Soldado may struggle to fit Pochettino system

Those Italians are at it again with inside knowledge of the going on at White Hart Lane apparently, not with Sandro but with the other love of their life, Soldado.

Soldado may struggle to fit Pochettino system


Plaza Deportiva are the latest news outlet to suggest Tottenham want shot of Spanish striker Roberto Soldado. Why? Apparently because Mauricio Pochettino has seen enough of him in 2 weeks and doesn't rate him, or at least doesn't think he is fight for his system.

The Italians suggest his exit is getting closer and Italy is probably his next destination, well that's convenient for them. Apparently Inter Milan coach Walter Mazzarri thinks Soldado is the ideal man to strengthen his strike force. He may be but Inter are not going to pay anything close to what we paid for him and Daniel Levy is not one to take a hit on a player.

They say Spurs have been listening to offers and are trying to find an exit route for him. He hasn't scored so he's leaving they say.

I have looked a lot at Mauricio Pochettino's playing style and involved in that was how he expects the front line to play. It is clear he doesn't want to rely on one main goalscorer, which basically is what Soldado is, a box finisher. He wants his wide men scoring and his man behind the striker, the idea being that the four of them interchange positions.

They all need to be comfortable in front of goal and able to slot the chance home when it arrives. That means Lennon will have to improve or his days will be numbered and Townsend will have to do likewise, and learn to pass. Clearly Erik Lamela fits the bill as does Emmanuel Adebayor and Christian Eriksen.

I have my doubts Roberto Soldado in his present guise fits the identikit striker Pochettino wants. He is a high quality finisher of that I have no doubt and he will score goals but that doesn't necessarily make him the right man. If he is t stay, and I can't see anyone paying enough money to buy him, then he'll have to expand his game.

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The ability is there, the cross against Southampton in December for Adebayor to hook a volley in at St. Mary's was exquisite. The interchange with Eriksen at White Hart Lane against Norwich City showed touch, technique, intelligence and vision.

Roberto Soldado is a player Mauricio Pochettino will have to improve and restore confidence to. Against Seattle Sounders he won a penalty. An excellent chip, he created a chance for himself, looked at the defender and stepped in front of him to go over at the slightest touch. Impossible not to give the penalty which he converted himself, job done.

Would he have scored otherwise? Was the chance good enough to score from open play, he created it but I never had the feeling he was going to bury it, lacking that touch of fitness he needed at that moment to get clean away from the fitter defender.

We will never know, but the strikers job is to get goals and he got a goal. You could say he maximised his chances by going for the penalty, clearly he is confident of beating a keeper from the spot. Does it matter how he obtains his goals, a goal is a goal.

It's an important tour for his confidence and I'll be watching to see how he copes with situations in the second game of the 2014 Tottenahm Hotspur pre-season US and Canada tour in Toronto.

This game will be on grass thankfully so we'll have a better idea of where each player is at with the system Pochettino is teaching them. Shape will again be important and you'll see players between two opposition players to try to prevent passes to either, a notable feature of the first game against Seattle Sounders.

Soldado has that role to perform up front and it's a tactic the opposition use on our defence but it's what he does on the ball that's important so fingers crossed he can adapt to Pochettino's requirements.