Dominic Solanke

[Muttley]

What is the answer with Solanke though?

We cannot keep continuing with his current output. Iraola had him getting 19 goals in 37 league games. Ange only had him getting 9 in 25 whilst this season he's only got 3 goals in an injury ravaged 11 starts.

There is one thing that is subtle in this one and that is his injury history. He actually had a couple of early career hamstring injuries but that has never been his thing. It's been mostly knees and ankles with him. Now he has a grade 2 hammy apparently. I guess you find with injuries that a player can lose confidence in their body and it can seriously impact their performances when returning.

I guess RDZ needs to figure out whether Dom can get back to any sort of prime form under his management. Personally, I wouldn't bet on it and would be looking to build less dependancy on him. Then, if he comes back strong then that is an upside. We don't want to be in a position where he's the only striker of his type at the club and when he's out it impacts us this negatively. We know that Richi can't lead the line in the same way as Dom.

I don't want to load pressure on the kids, but perhaps Lanks and Melia could offer solutions next season.

 

[harr1984]

What is the answer with Solanke though?

We cannot keep continuing with his current output. Iraola had him getting 19 goals in 37 league games. Ange only had him getting 9 in 25 whilst this season he's only got 3 goals in an injury ravaged 11 starts.

There is one thing that is subtle in this one and that is his injury history. He actually had a couple of early career hamstring injuries but that has never been his thing. It's been mostly knees and ankles with him. Now he has a grade 2 hammy apparently. I guess you find with injuries that a player can lose confidence in their body and it can seriously impact their performances when returning.

I guess RDZ needs to figure out whether Dom can get back to any sort of prime form under his management. Personally, I wouldn't bet on it and would be looking to build less dependancy on him. Then, if he comes back strong then that is an upside. We don't want to be in a position where he's the only striker of his type at the club and when he's out it impacts us this negatively. We know that Richi can't lead the line in the same way as Dom.

I don't want to load pressure on the kids, but perhaps Lanks and Melia could offer solutions next season.

Solanke being our major CF signing is just one in a long list of reasons we are where we are. He can hold the ball up and work hard, but for what we paid and what is required if you want to compete at the higher end of the table it's nowhere near enough. Yes we lost Kane who is practically impossible to replace, but you will find there are plenty of very good strikers at the price point and in many cases less than what we paid for Solanke.

If we stay in the PL we definitely need to sign another CF with Richi likely going and also not being good enough. If in the Championship I would be happy to see Lankshear given a real crack, who has shown at a poor Oxford team he can score goals at this level and will only look better with better players around him....

 

[Muttley]

Solanke being our major CF signing is just one in a long list of reasons we are where we are. He can hold the ball up and work hard, but for what we paid and what is required if you want to compete at the higher end of the table it's nowhere near enough. Yes we lost Kane who is practically impossible to replace, but you will find there are plenty of very good strikers at the price point and in many cases less than what we paid for Solanke.

If we stay in the PL we definitely need to sign another CF with Richi likely going and also not being good enough. If in the Championship I would be happy to see Lankshear given a real crack, who has shown at a poor Oxford team he can score goals at this level and will only look better with better players around him....

I'm not sure who you refer to when you say other strikers were available at the time. Obviously, Saudi Sportswashing Machine scouts did an amazing job finding Isak. The England players of Solanke, Watkins and Toney never got me excited. In fact, I thought Toney was the best of them but everyone said that Solanke was the best stylistic fit. Vlahovic was always another name mentioned. Obviously, it is not our job to know the full spectrum of strikers that could replace Harry but my perception has always been that there is a dearth of great strikers across Europe. For me, it would have been a tough process.

All I've seen Spurs do is speculate on some really young strikers hoping one or two can come through. I hope that works eventually.

 

[harr1984]

I'm not sure who you refer to when you say other strikers were available at the time. Obviously, Saudi Sportswashing Machine scouts did an amazing job finding Isak. The England players of Solanke, Watkins and Toney never got me excited. In fact, I thought Toney was the best of them but everyone said that Solanke was the best stylistic fit. Vlahovic was always another name mentioned. Obviously, it is not our job to know the full spectrum of strikers that could replace Harry but my perception has always been that there is a dearth of great strikers across Europe. For me, it would have been a tough process.

All I've seen Spurs do is speculate on some really young strikers hoping one or two can come through. I hope that works eventually.

I'm not even just talking about back when we signed him, but where we are now and who other clubs at our level and below have. J Pedro, I Thiago, Watkins, Kroupi are a few I think better than what we have.

I'm not actually someone who is too hard on our scouting department, as I think we have bought in a lot of young quality who in 1 or 2 years will really be of a good level. But CF is one of the most critical positions, and I do think that is definitely one of the areas we should have done better in bringing ready now signing (which of course Solanke was). But we have a lot of talented young CFs, I'd be surprised if one of them doesn't step up in the next couple of years....