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Nico Claesen signed for Spurs from Standard Liege in October 1986 for
£600,000, his three goals for the Belgium team that finished fourth in
that summer's World Cup alerting manager David Pleat to this pacy,
diminutive striker. He went straight into the team for a rare away win
at Liverpool, impressing immediately with his endeavour and speed off
the mark. He continued to be a regular starter, warmed up by scoring in a
friendly against Hamburg Nico then notched his first league goal in a
2-1 away defeat to Norwich in the second week of November, a cool finish
to a fine move involving Hoddle and Paul Allen.
He next scored when he
came off the bench in another away defeat, this time at Coventry in late
December. This heralded a profitable January with a run of four goals
in five league and cup games. Running onto a through ball and a clean,
crisp finish became his trademark, as demonstrated by identical goals
against Charlton and Villa. Hoddle supplied both passes, so there was
potentially a ready-made supply of chances. Short in stature, his
muscular frame and low centre of gravity made him surprisingly difficult
to knock off the ball, whilst his acceleration and leg speed gained him
further advantages over many defenders.
His busy, industrious approach
signalled a readiness to contribute to team play, all apparently ideal
attributes for the English game. However, the writing was already on the
wall for the willing Belgian. The signing of Steve Hodge lead to Pleat
preferring a fluid five man midfield, with Chris Waddle shifting from
orthodox winger to a roaming forward and Clive Allen as the sole
striker. It worked. Spurs moved up the table, eventually coming in
third, and reached the League Cup semi-final and the FA Cup final, while
Allen's unstoppable goalscoring meant his rival Claesen had to
increasingly settle for sporadic appearances, predominantly in a
withdrawn role. This wasn't his game: passing and tackling were not his
strengths, whilst his goalscorer¹s instincts were of little use without a
partner up front to feed off.
The abiding images in this period are of
Nico drifting in the no man's land between the middle and the opponent's
box or being overwhelmed in the area, increasingly forlorn,
disheartened and aimless. He finished the season with 8 goals from 26
games. Claesen's prospects looked brighter at the beginning of the next
campaign, playing in 16 of the first 20 games. He scored the only goal
against Chelsea in late August, followed by two more against Oxford, a
total of 9 league and cup goals by mid-October.
Then Pleat left under a
cloud and as Spurs slipped down the table, Nico scored only once more in
two and half months. After Christmas he appeared intermittently,
scoring just twice, against Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich. His career
at the club, like Spurs' season, petered out. His new manager Terry
Venables felt he could dispense with an international striker who
recorded almost a goal every other start that season, and he returned to
his native country in August 1988, signing for Antwerp for £550,000.
Claesen was a talented striker whose relative lack of success was caused
primarily not so much by his own failings but the success of others in a
formation that did not suit his style. Wrong place, wrong time. (Alan Fisher)
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