Tony Cascarino has delivered a damning verdict on Tottenham striker Vincent Janssen as he struggles to settle at his new club. Cascarino, who played for the likes of Aston Villa and Chelsea, says that Janssen would probably be at home in the Championship. The striker has struggled since his £17 million move from Ajax in the summer. After looking at various options like Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette, who is one of the top scorers in the French league this season, the club brought in Janssen partly because he would be a capable replacement for Harry Kane while also not being expensive.
Janssen seemed to have proved his doubters with an incredible 27 goals in just 32 league matches with AZ in his final season. However, the 22-year-old has struggled big time in the Premier League. Even though he has scored for Spurs in his last two games against Liverpool and Leicester City, these were from the penalty spot. In fact, Janssen has not scored from open play in any of the games this season. The 22-year-old’s previous goal was against lower league Gillingham in the third round of the EFL Cup.
Cascarino says that Janssen’s style of play would be well suited in the Championship. He says that the 22-year-old simply lacks the pace necessary to become successful in the Premier League. On the positive note, Janssen’s ability to lead the line has not gone unnoticed. Speaking to the Sun, Cascarino said:
“Janssen is better suited to the Championship. He leads the line well, but is not quick enough.
“Janssen has a similar style to Glenn Murray, who scored a hat-trick for Brighton on Saturday.
“Leicester had Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki, who stretch defences and create room for others, but Janssen can’t do that.”
Janssen’s struggles in front of goal have been a major factor in Spurs being unable to win any game since the 2-0 win over Manchester City at the start of October. Harry Kane suffered an injury in the middle of September which has already forced him to miss 13 games. It is the England striker’s longest spell on the sidelines since becoming a professional. Back in the 2013-14, Kane spent just under two months on the sidelines and missed 11 games.
Spurs cannot wait to have Kane back in the team. The England international has been back in training and he is widely expected to start the game against Arsenal this weekend. With the next international break looming, Spurs cannot afford to go into the break on this catastrophic form. The club may have already written off Janssen’s signing as an expensive experiment. They have been linked with several forwards over the last few weeks, and one can certainly expect action in this area come January.
Even though Janssen has been a major disappointment in terms of goals, he has at least been creating chances for his teammates. The striker has surprisingly created 11 opportunities for his teammates in his 16 appearances so far.
