Keown blasts ‘anonymous’ Tottenham star after what Jim White said live on radio
Martin Keown was less than impressed with Tottenham despite their fightback in the 2-2 draw against Bournemouth on Sunday.
Ange Postecoglou‘s side sit 13th in the Premier League with no chance of qualifying for Europe next season unless they win the Europa League.
As a result, the atmosphere at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 9 March was one of discontent and that may have rubbed off on the players despite the spirited comeback.
Dominic Solanke slammed after Tottenham draw
The former Arsenal star did not hold back with his criticism of Dominic Solanke following the comeback against the Cherries.
Speaking on talkSPORT (10 March, 11:58 am), Jim White had defended Daniel Levy for the decision to bring the striker in amid protests about his ownership, saying: “Well, was it not a sign of ambition to spend that amount of money, that kind of money to bring in a top striker?”
Keown had earlier criticised Solanke for his perfomance, saying: “I saw a lot of players, there has been a lot of talk about injuries, they can point to that but a lot of these guys were back in the team.
“Solanke was really anonymous for long periods.”
Tottenham need Solanke to step up
The former Bournemouth ace has notched seven goals and three assists in 19 league matches since his move to North London last summer despite being earmarked as Harry Kane’s successor and the solution to the Lilywhites’ scoring issues.
The England star missed no matches for the Cherries last season but has already missed 13 games for Spurs in all competitions in a disappointing first season.
| Solanke stats | Goals | Assists |
| Premier League | 7 | 3 |
| Europa League | 2 | 2 |
| FA Cup | 0 | 0 |
| Carabao Cup | 2 | 1 |
Postecoglou needs him to step up and sort his injury issues in the latter stages of the season as his side attempt to secure Europa League glory and to finish in a more respectable league position than their current one.
If he is absent at any point in the run-in, their chances of winning the tournament and therefore qualifying for Europe’s premier competition will decrease tremendously, as was shown in the 1-0 loss to AZ when Solanke featured for just 17 minutes and went off injured.
The likes of Son Heung-Min, Richarlison, Brennan Johnson and Mathys Tel has shown nothing so far to suggest that they can fill the goalscoring void when Solanke is absent.
Dejan Kulusevski is another difference-maker for the North London but he missed out on the clash in the Netherlands and is expected to miss the return leg.
Spurs need their number nine to be fit and firing in the return leg on Thursday (13 March) otherwise they will be eliminated and Postecoglou could find his job on the line.