As the dust settles Tottenham supporters up and down the country are experiencing a familiar feeling of narrowly missing out on Champions League football, which would have capped off a brilliant opening season for AVB as Spurs boss. There will be many who will cite the failure to bolster their attacking options in both the summer and January last campaign, but does the problem run deeper with the strikers they already have in house?
Both Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor have shown glimpses of the talent they both possess, but both injury and loss of form and confidence has ensured they could not drive Tottenham into the Champions League. The pair seem to epitomize where the Lilywhites are positioned at the moment. This is that they both are capable of playing football worthy of the top four but simply can’t deliver it throughout a whole season and when it truly matters.
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There is a sense of frustration at White Hart Lane as they currently possess the Premier League’s most prized asset in Gareth Bale and a midfield with world class potential in the form of Moussa Dembele and even more notably Sandro. Andre Villas Boas needed simply only one striker to deliver the goods such was the abundance of attacking flair in support. If Tottenham are to avoid another season of being pipped to the post by their rivals isn’t it about time they start a clean slate and offload both Defoe and Adebayor, in order to shake off their nearly men status?
This may seem like an unnecessarily ruthless call on the face of it, but would either of Tottenham’s main two strikers get into the starting XI of any of their top rivals? The brutally honest answer is no. Daniel Levy may be inherently shrewd but if he is to give AVB a true platform to succeed he needs to provide his manager with a forward line that is really capable of delivering the goods. Should the current pair stick around they will only continue to fall short of the world class at crucial stages of the season.
Several Spurs supporters have mockingly remarked that they have been watching comedian Andi Osho upfront instead of Adebayor up front for the majority of this season (the similarities in terms of looks are uncanny). The Togo international is capable of magnificence at his peak as he showed in his superb all round display when Tottenham drew 2-2 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge towards the end of the season, but for the majority of the season he has looked listless and lacklustre. There seems to be a sell by date of a year of Adebayor at which point he loses the interest and desire to perform. It is by no coincidence that Real Madrid, Arsenal and Man City all decided that he was more hassle than he was worth. Would a world class striker have a mere £5 million transfer fee when he was still 28 years of age if he was outstanding after all just last summer? You have to wonder as Man City could not wait to see the back of Emmanuel Adebayor.
Similarly, Jermain Defoe is a striker leaving a lot to be desired. He has now reached 30 years of age and you don’t suspect that he has a new lease of life ready and waiting to take him on to the next level either. He may have scored 15 goals in all competitions last term, but the fact that he is still rotated with Adebayor speaks volumes for the level of performance the England international is delivering. The 15 Premier League goals that both Adebayor and Defoe mustered between them is of deep concern for a side that harbour ambitions of playing alongside the best in Europe. The barren goal drought that Defoe suffered between Boxing day and his finish in the 3-1 victory over Man City in April is especially alarming. The campaign before last Defoe also managed to only deliver 11 Premier League goals. This isn’t the figures of a prolific finisher that they are crying out for at White Hart Lane.
It would a comfortable decision for Tottenham to keep both their underperforming strikers on the payroll hoping they deliver the level they sometimes find. This will certainly be more in hope than expectation though. If the Lilywhites want to reach the Champions League holy grail they need to finally address the consistency of their goal threat from their strikers and this requires completely fresh personnel and a renewed approach.