Why Tottenham Hotspur should be all in on Adama Traore now

Adama Traore is better than you think

The reality is Adama Traore is better than most people think. He is not simply Usain Bolt running around mindlessly on the pitch. Rather Traore is a legitimate target and weapon anywhere on the pitch. With 20 dribbles completed – yes 20 – in two games, Traore is simply a terror with the ball that leaves defenders up at night and keeps coaches on edge.

You cannot teach Adama Traore’s power and pace

Adama’s pace is such that like Gareth Bale used to do, he can come blazing in from out of nowhere and zoom right by people. Traore did that on Sunday against Spurs. As Davinson Sanchez and Raul Jiminez were battling for the ball, out of nowhere comes Traore blowing by both like they are standing still taking the ball and attacking the edge.

Maybe on the Spurs team, Lucas Moura has the same kind of burst to blow past people and create something out of nothing. However, what Adama has that Moura does not is the power to compliment that pace.

In the first two games of the season Traore has bounced off and through defenders Davinson Sanchez and Jannik Vestergaard as if they were not there. Over the last two weeks, we have seen Son, Lucas, and even Dele all pushed off the ball by defenders and lose possession. This is not something you will see with Traore. He is solid as a rock and you are not going to just get the ball with a simple shoulder-to-shoulder shove.

Traore is better technically than many think

Okay, so we all know that Adama is a beast physically, there is no doubting that. He looks more like a rugby star than a footballer. However, despite the belief that his end-product is not good, he is a much better footballer than most realize, and he keeps improving.

Last season, the results in terms of numbers were not great for Adama. With just two goals and three assists, it is no wonder that the team struggled last season, as one of their stars seemingly did not produce. Considering only one season prior Adama had 4 goals and 9 assists in the League it was certainly a down season.

However, the lower numbers were not all on Traore if you really look at Wolves. Rather in 2019/20, the Wolves had two great center-forward targets in Raul Jiminez and Diego Joto. Of course, Liverpool signed Joto away from the Wolves, and then Jiminez was injured and gone. This left the Wolves with 18-year-old Fabio Silva as the primary striker for most of the season.

Without his two main targets from the season before, it is no wonder that the assists dropped from 9 to 3. Just for a point of comparison over the last three seasons, only three Tottenham players have had more than 9 assists in a Premier League season. Christian Eriksen had 12 in 2018/19, Son had 10 in 2019/20, then Kane and Son each had more last season with 14 and 10 assists each.

For a player that has no product, nine assists in a Premier League season is nothing to dismiss. Only three players have bettered that output in the league in the last three years for Spurs, that is some solid production. Add in the idea that Harry Kane and Son are now receiving the balls coming from Adama and maybe that assist total goes back up to 2019/20 levels or even higher. Traore once had 14 assists in a La Liga B season for Barcelona.

But Traore has missed break-aways in consecutive weeks

It is true Adama has missed break-away opportunities each of the last two weeks in one-on-one situations. In week one Adama was through on Kasper Schmeichel but was unable to hit the target. In week 2, Adama was in on Lloris and was on target, but Lloris made the save. Did he score, no? But he also did not make the same mistake either. His shot was on target, Lloris was just better.

We guess that in week 3, Traore will be in and will simply round the keeper and walk the ball into the net. The point is, at 25-years-old, Adama is still improving and growing as a player and should still get better.

Traore is not a magic bullet for Tottenham but helps

Ultimately, we need to remember that Traore is not THE answer for Tottenham, rather this ongoing rebuild is going to take more than one game-changer to finish. However, there is no doubting that Adama is a game-changer and Tottenham needs more of those.

If we look back at the game last week against Paços, Tottenham had some decent enough push from Bryan but really struggled to get any real production from the right-wing. With Adama in a platoon/rotation with Lucas Moura, suddenly Tottenham has two right-wingers that can make a difference.

While Traore is not going to fix any issues with the defense or midfield and is not going to be a real back-up for Kane, Adama is a game-changer and is worth the gamble for Tottenham. What do you think?