Is Roberto Soldado The Real Deal? A Look At The Tottenham Striker’s Start To The Season

With Jermaine Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor the only real options up top last season for Andre Villas-Boas and his Tottenham side, it was up to Gareth Bale to score the goals that saw them challenge for fourth spot. Although they eventually lost out, and then lost Bale to Real Madrid on deadline day, Spurs have a new man at the peak of their attacking unit. His name is Roberto Soldado.

The Spaniard was in impeccable form for Valencia last season, scoring 24 La Liga goals in 35 games. Remarkably, all 24 were from inside the 18-yard box, something which Spurs have been desperate for, for a very long time now.

The White Hart Lane club have had a fine tart to the season, winning two out of three and blooding in the new faces in their squad. And although they lost 1-0 against north London rivals Arsenal, they have plenty to be optimistic about.

Soldado himself has proved not to need to much time adapting to the pace of English football, scoring twice in his first three games. He has also created five opportunities and hit the target with 67% of his shots.

His pass accuracy stands at 80% but he has won just 35% of his duels – a statistic that will have to increase, especially the single header he has won in just 16 attempts!

His instincts inside the box look incomparable to anything else Villas-Boas has at his disposal and, to me, he looks like he could fire Spurs into the running for the top four.

Spurs fans – is Soldado the real deal or will he struggle with life in the Premier League.

All statistics provided by Squawka.