Football fans across the water are raving about England’s latest great white hope and even at 22, Andros Townsend has had quite the career to date.
The first reaction of many Irish football followers to the name Andros Townsend may well have been to guess that former Irish international turned TV pundit Andy Townsend had changed his name to help facilitate a much-need change in image and reputation.
The Spurs winger has become a household name in his own right this season, however and has been held up in many places as England’s new saviour following his sparkling display against Montenegro on Friday night, a full debut capped with a quite brilliant goal in a comprehensive England victory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kZQqNrrqnA
Townsend wouldn’t be the first to be landed with the hopes of a nation on his shoulders and just like those thrust into the role before him, he didn’t invite the hype and can do little to dampen it either; it comes with the territory when you play for England, as does the criticism that will inevitably and unfortunately come his way at some stage.
Unlike the likes of Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard or Wayne Rooney, however, Townsend’s ascension to this level wasn’t exactly flagged since he was a teenager; his has been a more unconventional and grinding route to the top.
Townsend has been with Spurs since the age of nine but in the last four years he’s had more clubs than Tiger Woods had visits to the metaphorical 19th hole in more notorious times. Since 2009, he’s been on loan at *pauses for breath* Yeovil Town, Leyton Orient, MK Dons, Ipswich, Watford, Millwall, Leeds United, Birmingham City and, last season, QPR under former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, who no doubt will claim credit for Townsend’s success in an updated version of his autobiography that is under the microscope at the moment.
Repeated spells on loan might indicate that Townsend was never likely to make it at Spurs but he’s still only 22 and his willingness to drop down the divisions to further his development speaks of a character that isn’t always evident in youngsters playing for the big clubs.
Besides, it’s not as if competition wasn’t fierce at his parent club. Aaron Lennon and some guy named Gareth Bale were established as Spurs’ first choice wingers for consecutive years, the likes of Niko Kranjcar and Clint Dempsey have been and gone, while Danny Rose, who is currently flourishing under AVB, was also forced to move elsewhere for regular first team football.
Townsend did make sporadic first team appearances for Tottenham in the spells when he wasn’t out on loan, the majority of which came in the Europa League, a competition in which he scored against Shamrock Rovers in late 2011.
Given the raft of new arrivals at Spurs during the summer, one might have expected Townsend to go out on loan once again, but he has started six out of seven Premier League games and done enough to force his way into the reckoning at international level, enjoying a dream debut against Montenegro at the weekend.
He has also managed to put a personal controversy behind him, as during the summer he was handed a four month ban after admitting placing bets on games in which he was not involved, but on games in competitions which he plays in, although there was no suspicion that he might have been involved in match-fixing of any kind.
Watch Townsend for a couple of games and it becomes evident pretty quickly what he’s about. He’s quick, he’s direct and he can’t wait to get a shot away, but Spurs and England fans should be wary of getting too carried away just yet.
As is often unfairly pointed out at left footers (certainly more than right-footers, who bafflingly escape the accusation), he is a tad one-sided (despite scoring a cracker with his right on Friday) and an interesting stat in Football 365 before his debut last week revealed that he has had 26 attempts on goal in the Premier League this season without scoring a single goal, while he has only provided one assist so far.
In his defence, he is only 22 and in his first season as an established starter with a top Premier League club (he started quite regularly for QPR last season) and, over time, will likely even out the rough edges that exist in his game at the moment.
Townsend is certainly a good prospect but as his namesake (well, nearly) Andy might say, he’s a way to go before he can be classed up there with your Messis and your Ronaldos or even less illustrious attackers like your Ashley Youngs or your Aaron Lennons.
But he’s got plenty of time on his side.
