View: Manor Solomon in masterclass v Burnley as Tottenham find new creative spark to complement attack
Manor Solomon’s full Premier League debut for Tottenham was one to remember as the summer signing shone in the 5-2 win at Burnley on Saturday.
Solomon, 24, joined Spurs on a free transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk in July after impressing while on loan at Fulham last season.
The Israel international had to wait for his chance to star in Ange Postecoglou’s attack, coming off the bench for just two minutes in one of the three league games prior to the trip to Turf Moor on 2 September.
It didn’t help that he started in the penalty shoot-out defeat against his former club Fulham in the Carabao Cup in the week as an 82-minute-long appearance yielded next to nothing in terms of going forward.
However, Postecoglou kept his faith in Solomon against Burnley and the Aussie boss was handsomely rewarded.
Solomon assisted the first two goals in Son Heung-min’s hat-trick.
His first assist came in the 16th minute to level the score when a rapid Spurs attack caught Burnley’s defence flat-footed, with Solomon and Son going two-v-two against the Clarets.
Solomon quickly spots the opportunity when Son collects the ball and with the South Korean battling against both of Burnley’s remaining two defenders, the Israeli halts his run and signals for the ball to be played in front of him.
Solomon’s lucky that Son is one of the best forwards in the Premier League and possesses the ability to slow the ball’s movement and find him with a pass while the momentum of Burnley’s defenders sees them create space.
Burnley’s defence is then dragged across by Solomon’s positioning, allowing Son the space that he initially allowed his new Tottenham teammate.
Solomon then threads a through-ball into Son, who finds the back of the back of the net with a beautiful little chip over James Trafford.
According to stats by WhoScored, Solomon supplied a brilliant five key passes before he was substituted off by Postecoglou in the 68th minute.
No player for Spurs has more key passes per 90 minutes than Solomon this season [6.4].
WhoScored also shows that he completed three of the five dribbles he attempted at Turf Moor. His 60 per cent success with the ball at his feet wasn’t beaten by any other attacker in the game.
Solomon’s technical abilities were on show later in the second half when he received the ball out wide despite Micky van de Ven playing a relatively poor pass to him.
It looks as though Solomon is going to be beaten to the ball but he manages to use his quick feet to keep possession, beat the defender and give himself heaps of space to run into.
Solomon is a right-footed winger who plays on the left wing so instead of directly running down the wing into the space, the former Fulham loanee cuts inside to ensure he has opportunities to play the ball on his stronger foot.
Burnley’s Joey Gudmundsson made a poor attempt at stopping Solomon’s run with the Spurs attacker checking back on himself and making the Iceland international’s momentum carry him well out of the Israeli’s way.
Solomon then has acres of space in front of himself and continues to run diagonally across the pitch. He then finds Pape Matar Sarr with a pass outside of the area but he cannot find the target.
It was a dazzling performance by Solomon, who also contributed to Spurs’ cause by having two shots at goal, completing 91 per cent of his passes, winning two tackles and making one interception.
It would have been great to see the summer signing get more minutes on the pitch but it looks as though Postecoglou has found a real gem who can complement Spurs’ other attackers – such as Son – brilliantly.
Tottenham are going to need that this season after Harry Kane left in the summer.
No other club in the Premier League has lost a player so important to them so there was always going to be a transitional period after the England captain left North London for Bayern Munich.
Richarlison isn’t cutting the mustard up top but Son’s hat-trick against a half-decent Burnley side suggests that he may have rediscovered his mojo and a starring role as a number nine, with Solomon, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski in support, could see the North Londoners seal a return to Europe and, maybe, finally win some silverware.
In other Tottenham news, there are two academy prospects who could soon be banging on Postecoglou’s door.