Why Tottenham Hotspur should be all in on Adama Traore now
By Aaron Coe
There were rumors before Tottenham Hotspur played Wolverhampton on Sunday of the Spurs interest in Adama Traore after his display against the Lilywhites should be all in on the attacker.
It is amazing how much Adama Traore splits opinions within the fans. If you got to Twitter, you will see as many “no, never” responses to the idea of Tottenham signing Adama as you will “yes, now” responses. Those for Traore coming to Spurs saw the havoc he wreaked on Tottenham Sunday and want that in the side. Those against Adama also saw a missed one-on-one and what people want to say is no end product. The reality is Adama is somewhere in between the two conceptions of him and regardless he is exactly the player Tottenham Hotspur needs.
Why does Tottenham need Traore?
Tottenham Hotspur has an issue with getting the ball up the pitch right now. They have a midfield full of workhorses that are good but not great distributors of the ball and thus rely a lot on the forwards to receive the ball and advance it for the team.
If you look at the limited offensive success thus far in the season it has come from Lucas Moura receiving the ball and driving forward on the dribble. Or from Steven Bergwijn receiving the ball and driving on the dribble. While we have seen the occasional through ball and other long-ball efforts, the most consistent threat in the Spurs arsenal has been players running at others in space.
When you consider what has been the most productive for Tottenham has been attacking with the ball at pace, why would you not want the most dangerous player in the Premier League doing exactly that?
This past Sunday against Wolves, We saw that Heung-Min Son was not 100% and really neither was Lucas Moura. As much as we would love for Bryan Gil to be the natural replacement, Gil’s skills are better in tight spaces versus just running with the ball in the open field. Bryan will develop and show his stuff, but it compliments whoever is running with power and pace opposite him.
Given the number of games Tottenham will play and the need for real depth behind our most dangerous offensive weapons – Harry Kane not included of course – this just makes sense. As Kane will be better with more dangerous players around him. It is with that in mind that we strongly recommend Traore and here is why.