Tottenham Player Review: Vincent Janssen

It was a season of false starts at Tottenham for Vincent Janssen, though there is still hope that he might find a way to earn his hype.

There was no higher priority for Tottenham last summer than finding adequate cover for Harry Kane. With Roberto Soldado sold and Emmanuel Abebayor gone as well, the England international was the only recognized striker in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad.

Kane made it through the 2015/16 season without incident, and indeed he started in all 38 Premier League matches. Such good luck doesn’t last though, and the club needed a player with a proven track record who could step up when needed or perhaps even provide Kane some competition.

Janssen was to be that player. At just 21 years old, he’d scored 27 goals in the Eredivisie the season before. One season is a relatively small sample size, but it was enough to convince the powers that be at Spurs to drop nearly £20 million on the Dutch international.

Players coming to the Premier League from the Eredivisie have a famously troubled time, at least when starting out. The increased physicality of the English game is most often cited, though it’s also a matter of pressure. The Premier League is a bigger and brighter stage than any other league in the game, and as such club’s cannot afford to be patient if players don’t perform.

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Nevertheless, Pochettino showed early confidence in Janssen to hit the ground running. He featured in the opening matches of the season, most often alongside Kane in a two striker system unusual to Spurs.

To call that experiment a failure would be an understatement. The effect of both players vying for space between the lines was that neither managed to have all that much of an impact.

Pochettino quickly realized his error and again began leaning heavily on Kane. His confidence was repaid in short order, but Kane’s luck from the prior season wouldn’t last. He went down injured barely a quarter of the way through the term.

Janssen stepped up, but it was clear that he was just as guileless and blunt alone as he was when paired with Kane. He rarely threatened goal, or even made much headway in the penalty box. He looked, in short, like Roberto Soldado re-incarnated.

There are positives to Janssen’s game, to be sure. He is an excellent hold-up man, keeping his back to goal and playing off of runners like Dele Alli behind him. That has its uses, especially against tightly packed defenses, but it doesn’t make Janssen the type of player you can confidently field every match.

Next: Tottenham player review: Christian Eriksen

It took Janssen until April to score his first Premier League goal from open play. He and his teammates celebrated accordingly, even if felt a tad bittersweet. It’s unlikely Spurs give up on him so soon, but if persistent rumors linking the club to other strikers bear out Janssen might find himself even further from the action next season.