How Nacer Chadli Has Overcome Difficult 1st Year to Emerge as Tottenham Mainstay

But for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's equaliser, Nacer Chadli might have earned a place in Tottenham Hotspur folklore this past Saturday. Such is the magnitude of contributing to a winning north London derby effort (or any derby for that matter).

As it was, Arsenal struck back and Tottenham left the Emirates Stadium with a 1-1 draw. While Chadli was denied a considerable legacy moment, the goalscorer did leave with his reputation further enhanced.

The Belgium international could be on the verge of becoming a mainstay of Mauricio Pochettino's team. A noteworthy achievement considering the difficulty of his first year in England.

Following Chadli's July 2013 signing from Twente, De Telegraaf journalist Marcel van der Kraan could not speak more highly of him.

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"One of the great things about this player is that he really plays football," he told talkSPORT. "Its a player who doesn't just bring strength to the team of Tottenham, but he also brings pure, pure football vision."

The versatility Van der Kraan also praised ended up slightly counting against Chadli in a stop-start campaign. He made 35 appearances altogether and scored five goals, but struggled to establish any individual momentum as he was switched between wide and central positions in his intermittent playing opportunities.

The aforementioned footballing ability would be glimpsed, though, and particularly came to the fore in an impressive two-game spell in March. One that would display the effectiveness he had shown in three seasons in Holland, and that would later begin to be utilised at the beginning of this current campaign.

Given an advanced central midfield role, Chadli put Arsenal on edge as they failed to check his runs into the box. He was unable to finish in that 1-0 defeat, but later that week struck twice to help Spurs almost turn around their first-leg deficit against Benfica in the Europa League.

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Then-manager Tim Sherwood would drop Chadli back into central midfield proper thereafter. He tried in his deployment alongside Paulinho, but lacking in defensive nous the two looked unsurprisingly suspect.

That lacklustre finish to 2013-14 and his late return following Belgium's World Cup campaign left Chadli's status under new boss Pochettino up in the air come this past August. Well, at least it did for those of us on the outside looking in.

After a decent appearance off the bench away at Limassol in the Europa League, Chadli was handed his first start of season against Queens Park Rangers. He netted twice in the 4-0 win, with his attacking instincts and aerial threat recalling the aforementioned spring spell.

The 25-year-old opened the scoring in the 2-2 draw against Sunderland, and as already noted, did so again against Arsenal. He is Spurs' top scorer this season, and has largely done well as part of the supporting three in Pochettino's 4-2-3-1 formation.

Chadli still has work to do if he wants to cement his place in the Argentine's starting XI, but the signs for the Belgian are promising. Especially in the wake of adding another goal to his tally.

It can be easy to overlook his functions in Spurs' fluid attack. Though not as creative as Christian Eriksen or as good on the ball as Erik Lamela, he provides more directness than either of his two attacking midfield team-mates.

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It was seen against QPR as his starting left-wing position quickly turned into an auxiliary striker role. Then also again a couple of times against Arsenal, once for his goal and in an earlier first-half miss—"I had to shoot with my left foot in the first half and it’s not my best foot!" he admitted to Tottenham's official website, post-match.

Chadli's further recollection of the goal speaks well of his understanding of the balance he helps provide in the final third for his team.

"I didn’t get too many chances, didn’t touch the ball a lot but for a forward player, you might get one chance and you have to be focused," he said. "We recovered the ball, Erik was in a central position, I made space and asked for the ball, he played it onto my right foot and I controlled and shot in the far corner."

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Chadli, like his team-mates, was less effective in losses to Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion. He struggled to find room as both sides denied Spurs space. In such scenarios he can quickly become a passenger if he is unable to get into the areas he is most threatening.

Four goals so far and the importance of the Arsenal strike in particular reflect well on him, though. Chadli is producing for his team in a way that no one yet has been able too.

He will need to keep that up. If he can, his importance to this Tottenham team will only increase.

Along with Lamela, Chadli's form this season is serving as a reminder of the virtue of showing patience towards talented young players looking to make their mark in a new country.