Paul Scholes and Jamie Carragher fear that the pressure of playing for a club of Tottenham’s stature could start telling on Dominic Solanke if he does not get his first goal for the club soon.
Solanke was certainly lively in his Spurs debut against Leicester City, showcasing excellent movement and getting into some fantastic positions.
However, a goal eluded the 26-year-old, who would have been disappointed with some of the chances he passed up against the Foxes.
The Englishman would have been hoping to put things right and get off the mark in his home debut on Saturday, with Spurs welcoming an injury-hit Everton side to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Solanke picked up an ankle injury that kept him out of the match.
Scholes believes that the pressure of playing for a club with top-four ambitions might prove too much for Solanke.
The pundit told The Overlap: “He has got to get going soon – the longer that goes on, it will be a problem. You said at the very start he was a proven striker. He has been for one season. He has to do it again at a club that is the next level. I worry about him finishing-wise.”
Carragher expressed a similar concern, suggesting that Solanke’s body language does not exude the type of confidence one sees in the likes of Ivan Toney.
The former Liverpool star said: “I do a little bit [worry about Solanke]. I want him to do well but sometimes I look at certain players, and I might be wrong, but he looks shy a little bit when he plays.
“I made the comparison with when you watch Toney play, he is just strutting around, owning the pitch. He has that football arrogance. I hope we are not talking in five or six games’ time and the press and the media are going about asking ‘Has he scored his first goal yet?'”
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Carragher’s concern is a fair one, especially given that this is Solanke’s first experience of a huge price tag.
The microscope will be on him and the pressure will start to build if he goes a couple of games without scoring.
Hopefully, the 26-year-old can find the back of the net once he’s back from injury and kick on from there.
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