Pochettino on Janssen: The goals will come

Daniel Storey

Tottenham striker Vincent Janssen insists his confidence has not wavered despite failing to so far replicate the form he showed in Holland.

The 22-year-old was recruited from AZ over the summer having finished as the top scorer in the Eredivisie last term, and it was thought he would offer serious competition to Spurs’ talisman Harry Kane.

Yet, even with Kane currently out injured, Janssen is still to find his feet in north London and a penalty in the EFL Cup defeat to Liverpool on Tuesday night was only his second Tottenham goal, with the other also coming from 12 yards earlier in the competition.

Janssen had been desperate to add to his tally at Anfield as soon as the second-half spot-kick was awarded, though he denied doubt had started to creep in as a result of his slow start in England.

“As a striker you always want to score and when I saw the referee gave a penalty I took the ball and put it in,” he told Spurs TV.

“For me it doesn’t matter where I take the penalty. It’s just a penalty and you have to score it, I have enough confidence, it doesn’t matter to me where it was or how long I haven’t scored for. It was just a penalty, I wanted to score it and that’s what I did.”

English clubs have experienced mixed results in the past when signing the Dutch league’s leading marksmen.

Chelsea’s Mateja Kezman and Middlesbrough’s Afonso Alves were flops and Manchester United’s Memphis Depay is seemingly destined for that category, though Ruud van Nistelrooy, Luis Suarez and Wilfried Bony were all able to translate their success.

In Janssen’s case, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has warned it is too early to judge which bracket he belongs in.

“We are very happy with him,” he added. “We need to understand he’s 22 years old and coming from the Netherlands. It’s a different league. We always need to give time.

“One thing is clear, he’s a player that works a lot, is always involved and shows commitment in every game and every training session. That could only pay off to score goals in the future.”