da heads bet： Width has been an issue for Spurs at times this season, just as it was last year, too. Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen prefer operating centrally, Moussa Sissoko’s signing has been a disaster, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou rarely gets first team minutes and Erik Lamela has disappeared for much of the campaign.
da bet nacional： Heung-Min Son has had an excellent campaign and occasionally operated from the flank, but he is primarily a shadow striker who will drift into the channels when given the opportunity.
As good as Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Ben Davies and Kieran Trippier have been at providing the width in the final third – from both wing and full-back positions – Spurs are sometimes found wanting in this department. Mauricio Pochettino currently has no reliable, natural wide players in his squad.
With season ticket renewal well underway, the rumours of summer signings are in overdrive. Spurs will be linked with tonnes of players between now and the opening of the spending floodgates, but few will make quite as much sense as Wilfried Zaha.
Unlike some of Spurs’ disappointing recent signings, Zaha has lengthy experience in the Premier League and of English football. He has, although overdue, come of age in the last couple of seasons after a potentially confidence-crippling spell with Manchester United. The majority of Spurs’ best additions of late have been from fellow English clubs. Toby Alderweireld was not bought directly from a fellow Premier League side, admittedly, but he had been on loan at Southampton previously, while Victor Wanyama and Mousa Dembele have become the heartbeat of the side since being signed from Southampton and Fulham respectively. Dele Alli was brought to the club from MK Dons, Eric Dier had been in England as a youngster before joining Sporting Lisbon, and Trippier and Davies were signed from Burnley and Swansea.
That is a tenuous argument to make Zaha a good addition, but it is proof of where many of Spurs’ best scouting trips have been. There’s a better argument, though: his stats. The Ivory Coast international will not be an immediate starter for Pochettino, which can make adaptation tricky, but as an impact player and vibrant option from the bench, the quick-footed Crystal Palace winger would be ideal. There is no reason he could not carry over his impressive form to White Hart Lane, despite the obvious change in managerial regime between Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce to Pochettino.
Decision-making in the final third had become an almost cliched issue for Zaha. Those problems are now all but behind him as is proven by his five goals and six assists in a largely struggling Crystal Palace side. The irrepressible talent has always been evident with the Ivorian, now he has shown he can produce the goods on a regular basis and is routinely tormenting his full-back with sharp changes of direction, exceptional close control and frightening pace.
Only two players – Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Middlesbrough’s Adama Traore – are completing more dribbles than Zaha this season, and no player is being fouled as often as he is (with many of those fouls in dangerous positions in the opposition’s half, perfect for a dead ball specialist like Eriksen). While still being dispossessed more often than anyone else in the league too, Zaha has taken greater offensive responsibility for Palace this season and his vast improvement in end product – having scored twice and assisted only once in the league last season – show a player ready for another shot at one of the league’s top clubs.
Spurs will surely be looking at lots of players in their one problem position throughout the summer, but Wilfried Zaha is a name that shouldn’t be overlooked.