FromTheLane
New Member
- Jul 3, 2008
- 214
- 0
Hello all
My first post on here so go easy!
I know this has been discussed a lot ,but I would just like to offer my thoughts and analysis of the Bentley/Lennon saga that has dominated much of the talk regarding transfers this summer.I have tried to be balanced and offer both sides of the argument so as to summarise the issues before my conclusion,but also offer an objective and comprehensive discussion of a complicated situation.
I hope all of you are enjoying the summer of stupidity as much as I am;my calculations tell me that we will be buying 13 goalkeepers,12 defenders,18 midfielders and no less than 21 strikers by August 31st,if the papers are to be believed-should be some squad,not to mention the wage bill!
Anyhow,I wanted to address the much speculated,much discussed,but as of yet unresolved Lennon/Bentley saga,a dilemma which centres around who is the correct occupant of our right midfield slot for next seasonne which leaves me fundamentally caught in two minds as to the solution and correct course of action;
On the one hand,I believe we are focussing on the wrong area, as Lennon is patently not the 'problem' with our team. Furthermore,he has so many positive qualities that,particularly given his age, it could be a major error to write him off,and it cannot be forgotten the many many things he has done for the team over the last 3 seasons.It goes without saying that he has almost unique pace,great control and at times fantastic dribbling ability,tremendous benefits that are both difficult to teach but also seemingly in accordance with the brand of football Ramos seems to wish to deploy,both given the way he has set teams up in the past and also with the football our team has played since coming here.Lennon is an out and out winger in the Ramos 4 4 2 mould,while there is also and argument that crossing is increasingly irrelevant in the modern game,particularly given that fewer and fewer teams are playing 4 4 2(I love contradicting myself)-in the modern era pace is surely more important given the propensity of coaches towards the counter attack,illustrated most aptly in the European Championships by sides such as Holland,Russia,Germany and Portugal?Hence,to spend 12 million or so on an area of the team would be ridiculous,particular given that the improvement that Bentley would bring comparative to Lennon is dubious.Often watching Bentley I feel he lacks the requisite pace for a modern winger,while often his tendency to drift inside can make a team lose its shape,while his tendency towards the killer pass can breed long ball football(though under Juande this is unlikely to be a problem).There are much more immediate needs,so the signing would be,for all intents and purposes,a waste of money,particularly given the desperation of Tottenham's need for a DM,LW and CB.Lennon is, to some people's minds,a potentially top quality player whose inconsistency can be attributed to his age,nothing that a bit of coaching won't solve,eh?
But equally,to toe this line is to pressupose that Ramos is an idiot,but also vastly underrate the quality of David Bentley,a player thought to be at the forefront of none other than Capello's plans for England's future.Ramos sees Lennon play every day,as well as knowing his work ethic,attitude and will to win and improve-we see a very limited,albeit the most important,part of Lennon,and so do you think Ramos would really sell him/bring in a replacement if he was that good,or if his all round mentality and attitude was that of a top class player? This argument is particularly pertinent given Ramos' track record and standing within the game as one of Europe's finest managers.Bentley has produce the goods for nearly two seasons in a team with much less talent than our own-he has crossing ability reminiscent of the late David Beckham (I use this metaphorically,owing to his 'death' as a top class footballer upon joining LA Galaxy),can take a wicked free-kick and has one hell of a shot on him: all things we have been blatantly lacking in recent years,creativity, guile and regular service from midfield.Lennon by contrast has regressed in relative terms compared to his counterpart.As has been mentioned all to often,he often flatters to deceive,drifting in and out of games and almost inevitable failing to find his man with the final ball.Those suggesting that it is simply a case of 'staying behind for ten minutes after training and practising a bit of crossing' are naive in the extreme-do these genius' think that the ignorant (apparently) Juande Ramos hasn't thought of this? Ridiculous,and I maintain that Ramos must be trusted with regards our squad-after all,he is being paid na extortionate 6 million quid a year to do so.While Lennon is not 'the' problem,neither is he necessarily the solution-.His regular substitutions(not to mention exclusions,most notably v PSV away) put paid to the belief amongst some(albeit a minority) of fans who believe he is one of our best players,while his performances too suggeotherwise.But equally perceptions of his 'decline' have been vastly exaggerated,a symptom both of the inherent ,yet very Tottenham, need amongst fans to scapegoat,but also the corrosive influence of the British tabloids-if I remember rightly Lennon was still considered one of our best players up to the point that some redtop with a mischievous and ulterior motive published some bull around March (on the back of one substitution) about Ramos wanting him out.More rigorous analysis of his form and the nature of his contribution emanated from this,and subsequently his decline gathered pace proportionally to increasing unrest regarding his displays,as his confidence plummeted.This argument suggests that it would be logical to replace Lennon with a player of superior quality,just as we have gone about replacing the lkes of Dawson,Robinson,Chimbonda and Lee (in effect) with Ramos' first few signings-to do so with Lennon is,by this reckoning, the next logical step.There can be little doubt that Bentley is a much better all round footballer-equally,while he often comes across as cocky,he is patently ambitious and a true winner who is willing to work his heart out to improve,qualities which are as important as they are underated in trying to build a succesful,consisten winning machine.
