Tottenham has turned to Harry Kane for their goals for several years now.
One big problem that they wanted to fix in the summer was relying on the striker solely for this campaign.
They eventually signed Carlos Vinicius from Benfica on loan, for the rest of the season.
The Brazilian has been trusted only in the cup competitions, as Kane continues to combine well with Son Heung-min.
The England captain got injured last night in Tottenham’s 3-1 loss to Liverpool and now they have no option but to look elsewhere for goals.
While Vinicius hasn’t been tested in the Premier League this season, Alan Smith believes that Spurs can turn to him with confidence.
He says that understandably Tottenham has struggled to find a good backup striker for Kane, but Vinicius is a better option to what they have had before now, and they can trust him.
He writes on Standard Sport: “It is far from ideal. In fact, I’d go as far to say it’s downright worrying.
“Losing Harry Kane, as looks likely for this one and probably beyond, is never good news as he brings so much to the team. But if Tottenham fans are looking for crumbs of comfort at a time when optimism is seeping away, they can turn to Carlos Vinicius with a lot more confidence than previous replacements.
“It has been a long-standing issue finding someone good enough to fill in for Kane and who’s willing to spend most of his time on the bench. Roberto Soldado didn’t come up to scratch, neither did Vincent Janssen.
“But in Vinicius, Jose Mourinho seems to have recruited a centre-forward who can come straight into the team and offer a goalscoring threat. That would, at least, soften the blow.”
He’s hardly used him, and his comments are not encouraging.
And he doesn’t rate Bale, so which way we set up is going to be fun !
A Mourinho player has to work hard in both halves of the pitch, or he does not play, well maybe gets ten minutes.
That’s assuming he actually gets picked of course. I would like to see him play
That’s it hate on our player. Tottenham my @rse
He’s working well in training (apparently he shoots from everywhere 🌚 can’t communicate with his team mates properly
“Deeply worrying” lol. I mean, I’m deeply worried about getting covid and dying a painful lonely death, I’m “concerned” about climate change but let’s not get carried away here. Sure, Vinigoal can pelt the onion bag against Marine FC and vanquish the Bulgarians, but he should do ok given a run in the side. Bigger issues are getting Vini some service and keeping the ball out of our own net.
Sadly Brighton are not Marine.
Fearing an avalanche of criticism heading his way on this blog let’s hope for Vini’s sake that he makes a positive impact on Sunday!!
It’s cos Benfica play dross week in week out and win 5’s and 6’s. That’s why Marine were so good for him. Same level.
If I was José I would put a Harry Redknapp style arm around his shoulder, tell him he is an excellent player, boost his confidence and instantly draft him into the attack against Brighton!!
His little side footed volley against Marine. was beautiful, so there is something there.
True.
That’s the conundrum, he was Benfica’s top scorer, so why haven’t we seen more of him. I know you said he’s having language problems maybe he isn’t fully settled yet. We don’t see him in training so I trust Jose’s judgement.
Ndom was the same right? He’s settling in
Can play in defence too. Also attacking mid.
He has only played him in the Cup games against fairly weak competition. One stat Harry Kane has played all but nine minutes of every Premier League game. You would think he would have used Vini in games we were winning comfortably to get him some experience. Don’t get me wrong I like Vini, like his back story and his hard work. If he doesn’t get game time now maybe Jose thinks it’s just a little early for him.
He can play. Give him a chance.
And the relevance is??
Have you seen his benfica work?
Vinicius has looked out of his depth in most matches, except against Marine and some Bulgarians. Smith’s “deeply worrying” comment is what all Spurs fans think. We are sadly lacking in key areas, which was exactly the position Poch was in.
What makes you think José thinks that?
Why does anyone pay attention or even care what these pundits have to say about anything?
Well we have the chance to find out about Vinicius but it looks like Mourinho doesn’t think he can compete at Premier League level. I wish him all the best as he seems like an honest lad.