Vincent Janssen Must Look to Hugo Lloris’ Tottenham Adaption for His Inspiration

The number of international players in Tottenham Hotspur’s first-team squad means colleagues are bound to find themselves as opponents and rivals sooner or later. One such meeting came about in the latest round of World Cup qualifiers when Vincent Janssen’s Netherlands hosted a France team featuring Hugo Lloris and Moussa Sissoko.

The result went against the Dutch with Paul Pogba’s long-range first-half strike proving the difference in a 1-0 win on Monday. The French are now joint top of qualifying Group A with Sweden, while their latest opponents sit three points behind in third place.

Although this result was obviously not what Janssen wanted, the international break still proved a welcome one in the midst of a trying period for him with his new employers. Playing against Lloris is timely in the respect the forward is going through a similar transition to what his club skipper did four years ago.

In a lively display, the striker set up one and capped off the Netherlands’ preceding 4-1 win over Belarus with a driving, powerful solo goal (the initial winning of the ball just inside the visitors’ half will have most pleased his press-minded club manager, Mauricio Pochettino).

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Janssen has scored just once for Spurs so far, converting a penalty in the 5-0 EFL Cup win over Gillingham. This strike (see above) should provide a welcome confidence boost in that regard.

His all-round play against France was in keeping with what the White Hart Lane faithful have already become familiar with.

Janssen’s exploits against Belarus were still fresh in the minds of the home fans when, just shy of the 15-minute mark, he collected the ball 30 yards out and charged at the France defence. The supporters’ anticipation of a similar moment were audible, and even though he was crowded out, it set the tone for a determined display.

Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny needed to be on his toes to shut the persistent Spurs man down. He did just enough to guide him away from goal and concede a corner, then later on in the first half got down to block a shot after Janssen intercepted a pass and worked an opening.

Janssen kept at it in the second half, Netherlands looking most dangerous when they managed to bring him into the game. He did well holding off Raphael Varane but was off-balance as he fired into the side-netting, and just over 10 minutes later he found his cannon of a shot stopped again by Koscielny.

The 22-year-old’s last major contribution as the Netherlands pushed for an equaliser was an alert header that set up Memphis Depay at point-blank range. Getting in his way was Lloris who, despite Janssen’s efforts, had rarely been tested.

40:31 – The blocked attempt of Vincent Janssen in the 41st minute was the first shot of the Dutch in the game v France. Limited.

— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) October 10, 2016

National-team duties complete for the time being, Janssen and Lloris will join Sissoko and their other international team-mates in getting back to the task of driving Tottenham’s season forward.

Janssen has made 10 appearances since making his debut in an impressive substitute cameo in …

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