your new record signing. One thing is for sure though, if he can overcome these troubles and find the form he had for Roma then Spurs may be bracing themselves for another big move in a couple years’ time.

Roberto Soldado

Yes, a lot of you may disagree with this one as well. Yes, you’ll point out that including a couple of goals in the Europa League, he’s had a good start to his career at White Hart Lane. But a couple of goals against Dinamo Tbilisi doesn’t really wow anyone, and when you break down the three premier league goals he has, two are from the penalty spot. The difference in Premier League football and La Liga is big and it can take a player a while to adapt from one to the other, but if Tottenham are adamant on playing just one up front then he will need to be scoring far more regularly. They won’t be able to rely on Townsend to be like Bale all season. They don’t have a player who can score whenever and wherever and unless Soldado finds his scoring boots soon I won’t be the only one criticising. 

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Comments

[Mad]

Are you quite mad ? This is simply the work of someone who is either a) not a spurs fan or b) a spurs fan who has watched no games this year and knows nothing about football.

I'm suspecting b) but I sincerely hope for a).

Either result though, you know nothing about football and please stop writing 'articles' on the interwebs about it. Thanks.

[woodgreenman]

Arse or Manu your obviously not a Spurs fan ,what a load of crap .
COYS

[Joe]

Moan, Moan A type of supporter Spurs can do without.
Can I say it for you:-
"Not good enough for Spurs" "waste of money" "Levy/AVB' useless.
Lets boo to let them know who we feel. (again )
Its our money we can do what we want!

[mearno]

biggest pile of balls ever

[Ben]

I just wasted 5 minutes of my life reading this.

[wrighty1882]

Are you insane fella ? Have you even seen the beast of Sandro lately ?, I think you have not got a clue of which you write ! I could accept to a point lamela but he needs time and match time at that so please no more of this mindless drivel.
COYS 1882

[Spurs_Tiill_I_Die]

I thought this was a joke article whilst reading through. Waiting for the punch line to pop out at any moment. Turns out your the joke and probably in need of a punch to rattle a few brain cells in to working order.

Have you watched and game this season and do you even understand football. Although Holtby may not be knocking on any awards at this moment in time he certainly is developing and give 100% when ever he's on the pitch. Sandro is still returning from a long term injury but has started to put some good shifts in..... I could go on but your boring me.

Find another hobby rather than writing shit about subjects you know nothing about.

[nicodemus61]

You're the one who needs to pull your socks up.......don't post articles on things you obviously know nothing about.

[nosher]

You should've gone to specasvers

[Kosher Kid]

Huw, You've already taken dogs abuse here from some of your peers so I will try to be as constructive as I can with my critique.

Firstly, Sandro does not belong on this list.

Cruciate knee ligament injuries are the worst to recover from. It isn't that long ago that this type of injury would have ended any players career.To be back playing first team games within 6 months is nothing short of a miracle. Sandro deserves praise for getting himself physically fit so quickly after a very bad injury such as this. I have no worries about his current form because his mental attitude is spot on and he will be back to his best before long.

Secondly, Soldado does not deserve the criticism you have given him. When he joined the club he would have been expecting the service to come from Lennon and Bale on the wings as well as through the middle of the park. Bale was transferred, Lennon has been injured for most of the games and the service has been very poor generally. The inverted wing play that AVB prefers does not suit Soldado. If you look at the goals he scored for Valencia a lot of them come from balls played into the box, from wide areas, which Soldado dispatched, 70% of the time, with his first touch. Soldado is quality and has had poor service so far this season at Spurs. You do not balance your criticism of him by pointing this out in what you have written. Had Soldado been missing several easy chances that would be different. This has not been the case so Soldado should also be above this type of thoughtless criticism.

Eriksen could not have had a better debut if he had wished for it. He showed in that game exactly why Spurs had spent so much time tracking him. He has been a bit mixed since then but generally he has been good. He was very quiet in the West Ham game but apart from that he has done OK. He has certainly shown more than Modric did in his first season at Spurs.

Holtby is trying really hard to get into this team and when he comes off the bench he plays like a man possessed to try and impress the fans and earn a place in the team. Unfortunately his problems seem to be exposed when he starts matches. He has failed to play for ninety minutes in the games he has started. When he has played well it has been due to the understanding he has built with Jermaine Defoe. He has assisted at least two of Defoe's goals in Europe but has then not been played in the same team as Defoe for reasons best known to AVB. Chadli, Siggy and Dembele are all suffering the same levels of inconsistency so Holtby probably doesn't deserve to be singled out for criticism.

Lamela, I will give you. Tottenham have paid too much money for him. The curse of the record signing has continued from Rebrov, Bent, Bentley and now Lamela.

See me after the lesson and I will give you some tips on how you should research your work, be thoughtful in your criticism and balance the negatives by pointing out some good stuff too.

5/10

Must try harder.

[Spurred-on]

This article is as mad as a dog with no tail chasing its own arse!

[SP]

I got as far as seeing the name 'Sandro' on the list (top, no less), and thought "Get outta HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Absolutely every Spurs fan I have come across, including myself, has commented on how Sandro has been exceptional since returning and already shown why he should be one of the few automatic first choices, along with Lloris. Makes me think this is composed by someone who hasn't actually watched any games featuring Sandro this season :)

[huw rawlings]

wow, that's really kind of all of you. This article was five players who haven't quite hit the mark this season....not five players who i think are rubbish. i actually rate them all which shows you know very little about me. the article is written in mind of players who have actually played a few games.

- Soldado - another penalty. comeback when he starts banging them in from open play. can't rely on your striker just scoring from penalties.

- Eriksen - on the bench again. still not shown a lot. as i said i rate him a lot but he hasn't done it yet.

- Sandro - subbed off at half time today. a couple of good performances in the europa league against average teams isn't all that impressive.

- Holtby - don't see how anyone feels he's been very good this season.

Very few of you have actually said why they shouldn't be on this list. so why don't you tell me. Yes Soldado hasn't had the service etc so why should i not put him on this list. hasn't proven himself for the amount for him. And one last note, i bet very few of you would actually tell me this as aggressively as you have here. Enjoy your lives