Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has pleaded for patience with new signing Vincent Janssen after the Dutchman’s difficult debut.
Tottenham went down 2-1 to Juventus in the Melbourne friendly, with Pochettino’s men donning their bright gold third kit and coming up with some pretty hideous defending to match.
Janssen, who was top scorer in last season’s Eredivisie with 27 goals in 34 games, was virtually anonymous in the first 45 minutes and struggled to make much more of an impact in the second half.
This was his first performance aside from the Lilywhites’ pre-season training ground friendlies, but it didn’t go quite how he would have hoped.
However, Spurs’ young defenders were clearly out of their depth, frequently giving the ball away and that made it difficult for Pochettino to instruct his usual style of play, gradually bringing the ball up the field to the strikers.
With that in mind, the Argentine boss was fairly forgiving of Janssen’s uninspiring performance, quoted by the Mirror as saying:
“The first half was difficult for Vincent because Juventus player counter-attack and we made some mistakes and it was difficult to bring the ball into the last third where he is very active.
“Vincent worked very hard for the team. In the second half he linked better with his team mates but he was tired and we need to care for him because he needs to adapt to our philosophy but I am very happy.”
Harry Kane is still going to be first choice up front this season, often playing as a lone striker, so Janssen may be forced to impress from the bench.
Yet, Spurs need the strength-in-depth, so even if Janssen hasn’t immediately impressed, he has still been an important signing who can make a big difference.
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