There are few players that show up on the scene who grab your attention with their outstanding athleticism. Football is made for athletes, so at the top level, it is often hard to distinguish what is the norm and what truly stands out.

Yet there are obvious outliers at multiple levels of the game. They are top athletes who can outrace anybody else on the field, finding an inhuman gear mid-stride that puts other cream-of-the-crop players in the dust and to shame. They can swing either foot at the ball and really hit it, sending it floating/crashing through the air without spin towards the net. Your guess is as good as the keeper's on where it ends up. They can shed a defender like a wet hoodie. Soaked, heavy, the defender falls to all fours sullenly and watches them pace forward, unexpecting someone with that much pace to possess that kind of low-to-the-ground power. The defender never stood a chance, and he's just now realizing it.

These players can show a clean pair of heels to professionals paid millions of dollars to prevent them from nearing goal. They have a primary objective, and they make it easy for everyone to decipher. They are direct, and they want a goal. On the good, lilywhite side of North London, there is one such player: Andros Townsend. And despite being a frustrating presence at times (alright, quite often (alright, almost all the time)), he deserves as much patience as you can possibly muster for a footballer.

Tottenham Hotspur kicked off at White Hart Lane in a League Cup match against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, coming off an insipid home performance against West Brom, where they managed a whopping one (weak) shot on target. There was no tempo that day. There was no movement. Each and every player remained in his prescribed position, received the ball, took two ponderous touches, and passed it to a player in an equally non-dangerous position. West Brom invited Spurs to do it all day, and they got their reward on a corner. It has been a common theme throughout the past few years, this Spurs style of play. Everyone is crippled and hesitant. No one is confident. And until our deluxe players have adapted to each other, learned to ping the ball in and around the box and thread through-balls onto onrushing strikers instinctively making the right runs at the right time, it's a good thing that Andros Townsend's clear, principal goal reflects the objective of football. He wants the ball in the net, and his efforts often give us a better chance of scoring than whatever pish a melding-together group of attackers too afraid or too unfamiliar with each other to try something does.

At first glance, Townsend's constant shots from long distance are frustrating. It seems that Spurs are building a decent attack (they have multiple attackers in the attacking half at least), there has been a few build-up passes, and the opposing defense is tracking back. Townsend gets the ball on the right, pushes it towards the middle, slows up, and pushes off again to get a yard on his left foot, and he has a shot. While more often than not it's firm and swerving, the shot has largely missed the target. (Or like yesterday, crashed off the crossbar on a free kick.) Seemingly, a good opportunity has been passed up. However, is it more damaging than the alternative; to give the ball to Paulinho, who is likely to pass it back to Bentaleb, who is likely to cycle it to Lennon, who is likely to misplace a pass closer to Spurs' goal than a goal kick would be? "BUT HE KILLS ATTACKS!!!!11" You know what else kills attacks? Every other kind of turnover. You know who else kills attacks? Every Spurs player, especially when they are playing like they did against West Brom or like they started against Forest. Yet there is something extra grating about a Townsend shot. It receives genuine vitriol from fans, as if it's somehow the worst way to lose possession. Really, the lack of penetration and subsequent give-aways that Spurs commit are far more potentially damaging than a Townsend Row Z Special. The opponent gains the ball, at feet usually, facing the goal they're attacking, and Spurs' forwards are already passed. I would much rather take my chances winning back the second ball off a goal kick than trying to re-tackle possession on the floor in the midfield when the interceptor is already past four players.

It's also important that he's shown the willingness to put in the work, to be the Europa player, to fight for his place, to be a willing loanee. He made appearances for nine other clubs before getting where he is now, yet he was always Spurs. He joined the club at eight years old and has extended his contract at the first opportunity. He is a willing defender and seemingly a great teammate.

But if you just can not see his value, his potential (it's still there if you look closely enough), and his genuine desire to be a Spurs legend, then at least try to laugh a little. Christ. You'd think he was gleefully stabbing the fans' collective nan the way we react to him trying to, you know, score a goal. Deep breaths. Stay with him. This is a guy who has now assisted while trying to score after he scored while trying to assist about a year ago. Andros Townsend is god damn entertaining, and I prefer my team to have the entertainers. If he's not flying down the wing to send in a cross, he's rocketing over a glorious attempt from outside the box (the game is about glory, right?). If he's not dwelling on the ball to find an opportunity to embarrass someone, he's jinking into the box to be taken down for a penalty. If he's not slapping the shit out of Roberto Soldado and accepting his challenge to box at training, he's plopping down a cheeky tenner on Derby away and letting you know about it on Twitter. The banter is strong in this one. And if he's not the type of player that all Spurs fans should get behind, urge on, and drum up additional patience for, then I really don't know who is.