Tottenham: Pochettino to Give Janssen More Time to Settle In
Despite a lack of goals scored, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino knows full well that Vincent Janssen needs time to settle into his new surroundings.
A series of questions that were brought up during Mauricio Pochettino’s pre-match press conference prior to Saturday’s fixture against Bournemouth involved Dutch striker Vincent Janssen.
It would appear that the consensus among the media and supporters surrounding the 22-year-old, is he has struggled since joining Tottenham this past summer in a £17 million move from AZ Alkmaar.
And when only looking at his goals scored this season, there is a concern.
But that doesn’t look at the whole body of work that Janssen has done since being given some playing time while Harry Kane was still healthy.
Which is why Mauricio Pochettino will continue to give the 22-year-old more time to settle in with Kane continuing to recover from his ankle injury.
“Always we need to give time. He’s young, he’s come in from the Netherlands and always the players that come from outside need time,” Pochettino said (via Tottenham’s official website).
“He’s a striker that brings to the team different characteristics but I am happy with his behaviour, his professionalism and how he is playing. It’s true that we would be more happy if he scores, he would be too, but it’s a normal process.”
“The most important thing is always to focus, try to improve and work hard. That is the best way to start to score in the game and for that we can only give time. It always happens in football but we are very happy with him.”
At certain points in a game, Vincent Janssen has helped give Spurs a player who can outmuscle his defenders with his back to goal and hold play up while waiting for support.
It’s a trait that Harry Kane has done a lot the past two years which have seen players run free long enough to create a scoring chance. The one who seems to have benefited the most from Janssen’s hard work this year is Son Heung-Min who has been given more freedom to work the left flank.
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Vincent Janssen may have only bagged one goal in 12 appearances in all competitions, but he still remains a threat to score — even if he has been unlucky to find the back of the net every time he shoots.
On some occasions Janssen’s shots are saved, or it hits the crossbar/post. Maybe he’s offsides after he scores. For one reason or another, there’s something in the way that prevents the 22-year-old from scoring in open play. Then again, this happened to Harry Kane last year when he started the season off slowly too.
Even Pochettino made that very comment: “Yes, it happened sometimes in some periods with Harry and now with Janssen it’s the same.”
“He’s a very good professional, he works very hard every day to try to score and play well. We are very happy with him. It’s only a natural process that he needs to go through and that is not a problem.”
“He’s a good player, he was the top scorer in the Netherlands and we have no doubt about his quality.”
So would there be any frustration in the Dutchman’s game after coming close on numerous occasions but not scoring? Usually yes, that should be the case when a player is on a cold streak. But once again, Mauricio Pochettino has faith in his striker.
“Not frustration, more disappointment because a striker always likes to score and always it seems incomplete – if you play well but as a striker you don’t score it’s like there’s something missing, but he is happy and he wants to show that he has the quality to score.”
“Maybe he puts a lot of pressure on himself but in the end we need to keep him calm and say ‘yes, good, don’t worry, work hard, keep going and be sure that you will score’.”
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An interesting match is on hand this Saturday when Spurs travel to the Vitality Stadium.
Last year, Kane was in a mini slump by forcing the issue that he wasn’t a one-season wonder. Having scored one goal in 10 games in all competitions, he erupted for a hat-trick against Bournemouth on his way to winning the Golden Boot award with 25 league goals.
Could lightning strike twice and see Vincent Janssen record a goal or two?