Tottenham striker Roberto Soldado has the worst minutes-per-goal ratio in the Premier League – and has missed 10 big chances this term.
The £26million Spaniard, who moved to Tottenham from Valencia last summer, has scored just five league goals since moving to White Hart Lane, despite making 22 appearances and playing more than 1600 minutes.
But Soldado’s woes do not end with his scarce amount of goals, as several key stats in other areas prove.
| Striker | Big Chance Missed | Goals | Shots per Goal | Mins per Goal | Mins Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roberto Soldado | 10 | 5 | 10.00 | 325.20 | 1,626 |
| Demba Ba | 4 | 1 | 16.00 | 320.00 | 320 |
| Fernando Torres | 3 | 4 | 9.25 | 278.75 | 1,115 |
| Stevan Jovetic | 0 | 1 | 13.00 | 239.00 | 239 |
| Olivier Giroud | 15 | 12 | 6.92 | 187.00 | 2,244 |
| Samuel Eto’o | 5 | 6 | 7.83 | 183.50 | 1,101 |
| Álvaro Negredo | 11 | 9 | 6.78 | 168.33 | 1,515 |
| Edin Dzeko | 7 | 7 | 9.57 | 165.86 | 1,161 |
| Lukas Podolski | 1 | 3 | 5.00 | 149.67 | 449 |
| Emmanuel Adebayor | 6 | 8 | 3.13 | 124.75 | 998 |
| Daniel Sturridge | 9 | 18 | 3.78 | 87.83 | 1,581 |
| Luis Suarez | 10 | 24 | 5.29 | 86.00 | 2,064 |
| Sergio Agüero | 9 | 15 | 4.67 | 79.93 | 1,199 |
As Opta data shows, the 28-year-old has had little luck in front of goal during his debut campaign in English football, missing 10 big chances and averaging 10 shots per goal – an unimpressive showing compared with his main rivals.
Those statistics mean the Spaniard is worth just over £5million per league goal at the moment, paling in comparison with several forwards that were bought for considerably smaller transfer fees.
Meanwhile, Tottenham teammate Emmanuel Adebayor has already scored three more times in over 600 minutes less of football, while averaging just over three shots and 124 minutes per goal. And that is not to mention the likes of Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Sergio Aguero.
Is there any hope for Soldado going forward? Spurs boss Tim Sherwood remains hopeful.
“With Robbie and some of the other foreign players, you’ve got a settling-in period and some settle quicker than others,” he told reporters last week.
“If you asked Robbie himself, he is still in that settling in period but it can change very, very quickly and we’re hoping it changes as soon as possible for him.”
‘As soon as possible’ can’t come soon enough, though, if Tottenham hope to snatch Europa League glory or, just perhaps, a top-four finish.
Should Spurs regret splashing £26million on Soldado?
image: © Jon Candy
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