Tottenham Enter Crucial Period With Striker Woes

There’s an old saying about the best laid plans of mice and men often going awry. Tottenham’s manager Mauricio Pochettino can sympathise with all those who have found that out since the expression was first coined, because it’s only gone and happened to him.

Plan A was always to play Harry Kane, his top goal scorer and talisman, upfront in any big game. That could be as a lone striker or alongside Heung-Min Son, the athletic and highly versatile South Korean who’s been in the form of his life over the past month and a half.

If anything happened to Kane, there was always Plan B which involved playing Son himself in the lone striker role with one of Erik Lamela or Lucas Moura joining Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli as a supporting trio behind the front man.

Pochettino has been quite fortunate over the past couple of years or so because he’s rarely had to venture outside using Plans A and B. Until now.

Very, very late in the game during Tottenham’s unexpected home defeat against Manchester United, Kane was on the wrong end of a full-blooded tackle on his ankle by Phil Jones. The result was that Kane’s ankle is now so swollen that it can’t even be properly assessed until the swelling has gone down but the initial verdict is that it could rule him out for a month and a half, with a return pencilled in for early March.

If that were the case, he’d miss as many as six Premier League matches, including a huge game against Chelsea in late February. Plus the all-important second leg of the Carabao Cup against Chelsea (again) at Stamford Bridge in which you will see Tottenham are second favourites to win the competition if you check out the latest betting markets.

Of slightly less importance is an FA Cup match away at Crystal Palace on the 27th January but then there’s a first leg tie against Borussia Dortmund to contend with on the 13th February. It couldn’t have come at a worse time.

So what of Plan B? Right now that’s not an option because Son is on international duty with South Korea at the Asian Cup. It was already somewhat controversial that the former Bayer Leverkusen man was allowed to stay in England for as long as he did before reporting for international duty; he’s already missed their first two matches at the Asian Cup.

So, highly unlikely that Korea boss Paulo Bento would be open to talk of a swift return to north London for Son. The best Pochettino can hope for is that Korea are knocked out as early as possible but if they hang in there and make the final, he could be without his in-form forward until the first week of February.

Which brings us to Plan C. The case of Fernando Llorente is a complex and slightly odd one. There’s nothing wrong with the big Spanish striker’s pedigree; his former clubs include Athletic Bilbao and Juventus and he’s been capped 27 times for Spain. But since joining Spurs in August 2017, his opportunities to play have been very limited. Or to put it another way, Pochettino just doesn’t fancy him.

He may have the physical presence of Kane and Son but he certainly lacks the pace of either of them, the desire to run into channels and the occasional refreshing unpredictability the other two can be capable of.

Playing him as a big target man could make Spurs somewhat predictable. Another issue is his fitness (or lack thereof) after having played so little over the past season and a half. He’d be highly unlikely to last a full game, especially at the age of 33.

Plan D could involve playing Lamela or more likely Lucas Moura as a lone striker, with both at least having some pace to speak of.

Dutch striker Vincent Janssen is still at the club but after injuries and loss of form, he’s arguably even less of an option than Llorente is.

At least this whole business happened during the transfer window, meaning that if Spurs choose to try and bring in new face, they’ll be able to. But who?

It would seem foolish to bring in an expensive established striker given Spurs’ problem is a temporary one, rather than a long-term one.

A better option might be to invest in a young British player from a less high-profile club, much like they did with Dele Alli, Danny Rose or Ben Davies in recent years.

Youngsters Josh Maja (Sunderland) and Jarrod Bowen (Hull City) would fit that bill as long-term prospects but it would be a lot to expect of them to all of a sudden lead the line for Spurs in the Premier League. A more feasible option and a better bet would be to get Barcelona’s Malcom, on loan.

Plenty for Pochettino to think about.

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