Best crap players and worst good players

[Woodyy]

Re. Wimmer

That run he had was great, we called him "Vertonghen in a fat suit"

Was instrumental in helping Sonny settle in, and I'm sure we owe Wimmer a lot for convincing Son to stay (he wanted to leave at the end of that season, IIRC)

Wow I forgot about that Wimmer-Son bromance! Our media team used to really play on stuff like that, there'd be a Dier-Dele post every day as well at one point.

 

[knowlespurs]

Lots of stories of him enjoying the London lifestyle over having a football career.

Think his main problem was injuries, he had problems and we misdiagnosed them and was never the same player

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Nothing crap about Ekotto, our best left back of the PL era.

I would say prime Rose was our best LB of the PL era - followed by BAE.

 

[jbstarr14]

I loved Niko and wanted him to get more chanses than he got. Had a touch on the ball and vision few has matched since. Maybe i forget someone now but in my view only Eriksen is above him in that aspect.

Modrić says ‘Hi’…

 

[Athenspur]

Worst good player: Rebrov
Best bad player: Sissoko

 

[BringBack_leGin]

I would say prime Rose was our best LB of the PL era - followed by BAE.

Definitely a lot of evidence suggests you are right, I think ultimately it’s a bit subjective. Rose undoubtedly from about halfway through Pochettino’s first season up until his bad injury hajfway through the title changing season v Chelsea, so about two years, was a great left back and seemed set to be our best of this era. But there was a lot of rubbish Freddie and after that spell. Ekotto similarly was up to very little for a whole, but under Redknapp he bloomed, cut out the dopey stuff and was incredible for at least a couple of years, I’d say 3, into AVB showed up.

For me both obviously are worthy of praise and both had flawed spells, so it does down to how much I enjoyed watching Ekotto. Says it all that he’s Cruyff turn an opponent in our box and I’d feel totally calm.

 

[Marty]

Think his main problem was injuries, he had problems and we misdiagnosed them and was never the same player

It was a bit of both with Iversen. He was by his own admission extremely unprofessional when injured and that along with the misdiagnosis really made it difficult for him to return to a decent level every time he had a spell out.

 

[SlotBadger]

It was a bit of both with Iversen. He was by his own admission extremely unprofessional when injured and that along with the misdiagnosis really made it difficult for him to return to a decent level every time he had a spell out.

I used to look forward to the weekly uploads of the matches so I could see how he was getting on for Vålerenga and Rosenborg because he was excellent (being from Norway yourself, I'm preaching to the choir here).

Staying fit, he won the league with both teams, scored every type of goal (and quite a few of them), and became a penalty specialist. I remember one goal; he went past a player with the helicopter/Zidane-roulette about 30-yards from goal and smashed it into the top corner - something which would've probably put him in hospital for us.

Edit: There's next to no footage online (at least not by sites indexed by Google) but RBK uploaded this last year. It's worth watching the full video but, if not, just check out the goal I've timestamped:

 

[Rosco1984]

worst good players there can only be one Tanguy Ndombele outrageous wasted talent so far.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

Worst good players - and it pains me to say it as he put in some great shows for us, I loved having him at the club, but always felt there was sooo much more to his talents was Disco Benny.

He was so confident, he rarely went missing and was one of the reasons Harry had us where we were at the time, but he didn't like football. He never knew who we were playing, he once thought we'd drawn when we lost. Many players have told stories of him turning up for the pre-match meal, everyone cramming pasta and chicken, he strolls in with a coffee and croissant, and that he would basically show up for work like he was doing a shift and when his hours were over he went home - zero passion for the game, but somehow, even not giving a stuff, he was fun to watch and clearly talented.

I wonder how far he could've gone if he'd given a crap.

 

[Trix]

Worst good players - and it pains me to say it as he put in some great shows for us, I loved having him at the club, but always felt there was sooo much more to his talents was Disco Benny.

