Tottenham Hotspur were able to actually put some goals past the opposition this weekend, scoring twice behind the reintroduction of star man Xavi Simons into the starting lineup. Though the goals were no thanks to the strikers, as Roberto De Zerbi rolled with two No. 9's again, this time discarding Richarlison from the trio last week.
It was Dominic Solanke who started in the middle and Randal Kolo Muani on the right hand side, with Spurs fans befuddled as to why the leading scorer of the three and the only one remotely anywhere near the word "form" was discarded. Richarlison is a great weapon to have in a relegation fight, and unlike Solanke and Kolo Muani, in particular, he seems to actually be bothered about the prospect of Spurs going down.
Now, De Zerbi may have just been trying to gas up a player to help his morale- or, more cynically perhaps, his transfer value - but the Italian manager did have some pretty strong words of praise for Solanke before the 2-2 draw with Brighton.
Roberto De Zerbi thinks highly of Dominic Solanke
He said at the press conference, via The Spurs Express, “Dominic Solanke is one of the best strikers in the Premier League.”
Wait, what? I'm not even sure Dominic Solanke himself would believe that. Though he was excellent in the 2023/24 season for Bournemouth before joining Tottenham Hotspur, the 65 million pound record signing has been mediocre, at absolute best, at the N17. Solanke did have a great purple patch of form this season after finally coming back from a foot injury, but, lately, he has been terrible and posing no go threat.
So it is strange to see that Roberto De Zerbi is such a believer in Solanke, and because he has started him in back to back games as his main 9 in the formation, it is fair to wonder if De Zerbi really does believe the Kool Aid on Solanke that he is making us all drink.
But what is annoying about the Solanke love is that it has come at the expense of players who have been a lot better this season. Forget Richarlison, because while he works hard and has scored more goals, his all around play has left a lot to be desired.
What about young Mathys Tel? The Frenchman was brilliant before De Zerbi arrived and booted him out of two starting lineups against Sunderland and Brighton. Tel has outplayed all the other forwards this season, and if De Zerbi's adulation for Solanke means fewer minutes for Tel, than that is a huge problem.
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