What Does Andros Townsend Give to Spurs?
By Ryan Wrenn
To watch Andros Townsend play for Spurs in their Europa League opener against Qarabag FK was to question what kind of player the England international actually wants to be.
It used to be, back when Townsend first made it into Spurs’ first team, that he was clearly angling to be an omni-talented winger, one who could challenge Aaron Lennon for a starting spot on the team’s right attacking flank.
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Unfortunately for Townsend, he proved to be somewhat of a liability in that position. While the pace was certainly there, he could not be trusted to not favor the spectacular over the more necessary business of playing football. Too often he’d cut inside from the right and try for a shot outside the box that inevitably landed right in the opposition keeper’s arms. That kind of flashy, direct play works better off the bench when the side is down a goal and needs whatever it can get. Coming from a starter, those shots taken so frequently were wasteful and denied Spurs better chances as scoring.
It didn’t help that Townsend was able to find the net on multiple occasions while on duty with the English national team using more or less the same methods. That success only encouraged him even as it became more and more clear that that schtick simply didn’t work at club level. That persistence combined with a general lack of ability to reliably maintain possession or contribute defensively meant that Townsend was limited to only ten league starts by Mauricio Pochettino last season.
Part of that absence was also due to injury – he missed the first month of this season due to a shoulder knock – and perhaps all that time away from the pitch helped Townsend rethink his game slightly. Against Sunderland Sunday he earned his first minutes of the season, coming on for Heung-Min Son after 61 minutes. In what remained of the game, Townsend put on one of his better performances in a Spurs shirt in a long while.
In a team where so many attacking players have a tendency to cut inside and thus clog up the area ahead of goal, Townsend kept himself out wide on the right, cutting in only to straddle the far edge of the penalty box. He played clever one-twos with players along that edge and sent in some dangerous – if ultimately inaccurate thanks to Sunderland’s crowded defense – crosses. Most notably, he restrained himself to a mere single shot.
It was more of the same against Qarabag Thursday. While his counterpart on Spurs’ left flank, Érik Lamela, cut inside so often as to essentially function as a central playmaker, Townsend stayed wide and deep. He checked the runs of Qarabag left-back Ansi Agolli while also making his own forays forward. The assist he earned might have come off a well-placed corner kick, but he proved dangerous in open play as well. In a more just world he might have notched assists for successful balls to Dele Alli and Lamela.
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This was a more patient Townsend, one who recognized his place as part of the wider team. He was more anxious to bring his teammates into the game than he was to go off and try to score an exceptional goal of his own. He brought his pace to bear often as he pressed forward with the rest of the team in possession. Though he visibly tired by about the 60th minute and regularly gave the ball away as he tried to help Spurs press the advantage, that should not take away from the fact that he looked like a player transformed.
All of that being said, the ideal situation for both the player and Spurs as a whole would be for Townsend to find some middle ground between his individualistic streak and his desire to be part of the team. The position he occupies should be both in more or less equal measure. That he’s so rarely displayed an ability to be more than one at a time is troubling and should, for the time being, keep him on the bench for the first whistle.
At only 24-years-old, there’s still plenty of time for Townsend to find that balance he’s obviously seeking. Both Spurs fans and the player himself will hope that discovery comes sooner rather than later.