Andros Townsend's Window of Opportunity at Tottenham Is Running out
Tottenham Hotspur'sย Andros Townsend dreams of playing for England, though his window of opportunity atย Spurs is running out.ย
An ankle injury has limitedย Aaron Lennon to a solitary game this season, andย Erik Lamela is still adjusting to life as aย Tottenham player.ย
Butย Townsend hasn't fully taken advantage of the situation. ย
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"Goodย riddance," saidย thenย Leeds United manager Neil Warnock whenย Townsend abruptly cut short his loan, via Four Four Two.
Shouldย Townsend lose his starting position toย Lamela, which gives the Englishman a reason to exit stage left, the general sentimentย will be regret as opposed to "good riddance."
Despiteย Townsend beating full-backs with ease, ratchetingย up the speed of the game and being a one-man counter-attack, his decision making is holding him back from being a world-class footballer.ย
Mind you, this is the same person who arrived atย Leeds without his football boots,ย placed bets on football gamesย incredulouslyย unaware of match-fixing implications, and his honest to a fault approach to diving ensures referees won't be giving him the benefit of the doubt.
"To admit to having dived is a brave stance as there could well be a reluctance in future weeks for referees to award free-kicks to Townsend in tight situations," said former refereeย Graham Poll, via The Daily Mail. "They [referees] will not want to be duped by a self-confessed diver."
When Townsendย is hacked down byย Joey O'Brien andย refereeย Lee Probert waves play on as West Ham United launch a counterattack,ย the Spurs winger will learn the hard way thatย chivalry doesn't win football games.ย
Townsend Taking a Page Out ofย Arjen Robben's Book
Townsend averages the highest shots per league game inย Europe's elite leaguesย without a goal.
It's counterproductive to spendย ยฃ26 million on a goal-poacher inย Roberto Soldado only for him to average 2.1 shots per game lessย thanย Townsend.ย
Soldado has created more goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates (11) thanย Townsend (seven).ย
Like Robben,ย Townsend's natural instinct is to go for it, which explains his nineโyes, nine!โshots against Norwich. ย
It's easy to ignore Robben's 128 career assists, his hat-trick of assists againstย St. Pauli in 2011 and him going to great lengths to be more team-oriented.
The latter aspect is relevant inย Townsend's display against Chelsea.
He wasn't selfish, he wasย selfless and refused to shoot.
Just like publicly admitting to diving against Chelsea (he also went down easily againstย Swansea City), it's as ifย Townsend's selfless performance against the Blues was his way of shutting his critics up.
Okay, he didn't take stupid shots, but he had the beating ofย Ashley Cole and he wasted theย opportunityย of making a big impression.ย
When Townsendย finds that happy medium between shooting and creating, he'll be a star.
But will it be with Spurs?
As Tottenhamย head of football developmentย Tim Sherwood alluded to in February, perhapsย Townsend is a big fish in a small pond.ย
"He'd prefer to play in a situation like QPR," saidย Sherwood, viaย Tom Collomosse at the London Evening Standard. "If Andros is tackled by the fullโback 10 times, heโll beat him the 11th and win you the game."
You see atย Tottenham, ifย Townsend gets tackled 10 times, he would have been subbed off.ย
"We know how tough it will be but weโve all been given chances," saidย Townsend,ย viaย Tom Collomosse at theย London Evening Standard. "It's up to us to take them."
Time is running out forย Townsend, because it's only a matter of time beforeย Lamela takes his chance.
Statistics viaย WhoScored,ย kicker,ย FFTย Stats Zone,ย Squawkaย andย Transfermarktย
Google+:ย +allanjiang
Twitter:ย @allanjiangLIVE





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