I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Spurs should have signed a new striker when they had the chance. Give us one of those and we’d probably have been two up inside ten minutes at Stamford Bridge last week. We might have beaten Crystal Palace on Saturday too, but failed to find the net.
I rate Harry Kane but he’s still a work in progress. And while it’s clear he can cut the mustard in the Premier League, it would be unfair to burden him with the responsibility of spearheading our attack week in, week out. Not for a while at least.
Roberto Soldado is a lost cause despite his winning goal against Everton. We’ve stuck by him but how long can you keep leading a horse to water before it drinks? And we might as well not even bother talking about Emmanuel Adebayor who’s about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
I’m not normally an advocate of buying in January but if we don’t bring in a top quality striker next month, a mid-table finish is likely. We’ve been linked with a move for Porto’s Jackson Martinez, the Colombian who shone at the World Cup, and Jay Rodriquez at Southampton.
I’d like both but the former is unproven on our shores and the latter hasn’t played for nearly nine months because of a knee injury. Jermain Defoe could be worth a punt as a short-term fix, although a third spell at White Hart Lane is unlikely.
Saido Berahino and Christian Benteke have been talked about but we’d do well to tempt West Brom or Aston Villa into selling midway through a season. I’m a big fan of Wilfried Bony although he seems content in Wales with Swansea, while Danny Welbeck or Loic Remy would have been nice but Arsenal and Chelsea beat us to the punch in August.
As a consequence of our limited striking options, we lack the firepower to dispose of teams like Crystal Palace which, and I mean no disrespect, we should beating. That’s a real concern that needs to be addressed. But we have to be careful not to pick up another donkey – a proven Premier League goalscorer is a must. I don’t want to see another Rebrov, Postiga or Soldado, please.
Imagine the predicament we’d be in if we didn’t have someone like Christian Eriksen in midfield. He rescued us at Hull, scored the only goal of the game against Southampton and generally looks a class above the rest at the moment. I dread to think what would happen if he suffered an injury.
If we have to pay a premium for a decent striker, that has to be worth it. Chelsea have Costa, Remy and Drogba, City have Aguero, Jovetic and Dzeko. Manchester United can count on Rooney and van Persie, Arsenal on Giroud and Welbeck and Everton on Lukaku. I really don’t fancy our chances of finishing anywhere near the top four with Kane, Soldado and Adebayor.
Hopefully come February we’ll have a striker capable of firing us back into Champions League contention.
By Craving Football – @cravingfootball/http://www.cravingfootball.co.uk/