Could lack of goals ruin Tottenham’s season?

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas is still trying to find his best midfield combination, as Spurs struggle score goals

Tottenham drew 0-0 at fellow Champions League hopefuls Everton yesterday.

A draw at Goodison Park is not a terrible result, considering Everton have not lost at home in 2013.

However, the away side dominated virtually the whole first half, but failed to find a way past Tim Howard in the Everton goal.

Everton nearly made Spurs pay for their lack of firepower in the second half, as the Toffees enjoyed their own dominant spells. The lack of goals must be a worry for Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas and Spurs fans.

Goalscorer

In Roberto Soldado, Spurs have one of the best goal poachers in European football. Yet in yesterday’s encounter the Spaniard was feeding on scraps. The service to him was almost none existent and anybody watching the striker could see he was getting frustrated.

Soldado is a striker that needs service to score goals. He is not a player that is likely to dribble past a whole defence and score a goal, he is a master poacher, but he needs a decent supply to score goals it is as simple as that.

Soldado had just two efforts on goal in the whole game against Everton and looked off-the-pace at times, maybe due to the fact he was getting such little to work with. The fact that the majority of the Spaniard’s goals this season have come from the penalty spot says a lot about the lack of clear-cut chances his teammates are creating.

England international Jermain Defoe has spent much of the season kicking his heels on the bench. The former-Portsmouth striker may get a few run outs in the near future if the goals do not start flowing, as he is more likely to create something out of nothing, a skill needed when a team is struggling to create opportunities.

Creative

Tottenham have a plethora of creative players within their squad. Spurs already had the likes of Mousa Dembele and Aaron Lennon among others, prior to the summer when Andre Villas-Boas’ men brought in the likes of Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen.

Both players had been known at their previous clubs for providing creativity from attacking midfield positions. Spurs boss Villas-Boas left the pair on the bench for the visit to Goodison Park.

Lamela has struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League since his £30million move from Roma. A number of issues have dogged his spell in England so far, including family issues off-field. Those issues have obviously affected his performance.

The young Argentinian may take a good while to adapt to life in the Premier League, but he will not adapt by sitting on the bench. He needs to be playing games and getting a feel for the English top-flight. It is not exactly like the rest of the Tottenham midfield is setting the world alight at the moment.

Eriksen enjoyed a decent debut for Spurs, but recently his form has dipped slightly and he has found himself out of the team. The Danish youngster is arguably the most creative player in the Spurs squad and surely has to be starting more games.

Eriksen is one of the most highly-rated young attacking midfielders in Europe, yet he is struggling to get into a Spurs team that seems bereft of creative ideas. It seems strange to me that Villas-Boas has not played the youngster more in recent games.

Costly

It seems that Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas is still trying to work out his best midfield options. The Portuguese has so many talented attacking midfielders available to him, but nobody has really provided that creativity needed to score enough goals.

The lack of goals could very well prove costly to Spurs this season. Their defence has looked very solid this season, but their midfield is currently lacking a spark. Tottenham are currently 11/8 to finish in the top four (sixth favourites) and those odds seem justified at the moment.

If Spurs continue at the same goal scoring rate then they are going to miss out on their target of Champions League qualification. Villas-Boas needs to find his best team and quickly or Spurs fans could be in for a very frustrating season.

Could lack of goals ruin Tottenham’s season?