Townsend - 'Damn it feels good to be back'
3 min read
Following shoulder and ankle injuries that have interrupted his pre-season, Andros Townsend finally got onto the field in the fifth game of the campaign yesterday.
Last season was not his best for the 24-year-old (25 next July), he seemed to go backwards. I don't think anyone doubts that he has got ability, he has the pace to beat a man and plenty of twists and turns in his locker.
According to Tim Sherwood, he has a determination that matches that of Harry Kane, but the gap between their career paths has changed, now it in Townsend playing catch up. He burst upon the scene with a couple of goals for QPR and as usual fans start thinking he is a superstar and shout for him to b included in the team.
When he does get his chance the following season he proceeds to blast the ball into the stands at every opportunity, yet for England instead of cutting in and shooting virtually every time he got the ball, he was beating men for pace on the outside and setting up goals. He even chipped in with some of his own and suddenly he is indispensable for his country.
An injury curtailed his World Cup opportunity and last season he just never seemed to have got going. He was still cutting in when he got the ball far too early making it easy for the defender who simply helped him run inside to a massed central area or vainly shoot from distance.
With Lamela not faring much better Townsend forced his way back in the side, but was whisked off after 31 minutes against Manchester United and played 5 minutes against Everton in the last game of the season, having not been used for the previous five.
There was plenty of talk suggesting he didn't follow Pochettino's instructions and was doing his own thing too much, a bit of a loose cannon in that respect, whether that is correct or not only Pochettino and his staff will know, but either way it wasn't good enough.
During the summer, the press were reporting that he wasn't for sale, yet he was being offered to sides, either in part payment for purchases or for stand alone transfers. Townsend maintained he wanted to stay and fight for his place and why wouldn't he, he has grown up with manny of this team. If that were to happen though on a long-term basis he will have to up his game.
Ther are plenty of question marks against him and one game doesn't change anything, just as one Lamela pass doesn't suddenly mean we have a new player. It does however offer encouragement and hope. Andros Townsend in 28 minutes made 11 passes, had 1 goal attempt and an 81.8% pass success rate.
They are the figures, but they don't tell the story. He started by doing what he didn't do last season, he went by his man on the outside twice as if he wasn't there, partly I would suggest because the defender wasn't expecting it, the third occasion he was and easily stopped Townsend.
In those two instances though is the hope for the future, beating a man on both sides is vital for an inverted winger, you can not just be predictable and cut in all the time or your midfield men can't run past your centre-forward. When an inverted winger cuts in he takes space, the very space Mason needed to score yesterday.
That goal was a fine example of teamwork and an example of why wide men must sometimes be wide men. The trick is getting it right, mix the traditional winger with the inverted winger and you have Arjen Robben, arguably the best exponent of the art.
Townsend has the ability, has he taken a little longer to mature than others or believed the hype surrounding him? The past is the past and players have to be judged on the now, right now we have seen 29 minutes of him, right now the signs are encouraging, right now he deserves our encouragement.
Last season was not his best for the 24-year-old (25 next July), he seemed to go backwards. I don't think anyone doubts that he has got ability, he has the pace to beat a man and plenty of twists and turns in his locker.
According to Tim Sherwood, he has a determination that matches that of Harry Kane, but the gap between their career paths has changed, now it in Townsend playing catch up. He burst upon the scene with a couple of goals for QPR and as usual fans start thinking he is a superstar and shout for him to b included in the team.
When he does get his chance the following season he proceeds to blast the ball into the stands at every opportunity, yet for England instead of cutting in and shooting virtually every time he got the ball, he was beating men for pace on the outside and setting up goals. He even chipped in with some of his own and suddenly he is indispensable for his country.
An injury curtailed his World Cup opportunity and last season he just never seemed to have got going. He was still cutting in when he got the ball far too early making it easy for the defender who simply helped him run inside to a massed central area or vainly shoot from distance.
With Lamela not faring much better Townsend forced his way back in the side, but was whisked off after 31 minutes against Manchester United and played 5 minutes against Everton in the last game of the season, having not been used for the previous five.
There was plenty of talk suggesting he didn't follow Pochettino's instructions and was doing his own thing too much, a bit of a loose cannon in that respect, whether that is correct or not only Pochettino and his staff will know, but either way it wasn't good enough.
During the summer, the press were reporting that he wasn't for sale, yet he was being offered to sides, either in part payment for purchases or for stand alone transfers. Townsend maintained he wanted to stay and fight for his place and why wouldn't he, he has grown up with manny of this team. If that were to happen though on a long-term basis he will have to up his game.
Ther are plenty of question marks against him and one game doesn't change anything, just as one Lamela pass doesn't suddenly mean we have a new player. It does however offer encouragement and hope. Andros Townsend in 28 minutes made 11 passes, had 1 goal attempt and an 81.8% pass success rate.
They are the figures, but they don't tell the story. He started by doing what he didn't do last season, he went by his man on the outside twice as if he wasn't there, partly I would suggest because the defender wasn't expecting it, the third occasion he was and easily stopped Townsend.
In those two instances though is the hope for the future, beating a man on both sides is vital for an inverted winger, you can not just be predictable and cut in all the time or your midfield men can't run past your centre-forward. When an inverted winger cuts in he takes space, the very space Mason needed to score yesterday.
That goal was a fine example of teamwork and an example of why wide men must sometimes be wide men. The trick is getting it right, mix the traditional winger with the inverted winger and you have Arjen Robben, arguably the best exponent of the art.
Townsend has the ability, has he taken a little longer to mature than others or believed the hype surrounding him? The past is the past and players have to be judged on the now, right now we have seen 29 minutes of him, right now the signs are encouraging, right now he deserves our encouragement.
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