Why Nacer Chadli Is the Tottenham Player with Most to Prove After Burnley Game

Tottenham Hotspur's underwhelming draw at Turf Moor was not the day that their mathematical chances of Champions League football next season came to an end. 

Neither was it a result that brought undone their charge for the top four, that realistically ended weeks ago. 

The goalless draw with Burnley was an opportunity for several players to step up and leave a mark on this season; none did. 

Paulinho, handed a rare chance to resurrect his Tottenham career, was remarkably poor. He made a reasonable start to the match but drifted out, unable to find a place on the pitch where he could make any kind of an impact. He won't get many more chances in a Tottenham shirt after that performance. 

Far worse than Paulinho, though, was Nacer Chadli. 

The second-oldest outfield player, after Paulinho, Chadli should have been a leader on the pitch. He should have taken the opportunity to stand tall and give a match-winning performance.

Spurs were, as a whole, terrible against Burnley, but the Clarets, too, were there to be beaten. Chadli has the capacity to have led his side to victory.  

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The Belgian winger has made a significant contribution this season in terms of his goalscoring. Eight league goals in 28 appearances is a very solid return for a wide player. When you consider how few goals Spurs score generally, it becomes an even more impressive statistic. 

More than just the numbers, Chadli has scored important goals against Swansea City, Chelsea and Arsenal; he has not been a passenger this season. 

Chadli's impressive goal return and occasional dominant performances are in sharp contrast to the majority of his Tottenham appearances. 

Against Burnley, Chadli reverted to his worst self. Somehow both selfish and lacking confidence when shooting, listless in pressing and tracking back and loose with possession, Chadli gave an unfortunately typical performance. 

The majority of Chadli's games for Spurs have fit this same pattern, and that is the problem. 

When he was finally hauled off and replaced, Erik Lamela left little more impact on the game. Despite that, Lamela's presence lifted the team and the players around him. He too was selfish, but he seemed to have a clear idea of what he wanted to do, unlike Chadli. 

Chadli has been especially quiet in some of Spurs' biggest disappointments. The League Cup final against Chelsea saw a wasteful and immature performance from one of the most senior players at the club. 

In the second leg of the Europa League tie against Fiorentina, Chadli wasn't the worst player on the pitch, but he failed to deliver when the team needed him. 

Perhaps Chadli just isn't reliable enough to warrant the playing time he gets. 

If Chadli played like he did against Chelsea on New Year's Day the majority of the time, he would be a fantastic player. He doesn't. 

If he could bring to bear his impressive combination of power and skill more often than not, he would be a Premier League star. He can't. 

Chadli's Tottenham career now hangs in the balance. 

The continued presence of both Lamela and Andros Townsend next season and even the return of Aaron Lennon and Alex Pritchard will mean he cannot be guaranteed a place in the squad next season. 

Rumours abound that Spurs will invest in additional weapons for Mauricio Pochettino ahead of next season. Should the transfer window see the arrival of further rivals to Chadli's place, it is hard to see him fighting them off. 

Rather, if Spurs do sign a new wide player this summer, it is almost certainly the end of Chadli's time in north London. 

Pochettino is, at this point in the year, building his squad for the next campaign. This one is not quite over but 2015-16 looms as a more significant one.

Many fans and journalists alike talked down the League Cup final defeat to Chelsea, saying this young team will go on to bigger things in the future, but Chadli was as responsible as anyone for that defeat. On the strength of most of his performances, there is no guarantee he'll be around for the next one.