Tim Sherwood told Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports (12/12/20 at 1:50 pm) that the ‘explosive’ Wilfried Zaha could do the business at Tottenham if he’s willing to work hard.
Tottenham came up against the Crystal Palace forward on Sunday afternoon when his side recorded a 1-1 against their London rivals.
Zaha struggled to make an impact on the day himself, but that doesn’t take away from the qualities the specialist dribbler has at his feet.
Sherwood was asked whether Zaha would suit Tottenham and whether he would have the work rate to match Jose Mourinho’s demanding style.
“It’s about willingness, I think he could,” said Sherwood. “He works his socks off but he always stays at a point [for Palace]. I think Bergwijn comes all the way back where he is almost playing at right-back. That’s why Gareth’s not playing.
“I think he [Zaha] has got it. He has got it to be able to do it, Wilf. He needs to be in a half and half space perhaps on the other side where Son is. Where they get it and they can just roll it to him.
“Then he just takes you up the field. I mean he is explosive with his dribbling and he has got an eye for a goal. In recent weeks, we have seen how Palace have struggled without him. He has got real quality and, for me, it suits him and that’s another good manager. You are talking about Roy Hodgson there who is playing to the strengths of what he has got.”
Given the fact that defensive duties are on Zaha’s job list at Palace under Roy Hodgson then it wouldn’t be much a surprise to him if that was asked of him in North London.
The only issue here is that Spurs have a certain Gareth Bale struggling to earn minutes in the Premier League, so a player like Zaha isn’t needed.
Compared with Steven Bergwijn, the Palace man is the better player, whilst he is a better long-term option than Bale.
Someone like Heung-Min hits opposition teams on the break in a similar fashion to Zaha only without the tricks, is thriving under a Mourinho system, so there’s no reason why the one-time Manchester United man would be any different.
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