Were Newcastle Wrong In Selling This 25-Year-Old Winger?

Andros Townsend is a player that has never found a club in which to settle. He was sent out on loan to numerous clubs during his development, he failed at Tottenham and got cold feet when Newcastle were relegated. But he has always looked dangerous for England, and a lot of people in the game really rates him as an exciting talent. Townsend was once called the English Arjen Robben by former Tottenham Manager Harry Redknapp.

“If you look at Arjen Robben, Andros Townsend is the closest thing we have produced to him,” said Redknapp. I’m not saying he is Robben yet, he is not, but he is very similar. He plays on the right, dribbles well, runs at people, gets shots at goal. He is a very focused and determined lad who wants to do well. I took him on loan last year and that was probably the making of him. He showed everybody what he could do, playing Premier League football on a regular basis.”

However, the winger has never been able to live up to that kind of praise and Tottenham sold him to Newcastle United last January in a move for a reported £12million. And although Newcastle were relegated, Townsend showed some of the best form of his career for the north east club, scoring 4 goals in 12 appearances.

However, after relegation, Townsend decided that his future lay elsewhere, and pushed for a move to Crystal Palace joining them for £13million. However, his form since joining Palace has been poor, leading to him moving to the substitutes bench in their recent defeat against Liverpool.

The problem with Townsend is that whilst he is capable of beating a man, and has lots of pace, his end product is very poor. Especially when he plays in his favoured position, i.e., on the right-hand side of midfield and has to rely on cutting in on his left foot. Not only does that make him predictable, but that role is most commonly favoured by players who have a good scoring ability. And that is one area where Townsend is really lacking with most of his shots flying high or wide.

Newcastle have moved on as well, with Matt Ritchie signing for a similar fee from Bournemouth. The tricky winger has one thing in his locker that Townsend is missing – the ability to score and assist. This was most notable during Bournemouth’s Championship winning campaign where he scored 15 league goals and assisted many more and was voted the best player in the league.

This swap for Newcastle has probably worked out in their favour very well. Considering it was Townsend who pushed for a move, and now he is sitting on the Crystal Palace bench, so, you have to say that Townsend needed Newcastle, more than Newcastle needed Townsend.