Last week fans of Tottenham Hotspur were finally granted their wish of 5 years as Dimitar Berbatov was replaced by Spanish talisman Roberto Soldado, formerly of Valencia. Espanyol were the visitors to White Hart Lane as the £26m man pulled on the Lilywhite for the first time in their final pre-season friendly. Expectant fans were not disappointed as the Spaniard showed a liveliness and willingness in leading the line that had been so lacking in the previous season.
Perhaps the most important aspect of Soldado reeling out brilliant performances in the Lilywhite shirt will be his potency in linking up with the midfielders, and throughout his 60 minute cameo he demonstrated this ability admirably for someone who had only been training with his team-mates for under a week. He looked like he was already developing a sound partnership with Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, linking up with him once from a free-kick and again from an attempted through ball by the Scandinavian. His understanding with Brazilian Paulinho was also impressive, with Soldado repeatedly exchanging passes with the box-to-box midfielder.
Another positive feature to Soldado’s play, as briefly mentioned in the intro, is his energy and determination on the football pitch. He certainly displayed his intent and willingness against Espanyol, repeatedly making runs in behind the defence or dropping deep to collect the ball and maintain the fluidity in Spurs passing. All too often last year, Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe would cut isolated figures; Soldado’s 60 minutes indicated that the same will not be repeated during this campaign.
Finally, the most obvious role for a striker is to score goals, and the Spaniard will be delighted that he has scored his first goal for the Lilywhites in his first game. It came in the form of a penalty, which beat the diving Espanyol keeper with a mixture of pinpoint accuracy and power, before a muted celebration – although inside, that strike will have meant a lot to Soldado.
It is foolish to attempt to grasp too much information about your summer acquisitions from pre-season, especially just one friendly; but Tottenham fans at White Hart Lane on Saturday evening, eager to see their new number 9 in action, were not disappointed.
Source: DSG
