All of Vincent Janssen’s shortcomings to date will be forgiven if he goes on a scoring spree between now and the end of the season.
Tottenham badly need the striker to start scoring with Harry Kane set for a lengthy lay-off on the sidelines.
The Dutchman got his first goal for the club from open play last weekend in the 6-0 rout of Millwall, but it’s fair to say he will now be coming up against much better opposition than the League One outfit.
It’s easy to criticise the £17million man, who signed from AZ Alkmaar last summer as the Eredivisie’s top scorer.
However, Mauricio Pochettino insists that he is at just the same level as other big clubs’ back-up options.
“It’s easy to say we need better players on the bench behind Harry Kane, but it’s complicated for offensive players who are behind Diego Costa, Harry Kane, Alexis Sanchez or Zlatan Ibrahimovic at big teams,” he said, quoted via the Telegraph.
“Players are training hard every day to try and find their best form, but every weekend they do not find too much possibility to play.
“Always we say they need to be professional, but they are only human and it is very tough to come in every day and it’s very complicated.
“You see different players arrive this season, there’s a lot of examples….when you have a main striker like Harry Kane, it’s difficult for a second or third striker to take his place.”
Janssen also scored a fantastic goal for Holland earlier this season, which suggests his confidence can’t be completely shot.
Mercifully, the pressure isn’t on him alone to fill Kane’s boots.
Questions have been raised about whether either Janssen or Heung-Min Son are good enough deputies, but to the South Korean’s credit, he has netted 14 times in all competitions despite limited opportunities.
The real proof of the pudding will be in how the pair get on against Southampton on Sunday.
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