Is Roberto Soldado The Real Deal? A Look At The Tottenham Striker's Start To The Season

With Jermaine Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor the only real options up top last season for Andre Villas-Boas and his Tottenham side, it was up to Gareth Bale to score the goals that saw them challenge for fourth spot. Although they eventually lost out, and then lost Bale to Real Madrid on deadline day, Spurs have a new man at the peak of their attacking unit. His name is Roberto Soldado.

The Spaniard was in impeccable form for Valencia last season, scoring 24 La Liga goals in 35 games. Remarkably, all 24 were from inside the 18-yard box, something which Spurs have been desperate for, for a very long time now.

The White Hart Lane club have had a fine tart to the season, winning two out of three and blooding in the new faces in their squad. And although they lost 1-0 against north London rivals Arsenal, they have plenty to be optimistic about.

Soldado himself has proved not to need to much time adapting to the pace of English football, scoring twice in his first three games. He has also created five opportunities and hit the target with 67% of his shots.

His pass accuracy stands at 80% but he has won just 35% of his duels - a statistic that will have to increase, especially the single header he has won in just 16 attempts!

His instincts inside the box look incomparable to anything else Villas-Boas has at his disposal and, to me, he looks like he could fire Spurs into the running for the top four.

Spurs fans - is Soldado the real deal or will he struggle with life in the Premier League.

All statistics provided by Squawka.

Comments

[J D]

I WOULD SAY LIKE MOST SPURS FANS WE ARE NOT CONVINCED YET , FOR MY MONEY WE SHOULD HAVE GOT DAMIAO HOW EVER SALDADO NEVER LOOKS TO BOTHER DEFENCES ENOUGH OR NEVER LOOKS BUSY ENOUGH INFACT HE LOOKS A MIGHT SMALL AND GIVES DEFENDERS NO PROBLEM MAYBE WE WERE WAITING ON ERICKSEN TO BLOW AWAY DEFENCES WITH HIS FORWARD SPLITTING DEFENCE PASSES PLEEEEEEEEEEESE LET THIS BE THE REASON .

[JC]

I think he's definitely what the team needs and he will be a big hit this year. 4 goals in 4 games is a good start and, like the article says, he scores the majority, if not all of his goals inside the box. He's a finisher, a fox in the box, so his main movements and busyness will occur in the penalty area. The only thing that would stop him being a hit would be a lack of quality service.

[Mad Dog Mulcahy]

It was very nearly 1:1 with Arsenal don't forget but Szcezny made an amazing save off him. I've watched this chap - he's quiet for 88 of the 90 minutes and just when you've forgotten he's there - boom! Ignore him at your peril. What I would love to try is with Adebayor and him playing off each other just the way Adebayor used to play Saha in. Need to get Togo to drop into the hole which he should share with Erikssen. The two of them supplying Roberto would be amazing. Right now he's just not getting the service because we are not playing specalist No 10s like Carroll or Holtby on a regular basis. I'd say 20 goals this season for the lad onve we have that sorted.

[Jamie]

He will be a success, but will all depend on the service he gets.

[ChirpyVee]

Too early to say.
But one thing's for sure, he knows where the net is. As has been said he can appear to do nothing for long spells then he strikes like a cobra. He is always looking for the angle to be available but the trouble is that his teammates do not know yet how to get the best out of him.
Lamela and Eriksen are the types of players who can get onto the position to supply him the killer ball and I'm sure he'll thrive on this service.

[Galway Gooner]

totally over rated player and worth no where near the £30m they paid for him.

Invisible man comes to mind and both of this PL goals this season have been penalties in games where he's done not much else!

Great finished but dog average striker.

[Liam]

Great player and his scoring record speaks for itself. You dont get to play striker for Spain ( world cup winners ) for nothing. His two goals in the europa league from open play showed great postioning in the box. A great striker who will be massive for us tis season. 4 goals already and his link up play should not be sniffed. Compared to the WOOLWICH ARSEoles frontline, I could not be happier. C O Y S

[the truth]

if we judge players after 3 games then what about saurez 12mths ago is finishing was woeful.
rvp first season at arsewipes only scored 10 goals in 41 games. is he shit no.
judge end of the season or after 2 seasons were you will get a true refelection.