Deadwood: Do latest snubs mean Janssen's Tottenham career is already over?
On a weekend of FA Cup upsets, where Burnley and Leicester crashed out to lower league opposition, Tottenham made light work of one of the Championship’s form sides Fulham. The Cottagers, particularly at home, had been in commendable form coming into the tie, yet bowed out of the competition at the hands of their London neighbours. A comprehensive 3-0 victory for Spurs saw them continue their dominance over Fulham at Craven Cottage as Harry Kane bagged a hat-trick in west London.
From the bench, Vincent Janssen looked on to watch his teammate put Fulham to the sword. The Dutchman was signed as competition for Kane over the summer, yet has struggled to adapt to the rigours of English football. “I have given myself 12 months to succeed in the Premier League with Tottenham. And those 12 months are not over yet,” Janssen said over the weekend. However, as an unused sub in Sunday’s victory, it only increases the pressure on the 22-year-old to force his way into the Spurs starting XI and live up to his price tag following his move.
When fit, Kane is undeniably one of the first names on the Spurs team sheet. However, with the England international ruled out for two months earlier in the campaign, it presented Janssen with the ideal opportunity to stake a claim for a regular starting spot, a chance he did not take. Since his big money arrival from AZ Alkmaar, Janssen has scored just four goals for Spurs, all of which have been from the penalty spot. An inability to net from open play has seen the young frontman compared to former Spurs man Roberto Soldado, who endured an ill-fated stint in north London before returning to Spain with Villarreal.
While the pair’s style are dissimilar, with Janssen capable of utilising his stature to hold off defenders with ease, making runs down the channel and bringing others into play, comparisons were inevitably going to be made as Janssen’s open play streak went on. Having been left out of the 18-man squad entirely in Spurs’ 1-0 loss to Gent last week, being overlooked again on Sunday felt like another nail in the coffin, even if Janssen insists he does not want to leave Mauricio Pochettino’s side in the summer. With Spurs 3-0 up and cruising, the Spurs boss instead called on Moussa Sissoko to replace Kane with 15 minutes still to play in order for the striker to receive his due plaudits from the travelling Spurs support. With Mousa Dembele and Josh Onomah both utilised ahead of Janssen from the bench at the weekend, it was a further damning indignation as to the Netherland international’s standing in the squad.
Having been linked with a move to Galatasaray last month, Spurs rejected the chance to allow him to leave for the Turkish Super Lig side, particularly with games coming thick and fast. However, having started just one competitive match this calendar year - a 2-0 FA Cup win over Aston Villa, in which Spurs secured the win once Janssen went off - there is no denying that the club could have sanctioned the move without significantly weakening the squad considering Janssen has totalled just 13 minutes of action in his last three Premier League appearances.
Of course, Janssen isn’t adverse to slow starts in his respective league. It wasn’t until his eighth appearance of the season that the striker netted his first league goal of the campaign for AZ Alkmaar last term, while he scored just the six goals in 2015 in the Eredivisie. In the second half of the campaign, Janssen was in flying form and ultimately scored more goals (27) than any other player in the Eredivise last term. Yet, that came with ample playing time as AZ presented him with the chance to find his feet. With Spurs, he simply doesn’t have the chance to take his time to bed in in the hunt for Champions League football, with Kane undoubtedly the club’s first choice frontman. Indeed, on this day last year, Janssen was firing in his 15th league goal of the season against Groningen a day after failing to make the pitch against Championship opposition.
At his age, there is still time for Janssen to iron out the kinks and make a name for himself at Spurs. “I’m not going to throw in the towel just because things are not going great for the first time in my career,” Janssen added. You have to commend the Dutchman's courage as he attempts to be more Luis Suarez than Afonso Alves in the Premier League, but when the opportunity comes, Janssen is faltering in front of goal. An average of 2.9 shots per 90 in the Premier League shows a willingness to test the opposition goalkeeper, but with just 1 shot on target per 90, he is flailing. What’s more is that with 0.6 shots per 90 blocked, a lack of confidence to go for goal at the first time of asking is not only hindering his chances of adding to his four league goals, but limiting the possibility of breaking his duck from open play.
This week promises to be a testing one for both Spurs and Janssen with the club needing to overturn a one goal deficit to at least take Gent to extra time at Wembley on Thursday night. After failing to make the matchday squad in Belgium last week, it remains to be seen whether Janssen will feature in any capacity but if required, Thursday would be as good a chance as any to net from open play for the first time, both for Spurs’ sake and his own.
