Tottenham cannot afford to rely on Fernando Llorente as their lone striker

If Harry Kane is forced to miss significant time, Tottenham cannot simply insert Fernando Llorente in his place and hope for the best.

Tottenham don’t have a single player in their squad capable of filling Harry Kane’s void in the starting XI. In particular, Fernando Llorente isn’t capable of being a like-for-like replacement for the English centre forward.

Unfortunately, the odds favour Llorente getting the first opportunity to lead Tottenham’s line if Kane is sidelined for significant time. The club has already made the decision not to sell the Spanish veteran this month. Originally, it looked as if Llorente would return to Bilbao for the last six months of his current contract.

For the record, keeping him is absolutely the right decision. While we don’t think Llorente is the best choice to take Kane’s spot in the starting XI, there is absolutely a role for him to play in his absence. His ability to come on as a substitute and give Tottenham a strong aerial threat is something that should definitely play into Pochettino’s plans.

That just can’t be the club’s plan A for matches without Kane. Becoming that direct would make Tottenham’s attack utterly predictable for the opposition. Lumping the ball ahead to Llorente might get Spurs an odd goal here and there, but it’s not going to help them defeat quality opposition on a regular basis.

Instead of simply inserting Llorente into the starting XI in Kane’s place, Pochettino needs to be much more creative. He need only look at what Chelsea are doing at the moment to understand the way forward. Playing Eden Hazard as a false nine doesn’t always propel the Blues to victory, but it does allow them to press the opposition with a fervor that should be very attractive to Pochettino.

The absence of Heung-Min Son does restrict Pochettino’s options of whom to play in that false nine role, but there is one player on the squad who is really well suited to take it on. Erik Lamela should get an extended opportunity to play the Hazard role for Spurs if Kane isn’t fit. In truth, he might already be the team’s best hold up player. His ability to shield defenders with his back to goal is an underrated part of his game.

Of course, the best part of playing Lamela up top is freeing him to utterly harass the opposition when they have the ball. He thrives when he’s given the freedom to challenge for the ball at every opportunity. He might have to tone that down a bit to keep it up for a full 90 minutes, but Pochettino should be able to reasonably expect an hour of high press from Lamela every match.

In the end, Llorente can be part of the striker solution for Tottenham but he isn’t the player who should be featured the most. Instead, Pochettino should turn to his countryman in his time of need.