Danny Rose: Roberto Soldado no longer frustrated now Emmanuel Adebayor is sharing Tottenham goal burden

 
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 01: Emmanuel Adebayor of Tottenham Hotspur scores the opening goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on January 1, 2014 in Manchester, England.
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
2 January 2014

Danny Rose today claimed Roberto Soldado became “frustrated” by Andre Villas-Boas’s tactics and hailed Emmanuel Adebayor’s impact since returning to Tottenham’s starting line-up.

Villas-Boas was sacked by Spurs on December 16, with the club’s hierarchy unhappy at various aspects of his management approach including his conservative style and preference for a lone striker while marginalising Adebayor.

New head coach Tim Sherwood immediately restored Adebayor to the team in a 4-4-2 system and the Togo forward has looked reinvigorated — yesterday’s opening goal in Spurs’ 2-1 win at Manchester United was his fourth in five matches.

Soldado’s struggles in front of goal continued at Old Trafford but his link-up play enabled Tottenham to counter-attack with incision and Rose believes the strike partnership has proved key to a run of 10 points out of a possible 12 over the Christmas period.

“Obviously no disrespect to Andre but playing one up front has been a bit frustrating and hard for Soldado at times,” said Rose. “It is just nice that he has got a bit of help up there with Adebayor. He didn’t play a game since pre-season until a few weeks ago but his energy levels have been brilliant.

“He has been like a new signing. He has scored three or four goals in his last four games and it is brilliant for us.

“Everyone is buzzing that we have won. We want a good run in the FA Cup as well but everybody is confident, the manager is confident and all the players are confident. We are looking forward to every game now.”

Spurs face north London rivals Arsenal in Saturday’s FA Cup third-round tie at Emirates Stadium, with Adebayor expected to be fit despite being carried off last night.

Adebayor, 29, suffered cramp midway through the second half but he should be available to continue his upsurge in form, having been forced to train with Spurs’ youth team earlier this season following a row with Villas-Boas.

“The first season under Harry Redknapp there were no questions about his attitude,” said Rose.

“Last season, I can’t speak for that because I wasn’t here [Rose was on loan at Sunderland] so I don’t know what happened.

“When I came back in pre-season, his attitude was fine. Obviously there was a bit of a disagreement between him and Andre but it is finished now.

“We are all grateful that he is back in the team. He hasn’t got a point to prove but he is playing as if he has and he looks fresh and is causing teams a lot of trouble.”

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