Alan Smith: I feared for Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham after Super Cup, but he’s shown his true character since

Bouncing back: Abraham has impressed since missing the decisive penalty in the Super Cup shootout
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Alan Smith11 October 2019

Walking away from Besiktas’s Vodafone Park stadium in August, I seriously wondered whether Tammy Abraham was going to crack it as a Premier League striker.

In that Uefa Super Cup Final, the Chelsea substitute had fluffed a very good chance from close range before missing the decisive penalty in the shoot-out to hand Liverpool victory. Abraham looked devastated as his team-mates crowded round to try and console him.

I knew moments like that can shape someone’s career. They can steer you away from your preferred destination.

With Olivier Giroud impressing that night with a well-taken goal, his rival looked destined for a supporting role at best. Abraham might have hit the net plenty of times on loan at Aston Villa in the Championship, but this was different. This was the big time. And I feared that heartache in Istanbul might be hard to recover from.

Thank goodness I was wrong, for Abraham (right, training this week with England) has always appealed to this former centre-forward for the unselfish way he leads the line. Not many cover as much ground as this hard-working character.

On top, his tremendous physique and speed across the turf make him ideal for the top flight. All Abraham required was a bit of self belief, which, in strikers, can only come from scoring goals.

Nine conversions later and here Abraham stands as a genuine alternative to Harry Kane for England, which has never happened since the current England captain became top dog. Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Callum Wilson: none could seriously be described as an authentic rival. Abraham, on the other hand, has the game to go one better.

Obviously, he’s a long way off at the moment, having only just made a mark at Stamford Bridge. Abraham’s a baby compared to Kane — very much a grown-up for club and country.

But if the young Londoner keeps improving at the present rate, his senior counterpart might start glancing over his shoulder, especially if the situation at Spurs continues to deteriorate. Kane’s effectiveness, after all, is bound to tail off if the team as a whole loses its way.

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As things stand, though, Abraham would surely have learned a great deal this week from training with England’s captain. You can study television clips all day, but there’s nothing like standing alongside another player to watch from close quarters how someone operates: how they find space, for instance, in a crowded penalty box; how they gain half a yard to fire in a shot.

Kane is an absolute master at that, partly because he is virtually as strong on his left side as on his favoured right. That’s a nightmare for defenders, who would normally try to usher their opponent on to his weaker flank.

Looking at Abraham’s goals this season, eight of his nine have come from his right foot, the other from his head in the 5-2 romp at Wolves. That might just be coincidence. Alternatively, it might point to an area for improvement by practising every day with his left foot. That’s what Kane does. And just look at the results over the last few years.

I’m not saying Abraham is capable of scaling such heady heights. But at some point tonight against the Czechs — or maybe on Monday in Bulgaria — the lad can show how far he’s come since that anguish in Turkey.

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