Roberto Soldado arrived from Valencia to Tottenham last summer, and has not yet brought his form from his old club.
Although he hasn’t been on fire, he still scored 11 goals in 34 matches across all competitions, and also provided 11 assists. To look at this at another angle, he’s played a part in 22 goals this season. Now that isn’t what was expected, but it wasn’t all that bad either.
Many fans have been frustrated by his mediocre form. They feel as if the £27 million price tag paid by Spurs for last summer’s transfer is far too much. Maybe if he had scored as many goals as teammate Emmanuel Adebayor, he would have become a better hit in his first season at White Hart Lane.
Soldado does have ability. He is a proven goalscorer that has scored countless goals for his old clubs. Nikhil Saglani says “It’s ever so Spursy that Soldado, with more goals than anyone in Europe apart from Falcao, Messi and Ronaldo, comes to Spurs and struggles”.
Soldado’s movement and positioning is top class, yet the lack of crossing and service to him means that this often goes unnoticed. Christian Eriksen has been very good at serving the strikers this season, but Soldado was benched a lot of the time the Great Dane was on the field. Still, the players could do with getting the ball to Soldado more. If he gets proper service, he has the talent to finish and will eventually score. One has to think that with a little bit of confidence, the goals will come in bunches for the Spaniard.
Does he have much time left on his hands to produce the goods? Nikhil Saglani says “If we get a £17 million plus bid for a 29 year old… it may be worth cutting our losses”.
This is a valid point. Soldado, like Adebayor, is getting on a bit in years. Is it worth paying Soldado for another mediocre season before he enters the twilight of his career? Let’s remember that Adebayor is 30 years old, yet had a very good season. He hasn’t appeared to lose pace or strength yet. It’s highly unlikely a big bid will be made for Soldado, after his poor season. It’s also unlikely that the club will ever recoup the money paid for him, so why not use him?
Soldado was one of many new faces at Spurs last season, and has been labelled a flop by many. The preseason should do him, and his fellow teammates the world of good. This will be ample enough time for the team to finally gel, under yet another new manager in Mauricio Pochettino. The new system that Pochettino brings could make or break Soldado (again). Neither Tim Sherwood nor Andre Villas-Boas managed to fix poor old Soldado, so Spurs fans hope Pochettino can be the master healer, not just for Soldado, but for another big signing in Erik Lamela as well.
Tottenham should not sell Soldado this summer. He still has a role to play and potential to fulfill in the Lilywhite shirt.
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Thanks for Nikhil Saglani for spending the time to provide the quotes, he can be reached at @Nikhil_Saglani on twitter.
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