He was so confident, he rarely went missing and was one of the reasons Harry had us where we were at the time, but he didn't like football. He never knew who we were playing, he once thought we'd drawn when we lost. Many players have told stories of him turning up for the pre-match meal, everyone cramming pasta and chicken, he strolls in with a coffee and croissant, and that he would basically show up for work like he was doing a shift and when his hours were over he went home - zero passion for the game, but somehow, even not giving a stuff, he was fun to watch and clearly talented.

I wonder how far he could've gone if he'd given a crap.

On the flip side of that perhaps his lack of caring was what made him so confident and dependable. I mean if you are only professional to the point of doing the job you're paid to do, and don't care if you make a mistake and won't dwell on it are you then less likely to?

 

[parj]

This always gets attributed to us, and its incorrect. It was Blackburn that he was offered to, to which Kenny Dalglish famously replied "why would I sign Zidane when I have Tim Sherwood?"

Apparently Gerry Francis turned him down too

 

[Pebble Dash]

Jason Dozzell, John Bostock, Ben Thatcher…all signed with great promise and they were all a disaster ?

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Worst good players - and it pains me to say it as he put in some great shows for us, I loved having him at the club, but always felt there was sooo much more to his talents was Disco Benny.

He was so confident, he rarely went missing and was one of the reasons Harry had us where we were at the time, but he didn't like football. He never knew who we were playing, he once thought we'd drawn when we lost. Many players have told stories of him turning up for the pre-match meal, everyone cramming pasta and chicken, he strolls in with a coffee and croissant, and that he would basically show up for work like he was doing a shift and when his hours were over he went home - zero passion for the game, but somehow, even not giving a stuff, he was fun to watch and clearly talented.

I wonder how far he could've gone if he'd given a crap.

I loved BAE, loved Azza too. And Berbs. Even Dawson, and I don’t care that they were flawed, it hurt when each of them left. Hurt in a way that it wouldn’t if Harry left in January. I think I want something different from Spurs than most.

 

[Locotoro]

Lots of stories of him enjoying the London lifestyle over having a football career.

I read recently that he was declared bankrupt after a very messy and expensive divorce. His ex wife really took him to the cleaners and he had to pay for the privilege out of his own pocket.

 

[Marty]

Jason Dozzell, John Bostock, Ben Thatcher…all signed with great promise and they were all a disaster ?

I don't remember associating Ben Thatcher with promise.

 

[Cinemattis]

Worst best player:

Soldado. Obviously a great goalscorer. And put in a shift for us and is loved by many. But the numbers don´t lie - his output was abysmal (especially considering his price tag at the time).

Ndombele. I love this guy. World class talent. But ... well, we all know, don´t we?

 

[Cinemattis]

Lots of stories of him enjoying the London lifestyle over having a football career.

There´s a really good documentary on Steffen Iversen from Norwegian television (NRK, the Norwegian BBC), where he talks very openly about his alcoholism issues.

His father (Odd Iversen) was an even better striker - one of the biggest football icons of all times in Norway, and hands down the best ever striker we (in Norway) ever had. At least before Haaland. He was brutal goal scoring machine. And an even more brutal drinker. Father and son, wonderful talents, "hard men strikers" that could score from anywhere, with both feet and head. But also both too hard on the bottle.

I remember I saw Steffen as a young kid, maybe 12-13 or so during a club tournament in Trondheim. He looked and played like an adult compared to everyone else - a stellar talent! And was already talked about as the "future of Norwegian football". As the son of our (until then) greatest striker, who was nick named "Ivers", Steffen was already tagged as "Little-Ivers". The pressure was enormous, and he came to fortunes at a very young age. That combined with his personality and fondness of partying and the nightlife in London didn´t actually help during his injury ridden career.

 

[michaelden]

Jose Dominguez.

Moussa Sissoko.

I came here looking for Dominguez ?

 

[ernie78]

I don't remember associating Ben Thatcher with promise.

Thuggery - yes, promise - no