Why did Roberto Soldado flop at Tottenham Hotspur FC despite being a superstar at Valencia?

Rahul Ramachandran

Jogo Bonito!

169w ago

Thanks for the A2A.

I've not watched a lot of Spurs, but from what I've actually seen and heard about him from his Valencia days, he was a poacher who scored tap ins and needed the ball at his feet. His numbers were greatly inflated because he was also Valencia's designated penalty taker.

To succeed in the Premier League, you need to have that bit of extra quality. You must be able to create chances for yourself or bully opposition defenders. In the La Liga, the defenses are comparatively static with more emphasis on build-up play, as compared to the Premier League where there is emphasis on athleticism and movement.

Let us consider the strikers who successfully moved from the La Liga to the Premier League.

Fernando Torres(Atletico Madrid to Liverpool): During his Liverpool days, he used to score for fun using his pace to outrun center backs, and use it to play off the shoulder of the last defender. His face-offs with Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic is well known.

Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid to Manchester City): Aguero has a great South American technique and incredible movement around the 18-yard box. He can create chances for himself if the team isn't clicking, and can also set up chances for his teammates.

Diego Costa(Atletico Madrid to Chelsea): While it's still early days for the Spaniard, we can safely assume that he has hit the ground running. He is more physical than either Torres or Aguero or Soldado(since we're talking about him). He keeps the opposition center backs occupied and can out-muscle center-backs when he has the ball. Also his technique his underrated, and he can often be seen drifting out wide and creating space in the centre of the pitch.

Roberto Soldado doesn't have the pace of Fernando Torres, Aguero's technique or Costa's raw physicality which force him to rely on his instincts and chances created by others. In the Premier League, teams will neither leave spaces in defense nor hesitate before knocking a player to the ground.

This is why I believe Roberto Soldado is struggling to cope with the Premier League.

Baljeet Singh

Following it and enjoying it since 2002.

169w ago

Because- 

He is not technically as strong as Aguero. Aguero is capable of scoring solo goals without any help.

Premier League is lot more physical so he lost ball generally on duel with opposition defender.

Not many service provider. When he was in Valencia he had good quality player behind him who provide him opportunity to score goals. He played with Mata, Banega, Costa, Parejo, Alba etc. These players sole target is to provide the ball to him and he will score than. In Spurs he did not get enough chances to score but when he get due to good goalkeeping or pressure he misses his chance.

He is not good in set pieces apart from penalty. He is not tall enough to score goals during corners or free kick.

Spurs have got too many single minded player in terms of Mason, Bentaleb, Townsend, Mousa Dembele. These players instead of passing try to shoot from long distance. Only Lamela, Kane, Eriksen is good in terms of provider.

Spurs is not on the level of top teams. They did not get many opportunity  when attacking so he gets less service.

Kaustubh Pandey

Football Writer

169w ago

There's another reason to his below par showings apart from his inability of not possessing something out of the ordinary. It's his style of play which was quite contrary to the Spurs' approach to the game. Spurs needed a striker who could get in behind defenses, who's very good in the air and someone who's got an uncanny ability to creep offside and come back onside and get a goal. Or simply, someone like Peter Crouch.

And Soldado although, was that kind of a player at Valencia but there were times when he tracked a few yards back and didn't get as much in behind as you'd want to. During his first season at White Hart Lane, his tendency to get involved in the play augmented and majorly due to lack of confidence and fear of failure, he didn't rediscover his abilities. Even if he stood right in front of a centre half, the deficiency of a willing, frightening runner in Spurs' ranks meant that he had to drop deeper to receive the ball and lay it off to somebody else.

With Peter Crouch, Spurs had a Gareth Bale who was nearing his prime and an Aaron Lennon who was one of the best wingers in the league and played for England regularly. Crouch never felt any need to drop a few yards in the play to compliment the play and build up. Luka Modric found the killer pass with impeccable accuracy and he just had to act as a Fox in the box competitor and do what he was doing in his career- score tap ins.

For Spurs, Soldado was the wrong piece in the correct jigsaw.

Abhinav Goyal

studied at Birla Vidya Niketan

169w ago

Because Soldado is out of form....one of the things happening quite frequently to big money signings.