Vincent Janssen has time on his side but Tottenham can't afford to wait for striker to come good

Out of luck: Vincent Janssen had a night to forget, seeing his header strike the crossbar
REUTERS
Simon Johnson19 October 2016

In the city famed for discovering aspirin, Vincent Janssen found no cure for his difficult start to life in a Tottenham shirt.

Little more than three months have passed since Janssen made a high-profile £17million switch from AZ Alkmaar to White Hart Lane.

After scoring 29 goals last season and being named Dutch Talent of the Year, much was expected of the 22-year-old.

It is still early days in his career in north London but one solitary strike against Gillingham in the EFL Cup is all he has to show for his efforts in 12 appearances.

Janssen is not the first player to arrive with great fanfare from Holland’s top tier only to struggle at an English club. Memphis Depay, Afonso Alves, Ryan Babel and Mateja Kezman have all made the headlines but only because they proved to be expensive mistakes.

Clearly, Janssen has youth and a lot of time on his side to turn things around but Tottenham can ill afford to wait for him to come good right now, especially in the Champions League.

Here in Leverkusen last night, Janssen was given the chance to lead the line due to Harry Kane’s continued absence from an ankle ligament injury.

It was a great opportunity to prove what he can do and help his new club get a crucial victory in Group E. His outing lasted for only just over an hour, though, before coach Mauricio Pochettino took him off for midfielder Mousa Dembele and moved Heung-Min Son to play in the advanced role instead.

Understandably, the Holland international looked disappointed, yet he could have few complaints. For the most part, he underwhelmed. Possession was lost far too easily and he struggled to get involved in the play.

Some will argue that luck wasn’t on Janssen’s side when his header six minutes from half-time struck the crossbar before Erik Lamela’s effort on the rebound was tipped over.

But it was the kind of opening that he was bought to convert and most top strikers would have buried.

Speaking to this paper last month, Janssen was full of confidence that he would soon come good for Spurs.

Janssen said: “After I joined Alkmaar, I didn’t score for seven League games but soon afterwards, I started to score goals.

“In a season, every striker has some periods where he doesn’t score. It doesn’t matter to me. I know what I can do, so the goals here will come, for sure.”

The manner in which he accepted Pochettino’s conciliatory hug as he walked off dejectedly to the bench said otherwise, though.

Clearly, his display was not the only thing at fault as Spurs laboured for long periods, were outplayed in the second half and had goalkeeper Hugo Lloris’s heroics to thank for earning a draw.

Pochettino’s hopes of qualifying for the last 16 are still in the balance with three group games to go and while he would not admit it publicly, the Argentine must be desperate for Kane to return as soon as possible.

The England international, who has been the club’s top scorer for the past two seasons, has been ruled out for the past month. He returned to light training this week but Pochettino confirmed that an appearance in the first team is not imminent.

Bayer Leverkusen vs Tottenham

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Asked if Kane could face Bournemouth on Saturday, he said: “It’s impossible — one thing is to run on the grass, another thing is to train with the group, be fit and available to compete. But he’s working and running on the pitch, that’s very important for us.”

Noticeably, Pochettinowas in a tense mood while conducting his post-match duties.

He took great exception to one question over whether defender Kevin Wimmer’s future at the club was in jeopardy, given he did not even make the substitutes’ bench despite Toby Alderweireld being absent due to a knee injury.

The sight of Danny Rose limping on to the team coach wearing a protective boot, albeit insisting he was ‘okay’, would not have pleased him either.

But perhaps his fit of temper betrayed his concern over Tottenham’s displays in Europe thus far. Spurs are making hard work of progressing from a group that contains fairly mediocre opposition.

The only other time Spurs threatened Leverkusen’s goal was when Dele Alli headed wide in the first half. Still in previous years, this was the kind of game they would have lost and at least two of their remaining three group matches are at home, well at Wembley anyway.

Lloris admits they need to raise their game in Europe’s premier club competition to progress and said: “We can be pleased with a point but we must learn from this game.

“We need to improve our football, we need to increase our football altogether and try to do better at Wembley.

“We need to get revenge at Wembley [after losing first game 2-1 to Monaco there] for ourselves and our fans.

“We were very frustrated and disappointed after the Monaco game.

“There will be a lot of motivation and we will have to be at our best to beat Leverkusen at Wembley [in two weeks’ time].”

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