Why Dominic Solanke Is The Perfect Signing For Spurs
To fully understand why Dominic Solanke is the perfect signing for Spurs, you need to understand how Ange Postecoglu utilises his strikers tactically in his system.
Taking a look at Richarlison’s heatmap, who mostly played as a striker last season, you can see the Brazilian mainly popped up in two completely different areas: in the box and deep in the midfield.
This is because the main role of the striker in Tottenham’s system, besides scoring goals, is to drop into deep areas and unlock the players around them.
Looking at one of Spurs’s goals earlier in the season, which was also James Maddison’s first goal for the club, you can see just how Ange implements Richarlison a couple of seconds before the goal.
With the Brazilian dropping deep and occupying the Bournemouth defenders, Maddison is allowed the freedom to make a crashing run into the box.
However, another reason Tottenham’s strikers drop deep is to utilise the club’s host of talented wide players.
You can see the Brazilian dropping as deep as into the midfield, with both Brennan Johnson and Pape Sarr making runs ahead of the striker.
This system means that in most situations, there are up to four players ahead of the striker, Including the wingers and attacking midfielders like James Maddison and Pape Sarr.
Simply put, the primary objective of a centre forward in a Tottenham Hotspur system is to unlock the players around them while scoring goals, and this isn’t just through dropping deep.
And Big Ange may even have a secret weapon by switching the position of a very important Tottenham forward!
Another part of Spurs’s game that we’ve talked about numerous times on this channel is just how attacking Spurs truly are; any player could be in the box at any time. With the likes of James Maddison and Destiny Udogie consistently crashing the box, the striker must have the ability to play the ball to them with his back to the goal.
Son, who primarily played as a centre forward last season, picked up the ball in the box with his back to the goal, scanning around him to catch the run of Destiny Udogie, who had inverted from fullback to move into the box. The South Korean then played a perfect ball into the Italian’s pass to open up the play, eventually leading to a Dejan Kulusevski tap-in.
To return to our explanation, you can once again see how the role of a Spurs striker is, obviously to score goals, but also to unlock the potential of their teammates around them, whether it be by dropping deep or with interplay with their teammates in the box.
Why Dominic Solanke Fits This System
Taking a look at Solanke’s heatmap, we can see that he also likes to drop into deeper positions, similar to Richarlison. The Englishman also offers a strong presence in and around the box.
This is where Solanke’s game differs slightly from the likes of Richarlison and Son Heung Min. The English striker isn’t quite as strong in his linkup play compared to Spurs’s centre-forward options, with the Bournemouth man holding some of the worst passing stats in the Premier League, averaging just 10,83 passes completed per 90 minutes last season.
It’s worth mentioning that when dropping deep, Solanke, despite his not-so-impressive passing numbers we showed, can slip his teammates with accurate through balls. The stats back this up, as Solanke ranked first among Premier League strikers for accurate progressive passes and second for accurate passes to the penalty area. This highlights his ability to progress the ball into a dangerous area, leveraging the best out of the players beside him.
Physical Threat
With 11 of his 12 goals coming from open play, and also three other goals from corners, Solanke is a hugely physical threat in the penalty area.
Looking at one of his many goals from earlier in the season against Everton to open the scoring, you can see just how effective and physically disruptive the striker is in the box. With the Everton defenders confused about which one is supposed to pick him up, Solanke manages to split the defensive line with clever movement, which leaves him free to fire home a powerful header past Jordan Pickford.
Solanke uses his physicality in many instances, but it’s also the English striker’s ability to always position himself in front of defenders that makes him so disruptive in these situations. His movement and positioning are some of his best attributes.
With his physicality and positioning, Solanke will draw players onto him instinctively, unlocking space for the likes of Maddison, Kulusevski, Son, and Udogie to make runs into the box unchecked.
And, while, as we mentioned, he might not exactly fit the traditional Spurs linkup play based on his low passing numbers, we talked a little earlier about how a striker in the Angeball system needs to be able to play with their backs to the goal, like the Udogie and Son linkup we saw earlier.
Taking a look at one of Solanke’s goals this past season, the player has some tricks up his sleeve with his back-to-goal that could well be translated into linkup play with his teammates.
Dominic Solanke is more than just a one-trick pony who dominates up front because of his height and physicality. He’s fantastic with his back to the goal and has an almost unnatural ability for it. Despite his large physical build, the English centre-forward is also an outstanding dribbler. The 26-year-old is actually one of the best dribblers in the league when it comes to attackers. He can simply turn defenders inside out. In fact, he was the fourth-most Premier League striker for dribbles with 127.
Is Dominic Solanke A One Season-Wonder?
Is Dominic Solanke a one-season wonder? After all, he’s been in and around different Premier League clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool where he failed to have an impact. Looking at some of his past seasons, however, it’s evident this actually isn’t the case.
In the season before last, Solanke’s statistics may not have seemed that impressive for a relatively poor Bournemouth side, with only six goals scored. However, his stats actually indicate something positive about that season.
We talked earlier about how, with his slightly lacklustre passing ability, he may not be able to link up with his teammates like we saw Richarlison and Son do last season. But Solanke had 7 assists that season on top of his six goals, which means that his passing statistics were actually skewed by the role he played in Bournemouth’s tactical system rather than his own ability.
And going back even further, Solanke had a phenomenal season in the Championship 2 years ago, with 29 goals and 7 assists. 36 goal involvements in the Championship is nothing to laugh at, especially considering those are superior numbers to players like Gyokeres, who also played in the Championship that season and had 12 fewer goals.
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