When we signed Lewis Holtby we knew that we were getting a creative passer, but since arriving he has also shown that he also has an eye for a shot in a Spurs shirt.
Whilst being more of an assist man, he has scored for previous clubs, netting 8 times for Aachen in the second tier of the Bundesliga in the 2008-09 season. He also scored 6 times in the league’s top tier for Schalke in their last Bundesliga campaign. In between those relatively successful years there has been a tail off, with just 8 league goals in his three other terms at Germany’s highest level.
Gareth Bale has scored our last four goals, spanning three Premier League games and is getting plenty of media attention and rightly so. But whilst the Welshman is looking almost unplayable at times, it also raises concerns over who else is going to help contribute in the goals for column.
Over the last two matches, Lewis Holtby has shown that he does have an eye for goal, as he has shown previously in the Bundesliga.
Lewis Holtby vs West Brom
Lewis Holtby came in to the match with West Brom after injury to Jermain Defoe.
He was busy covering tremendous amounts of ground to keep the play going, coming deep to receive possession against the Baggies’ ten men. However, once across halfway, he was drifting out to both the left and right flanks to get involved with moving the ball through Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon.
As a result, once we got up around the penalty area, he was looking to get in down the lanes between the West Brom central defenders and full backs. He was able to get two shots away, both from the inside left channel and was unlucky not to score from an acute angle, with his shot being smothered by goalkeeper Ben Foster.
Lewis Holtby vs Newcastle
A week later from the impressive display against West Brom, Lewis Holtby showed some more signs that he has an eye for goal against Newcastle.
He didn’t have to come as deep to receive possession with the Geordies dropping off, but he did drift out to the flanks once again in the opposition half.
This allowed him to get in down the channels once more, mainly from the right this time, as Aaron Lennon cutback two balls to create shooting chances for him. Lewis Holtby put both over the bar, but both were the result of good movement inside the area from the right-hand corner of the box.
Further examples followed, as he showed he had an eye for goal when taking a knockdown from Clint Dempsey that he fired wide, whilst also having another shot blocked.
All four chances came from arriving late in the box whilst the play was developing and Lewis Holtby had drifted off his marker.
Lewis Holtby set to score some goals?
Lewis Holtby hasn’t been a renowned scorer of goals during his time in Germany, with his reputation built on being a passer and that is why we signed him.
In the article “What Lewis Holtby will bring to Spurs” I talked about him having an eye for goal, as he looks to burst in to the area to receive a pass. In his last two games for Spurs, he has shown that alongside his energetic work-rate and vertical passing looking to create goals, that he also has an eye for shooting.
He spoke this week after the victory over Newcastle, denying Gareth Bale makes Tottenham a one-man team.
“It’s not only Gareth. You have to give the credit to the others. It’s a great team. Of course he scores goals. He is perfect for us but every player in the team works hard for the club.”
From his recent performances, Lewis Holtby may just be ready to offer the Welshman some support in the goal-scoring column.
