SN Blog 88 – The search for a number 9

When academy product Harry Kane broken into the Tottenham first team squad he was considered the third choice striker behind senior players Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor.  That was the last time the club had three senior strikers in the squad.

Before this period of time it was not uncommon for Spurs to have senior strikers a plenty in and around the first team squad!  Just a few years earlier Berbatov, Keane, Defoe & Mido ….. Darren Bent…. Roman Pavlyuchenko….   We also had strikers and others able to come in or off the bench and make an impact.  What has changed?

Its easy for fans to jump on the “another reason Daniel Levy has let us down…” but remember he was the chairman that signed all of the above strikers to the club too.  A key change could be that tactically football has changed where teams no longer play with a strike force – at least not on a week in week out basis anyway.  The inverted winger / wide forward is now more of a thing and that is why we have Sonny and Bergwijn in the squad over additional strikers.

However another key reason that is fed to us as a fan base form the club via the media is that “top strikers will not join us as they fear they will be always second fiddle to Harry Kane….” and to a point, that is likely true.  He is one of the best strikers in world football and the two we have signed during the reign of Kane have been abject failures.

Vincent Jansen, prolific in Holland and backed to do big things came and failed to get games, lost all momentum and lost heart.  Now plays in Mexico I think.  Fernando Llorente proved, due to Kane being injured, that when given a run of games he could make an impact for the club – however when Kane was fit, or even just about half fit – back to the bench for Fernando.

Different managers of course will have different solutions to this.  Pochettino had a clear idea in his mind that Kane when fit would always be the main striker for his team and so he wanted options in his squad who could cover in at 9 if needed but could also a play a role wider, or as a second striker if needed.  A player like Sonny was perfect for Poch and he spent a long time trying to find another to create an attacking three – similar to how Liverpool went following the sale of Coutinho by signing Mané (who Poch wanted) and Salah.

Jose however has made it clear since day one he needs another striker in his first team squad.  Jose is not a manager who has one set idea of how to play and that is it.  Yes his team will always be disciplined however formation, style is all fluid.  During project restart Tottenham played with five different formations, which were all adjusted in game also depending on what had happened / was happening.

One key thing we saw was Spurs for the first time in a long time playing with two strikers.  In one game we started with a clear three man strike force, which was adjusted of course but still it shows why Jose knows he needs another senior striker.

Brings us back to this problem then; will a good striker want to sign for Tottenham and play second fiddle to Harry Kane?!  Well under Jose I do not believe that is actually going to be the case and with the 2020/21 season looking like the most demanding physically on players / squads ever it should be clear to anyone, any striker they will get games and opportunities.

A name we have been linked with a lot is Callum Wilson of recently relegated Bournemouth.  The striker has made it clear he wants to keep playing in the Premier League but at 28 with a poor injury record on the surface you would not think of this as a very “Levy” signing.  However he is experienced in leading the line himself, he is also experienced in being part of a two man or three man attack.  He is quick and due to that injury record is also used to playing a very stop start season; he can come off the bench and make an impact and he can miss five or six games and then come in fresh and ready.

Another key factor is he is English and classed as home grown under FA and UEFA rules.  Tottenham need to keep a squad balance and the more senior home grown players the better.  The only think making this look unlikely as a deal sadly is the price – Bournemouth are apparently asking for between £25-£30m and we are willing to offer £10m.  Yeah….

I know everyone will have opinions on players we should sign, how much we should pay etc and that is fine – football is a game of opinions and do feel free to share those in the comments on Facebook but remember real life is not like Football Manager or FIFA on a games console; you do not get to sign world class players to sit on your bench, you do need to be creative and thing how will this player fit – what scenarios will he get games etc.

Finally, I think its a complete myth that Harry Kane makes it “impossible” to sign a decent striker.  If you pay, they come and play.  Simple.

 

-SJ

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