No end product so no place for Townsend at Spurs

I have written for the past couple of season about the mentality of Andros Townsend and how as a substitute he is not mentally prepared to come on.

He mentally prepared only when he is told he is coming on and by then it is too late. You have to be mentally taking in the game, not just watching it like a fan the way most substitutes do. The difference is shown bu their performances when they do. Andros Townsend has come on and performed once this season, yet when given a start he was poor.

You have to take your chance when it comes, if you don't why do you deserve another when others are doing a better job? If Tottenham want to be a winning team and if supporters want a winning team then this I need a run of games culture has to go. It is prevalent among fans although I have to say I have seen less of it over the past couple of seasons.

Harry Kane came and performed right away, Dele Alli did, Ryan Mason did, Nabil Bentaleb did, Eric Dier did. That is the type of player a successful club wants, one with the mentality to take a chance. You know those players are always going to be striving. Mentally weaker players, players who are not always motivated are inconsistent and inconsistency produces unlucky losers. It produces teams that can win things are get in the top four but don't.

Angel Di Maria talked to Fourfourtwo about playing on the wing and if you apply that to Andros Townsend and how he plays you'd struggle to find common ground.

“When teams are defending deep – ‘parking the bus’ – it’s important to stay relaxed and focus on keeping the ball moving and searching for the gaps. As a winger you have to keep doing what you’re there to do: run at someone, create a chance or draw a foul and deliver a cross into the area for the strikers. For wingers it’s important to try to be inventive: to do something different to beat the defenders and create a chance for your team.”

Andros runs sideways with a defender, he doesn't take his man on enough. Jose Mourinho asks his players to take opponents on when they are close to the box, Frank Lampard talked about looking good in midfield by playing sideways and not doing anything where it matters. If a player doesn't have an end product then it is irrelevant how flashy he is, the game is about creating and scoring goals. If you are not doing one of those as an attacking force then you don't deserve a place.

In a nutshell a wingers job is to provide chances for his teammates. Going past a player is not enough, plenty of wingers can do that. Does a winger create goalscoring chances either through a pass or off-the-ball running or by winning a free-kick in a dangerous area? Is he a goalscoring threat himself?

Townsend doesn't get himself into the important positions around the box to take people on enough because he cuts infield too soon. His effectiveness is thus reduced. A player should improve his game each season and improve mentally each season, do you see improvement in Townsend in both those areas? I don't and haven't.

His reported bust-up with our fitness coach after the last game suggests I have been right to question his mentality. Yes he is frustrated, but that has to be channelled into training and performance. 

I thought we should have sold him during the summer, he was offered to clubs but nothing came of it. If he doiesn' leave in January, I'd expect to see him go in the summer.

Further Tottenham Reading
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Up to 5th, 1pt off 4th
Spurs target Pato has rediscovered his form
How would you rate Spurs shooting from range?

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