Lethal Andros

Finally after a two week break it’s time to get back to the meat and potatoes of football, the Premier League. It’s not to say that this past week  or so hasn’t been interesting, England’s qualification for the World Cup, down in no small part to Andros Townsend’s exuberance and sheer belief in his ability was a joy to behold.  In two games, he showed more composure and bravery than England’s regular right-winger, who was full of fake smiles and praise in the ITV studio.

Townsend is a young man who has grown up. As the minutes ticked past, the opposition tackles flew in and he charged goal-wards once more, he grew. The boy has became a man, this is good  for England, but primarily fantastic for Spurs.

Left foot, right foot, tracking back, crossing on the run, drifting in, holding the width, here was a player tactically in tune with what was happening around him. At international football a player is supposed to take their time to acclimatise, but Townsend slotted straight in. As far as debuts go, it was special.

The stand-out moment for me though  in his two appearances, wasn’t the goal or that incredible strike that had Chesney flapping and the crossbar rattling, but something more subtle, more mature. Captain Steven Gerard was shouting and pointing at Townsend to go wide, the young man unperturbed pointed to the space he was giving Chris Smalling, dipped inside, collected the ball and started another promising attack.

[linequote]At international football a player is supposed to take their time to acclimatise, but Townsend slotted straight in. As far as debuts go, it was special[/linequote]

England were playing a flexible attack and at the heart of it was Townsend. The way he played wasn’t very dissimilar to the type of performance put in by an £85 million player last year.

Of course its far to early to even consider putting Townsend in the same bracket as Real’s number 11, but the trajectory is remarkably similar. A player on the periphery, all of a sudden thanks to injury, has a route into the Spurs XI open up for him, then due to power and pace he announces himself.

In truth though, for Spurs Townsend has yet to announce himself. Up to last Friday morning many amongst us wouldn’t have predicted how he would go from stand-in to stand-out. Townsend is the player filling in whilst Erik Lamela adjusts and Aaron Lennon recovers. He is the player who tries hard, but shoots too much, dribbles too much and doesn’t as people like to say “really contribute.”

These preconceptions however may have clouded our opinions. There are many who have trumpeted Townsend for years, I hand on heart, wasn’t one of these few. A Spanish Spurs supporting friend of mine, claimed years ago we should be playing him regularly, but surely that was nothing more than blind hope. The same hope that once upon a time made us think, Danny Hill was better than David Beckham, Rory Allen the new Alan Shearer and Jake Livermore Enfield’s answer to Andres Iniesta.

The truth is Townsend hasn’t done anything of note to make us believe that he is the second coming. Do not take me as ungrateful, I am delighted that we have a home-grown player the toast of the nation, but I am concerned.

[linequote]Up to last Friday morning many amongst us wouldn’t have predicted how he would go from stand-in to stand-out.[/linequote]

The Townsend of Friday and Tuesday night is one foreign to me, one I haven’t seen before. I am not commenting as someone who has only caught brief glimpses of the youngster, but as someone who has seen him live on many occasions.

Yes he has always had pace and a decent shot, but a game changer? Never.

A player to lead England to a World Cup? Never.

The first name on the Spurs team sheet? You got to be dreaming.

Yet as Sunday’s game approaches, to start without Townsend is now unthinkable. To drop the England winger for a £30 million Argentine international? No chance.

How has this metamorphosis happened, and why has it taken a game away from the Lane to make this happen? Within the England set-up are there individuals who know how to harness his raw ability? Heaven forbid, does Roy Hodgson have a better grasp of tactics than AVB? Or were Montenegro and Poland that poor?

It has been very hard to comment on Townsend’s performances over the last few weeks. Tottenham as a team have stuttered, the goals have been missing and a vibrancy lacking. Yet thinking back to the Chelsea game and the nightmare with West Ham, Townsend’s personal performances were good.

Against the Blues he gave Ashley Cole the run around, whilst against the Hammers he was the only player seemingly capable of threatening their defence. Yet still the fact he has had 9 loans and only 3 caps for England Under 21’s baffles me.

In fact Townsend has never managed to get into double figures for any England youth team.  Compare his caps at youth level to his teammates at Spurs. Harry Kane, Tom Carroll and Danny Rose, all are far more experienced than him, yet Townsend is now the talk of the country. Rumours are abound that he had an attitude problems in his younger days, however, after listening to his dad Troy on The Fighting Cock Podcast I find this hard to believe, but who knows.

Perhaps Townsend was always just one performance away from exploding, from stepping up and introducing himself. The England cap, just as the Welshman’s cameo in a 5-0 rout against Burnley, may one day be regarded as the turning point in his career.

[linequote]Rumours are abound that he had an attitude problems in his younger days, however, after listening to his dad Troy on The Fighting Cock Podcast I find this hard to believe, but who knows.[/linequote]

Just as a Welshman was once an albatross, a bad luck charm, perhaps Townsend was once an idiot, unwilling to listen or respect those whose opinions within the game counted. Whatever was his problem off the pitch it seems to have disappeared and he is now performing, for England.

As he said himself in a composed post-game interview, all that is left for him is to transfer the international form to the domestic competition and Sunday would be the perfect time to start.

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