Spurs have come a long way under Mauricio Pochettino since the Argentine took charge at White Hart Lane in 2014. They were the only team that challenged Leicester City for the title for the majority of the last season and eventually finished third. The Lilywhites are the only unbeaten team in the Premier League this campaign but they are not in top four and the reason behind that is five draws out of ten games.
Spurs have struggled for goals since Harry Kane got himself injured and have failed to transform draws into wins which could prove to be a pivotal reason if they finish outside what they’ve target for the current season.
Spurs’ over-reliance on Harry Kane was something that was identified by Pochettino this summer and that is why he brought in Dutch international forward Vincent Janssen to White Hart Lane. Things have not work out well as far as Janssen has struggled to find his scoring boots at White Hart Lane. No wonder Spurs are still looking for attacking reinforcements!
Yes, if the rumour mill is to be believed, Spurs are hot on the tail of Porto forward Moussa Marega who is plying his trade for Vitoria Guimaraes in the Portuguese Primeira Liga on loan and it is The Sunderland Echo who are reporting the story.
The 25-year-old is in a sensational form for the Portuguese side this season having scored 10 Liga goals from 8 games. Quite expectedly, the Malian international, who is topping the Primeira Liga scoring charts, is attracting a substantial interest from England.
Often christened as “The Malian Terminator” for his size, power and his goal scoring skills, Marega seems to be a pretty decent striker but is he the kind of centre-forward who would settle into Spurs? Perhaps no.
First of all, the 25-year-old is not a hard working striker who presses the opponent defenders and comes deep to create chances. He is a throwback in the pantheon of ‘target-man’ strikers who would find it hard to fit into the setup under Pochettino.
If you have seen Vincent Janssen playing this season, you would easily get to see that he is not doing much wrong. The Dutchman is pretty mobile up front and creates chances for his side with good one-twos but it is his positioning that is letting him down. He is only 22 and just started to adjust to life at White Hart Lane. Goals are not coming from the Dutchman but he is not doing much wrong and it is only a matter of time before he starts scoring.
Marega’s passing accuracy is just 68% this season while he has lost the ball 3.3 times every game this season. I don’t see how he fits into the way Spurs play. If Marega was really good enough, Porto would not have loaned him out in the first place.
Good and bad form are a part of every player’s life and Marega is having joy in front of goal but he can very well be a one season wonder and Spurs cannot afford to take a chance with him.
