Jan Vertonghen hasn’t scored for Tottenham since October 2013.
Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen
Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen has told the club’s official website that team-mates are making fun of him over his goal drought.
Spurs snapped up Vertonghen from Ajax in the summer of 2012, and looked to have grabbed a goalscoring defender after he ended his first season in England with six goals to his name.
However, the Belgian international has scored just once since the end of the 2012-13 season, and that came in a Europa League clash with Sheriff Tiraspol in October 2013.
Vertonghen is now just a matter of weeks away from going three seasons without a goal, and it seems that his team-mates have noticed his goal drought as well.
Speaking after Sunday’s 3-2 win over Everton, Vertonghen told the club’s official website that his Tottenham team-mates have been making fun of him for his lack goals.
Vertonghen added that he was ‘extremely tired’ against Everton as he made a number of marauding runs forward, and was happy with the win despite his wait for a goal extending to another game.
Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld during training
“The lads were making fun of me because I haven’t scored in a while! I was talking to Kyle Walker… I tried today, unfortunately it didn’t happen but my goals will come. I was extremely tired on the pitch because I was going forward too much! I’m tired, but also happy with the win,” he added.
Vertonghen so nearly managed to shut his team-mates up, as he was a constant menace to the Everton defence with his ability to stride out of defence and bomb forward, going close to scoring on a number of occasions, with Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles and various defenders getting in his way.
Mauricio Pochettino’s 3-4-2-1 system allows Vertonghen more freedom to step out from the back, and whilst he’s gone over three years without a goal, he should get more opportunities in this current Tottenham formation.
What did you think of Vertonghen’s performance against Everton?
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