Sherwood: Soldado’s time is now
TOTTENHAM boss Tim Sherwood has challenged misfiring Roberto Soldado to fill the Jermain Defoe-sized hole at White Hart Lane, starting tonight against FC Dnipro.
A hamstring injury leaves Defoe unavailable to help Spurs overturn a 1-0 deficit in their Europa League last-32 second leg, so the England striker will say farewell to supporters at half-time before crossing the Atlantic to join up with new club Toronto.
The 31-year-old is fifth in the club’s all-time scoring charts with 143 goals and Sherwood feels it is now time for Soldado to end his barren run of seven games without a goal and fill the void being left by one of Tottenham’s greatest ever strikers.
“Jermain Defoe is possibly, along with Jimmy Greaves, one of the best goalscorers this club has ever seen,” said Sherwood.
“Let’s hope we can find another one like Jermain Defoe because he is all about goals and he always played with all his heart whenever he put on the shirt.
“Robbie knows his time has come. He is a top player otherwise he would not be at the club.”
Midfielder Sandro is set to return after 14 matches out with a calf problem, but Etienne Capoue, Danny Rose, Kyle Walker, Younes Kaboul, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Erik Lamela and Vlad Chiriches are all sidelined by injury.
Spurs have lost their last two matches and fallen six points behind fourth-placed Liverpool in the Premier League, but Sherwood hopes his team can swiftly revive their form and prove worthy of Champions League qualification.
“It was always going to be tough to get into the top four,” he said. “But, with respect, if you can’t beat Norwich away you don’t deserve to be in the Champions League.”