Former striker and Sky Spanish Football Expert Terry Gibson is a strong believer that £26m striker Roberto Soldado can still come good at Tottenham. Speaking on the Revista de La Liga podcast, Gibson has accused managers of Soldado not having enough faith in the Spaniard, and claims that the systems that have been played simply do not suit the goal poacher.
Soldado came to Spurs with a fantastic goalscoring record at Valencia with 59 goals in just 101 appearances. However, the 29 year-old has netted only six times in the Premier League during his time at Spurs, and four of those have come from the penalty spot. The stats are not in his favour, but Gibson says that he has noticed in increase in Soldado’s work rate this season compared to last.
He has been recently linked with a move away from White Hart Lane after reports suggested that the Spanish international was on the list of players that Mauricio Pochettino is set to sell in January. He has also been linked with a move back to La Liga to work with David Moyes at Rel Sociedad.
“I am surprised and disappointed, but I am going to stick up for Soldado here as he is on his third manager already at Spurs in just over a season, and I do not think that any of them have shown any faith in him,”
“I have seen a change in his playing style. At Valencia he was an 18-yard box player, he was aggressive when he needed to be, he could hold the ball up, he could back into central defenders when it was played up to him and when a cross came into the box, he was on the end of it. And when a goalkeeper spilled a shot, he was snapping up the rebound, anticipating any mistakes or loose balls in the box.”
“I thought he was a fantastic signing for Spurs, and I am still hopeful that he is going to be, but I am not sure that he is getting the support from the playing systems that the club have had, and I do not think that he has had the support from the managers either, particularly Andre Villas-Boas.
“When he came to Spurs, he was in and around the Spain squad, with a good goalscoring record, he was the top dog at Valencia, a really important player and then before you know it he was sitting on the bench and getting taken off in games.
“He did not get off to a great start, but that was down to the style of play that Villas-Boas was playing at that particular time, and I thought that they were using him wrong at the start.”
“He is trying to make up for it, I have seen him working really hard, I am actually seeing him appear at times a better player than I thought he was,”
“But as a Spurs fan, I do not want him to be that, I want him to be the old Soldado that we saw at Valencia, where he was just cracking in goals for fun, but I do fear that it might be beyond him now and his self-esteem and confidence will have taken a real battering.
“I still personally have confidence in him and if I was Pochettino, I’d have faith in him and give him a run of games with the right players and the right style of play, and I’d still be hopeful that he could be a success and come good,”
