Vincent Janssen Has Grown Since Joining Tottenham
Vincent Janssen has only scored once for Tottenham, but according to a respected Dutch journalist he has become a better player.
By now, everyone is well aware of Vincent Janssen’s goalscoring form — or lack thereof — but despite a difficult spell as Harry Kane’s backup, the 22-year-old has become a better player since leaving his homeland for London, England.
Former Dutch international Kees Kist (1975-1980) rewarded Janssen with a player rating of an eight out of 10 after his contributions in the Netherlands’ 4-1 win over Belarus on Friday.
Kist’s notes, which were later given to Mike Verweij a respected Dutch journalist from De Telegraaf, would compile his comments regarding how Vincent Janssen has improved since his £17 million transfer from AZ Alkmaar to Tottenham this past summer.
“In his [Kist’s] comments, he also mentioned Spurs, because he said everyone in the Feyenoord stadium could see Vincent has grown in London and become a much better player at Spurs, that he’s become stronger,” Mike Verweij said (via Spurs’ official website).
“He [Kist] said he [Janssen] was a nightmare for his opponents because even when they were pulling and pushing, he always kept the ball, his teammates could always reach him and he was always in a good position to get the ball.”
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Vincent Janssen’s ability to hold the ball up while waiting for support has been evident since the Dutchman first earned some playing time in Tottenham’s pre-season tour.
Coming from the Eredivisie, Janssen was known for his goalscoring prowess, after all, he did win the Golden Boot award with 27 goals in 34 league games.
But he has good upper and lower body strength to shield the ball from the opposition and give his teammates the chance to rush in and collect a pass for a chance to score goals.
As a striker, no doubt Janssen wants to find the back of the net and while scoring has been difficult to come by in the Premier League his work rate cannot be questioned.
Every time the Dutch striker comes into the game as a substitute, he is willing to do some of the dirty work that fans are accustomed to seeing from Harry Kane. High-pressing opponents constantly, holding the ball up while waiting for help and taking any shot when given space.
To sum up Vincent Janssen’s first two months of action (10 games in all competitions), the 22-year-old has simply been unlucky to not score more goals. Chance after chance from good service would be stopped from either a good save, a deflection, the goal post, the cross bar or end up being a near miss .
And indeed, before finding the back of the net against Belarus, Janssen’s unlucky streak continued at De Kuip where he hit the post twice.
Still, despite all of the near misses, Janssen is confident in his abilities to score goals. Scoring against Gillingham in the League Cup’s third round and again against Belarus will only help his confidence grow.
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There should be pressure on the Dutchman to score a handful of goals due to his £17 million price tag, but with Harry Kane Mauricio Pochettino’s first-choice striker and Son Heung-Min in fine form, Vincent Janssen shouldn’t be seen as someone who needs to score.
At the very least Janssen still needs an entire season to get settled in the Premier League and in Pochettino’s system. There’s a reason why Son and Érik Lamela have flourished the year after they joined Tottenham from Bayer Leverkusen and AS Roma respectively.
They needed time to adjust and get consistent minutes. Eventually Janssen will come through and he can be another goalscoring threat for Spurs in upcoming seasons.