On reflection,I believe Bentley would be a good signing,not as a replacement for Lennon but rather a compliment to him.I still firmly believe that Lennon is not a 90 minute player for 38 games a season.When has he at his best for Sprs and England? Roaring off the bench in the 05/06 season with nothing to lose and everything to gain as he injected a much needed spark to a side lacking in sharpness at times.Hence,this is how he ahould be used;Bentley starting,tearing up the oppo for the first 60,the Lennon coming on as an attacking option for the final 30,either to win us the game as a replacement maybe for a defender,or to replace Bentley/our LW and give us some much needed fresh legs.I have often thought we lacked genuine options off the bench,particlarly in the Martin Jol era:Lennon would go some way to solving this problem,an argument that gains added strength in the context of the Premiership's introduction of 7 subs for next season.Can you imagine Lennon,Dos Santos and,say, Taarabt (controversial) coming on for the last 30 against a beligerent Bolton away from home? Bolton's obduracy would be emphatically negated,and no doubt our abysmal away record would go some way to being improved.
Of course,this raises all sors of additional dilemmas; Can we justify spending 12 million on what would be,in essence, a squad addition? The signing of Bent for an extortionate sum would suggest this to be an unwise course of action. Similarly,would Lennon be happy with such a role,and could his resulting disquiet have an unsettling effect? And where would that leave Malbranque,who it is widely acknowledged is an excellent footballer and one of our best players last season,but equally is not a left winger? Would he be able to ably fill the role of starting RM/RW,with Lennon as an alternative,providing healthy competition for places,but equally making the signing of Bentley superflous?And would this signing be to the detriment of the players we need more readily in other areas(LW and DM most pertinently)?
So many questions,yet apparently so few answers.
What are your thoughts?
My first post on here so go easy!
I know this has been discussed a lot ,but I would just like to offer my thoughts and analysis of the Bentley/Lennon saga that has dominated much of the talk regarding transfers this summer.I have tried to be balanced and offer both sides of the argument so as to summarise the issues before my conclusion,but also offer an objective and comprehensive discussion of a complicated situation.
I hope all of you are enjoying the summer of stupidity as much as I am;my calculations tell me that we will be buying 13 goalkeepers,12 defenders,18 midfielders and no less than 21 strikers by August 31st,if the papers are to be believed-should be some squad,not to mention the wage bill!
Anyhow,I wanted to address the much speculated,much discussed,but as of yet unresolved Lennon/Bentley saga,a dilemma which centres around who is the correct occupant of our right midfield slot for next seasonne which leaves me fundamentally caught in two minds as to the solution and correct course of action;
On the one hand,I believe we are focussing on the wrong area, as Lennon is patently not the 'problem' with our team. Furthermore,he has so many positive qualities that,particularly given his age, it could be a major error to write him off,and it cannot be forgotten the many many things he has done for the team over the last 3 seasons.It goes without saying that he has almost unique pace,great control and at times fantastic dribbling ability,tremendous benefits that are both difficult to teach but also seemingly in accordance with the brand of football Ramos seems to wish to deploy,both given the way he has set teams up in the past and also with the football our team has played since coming here.Lennon is an out and out winger in the Ramos 4 4 2 mould,while there is also and argument that crossing is increasingly irrelevant in the modern game,particularly given that fewer and fewer teams are playing 4 4 2(I love contradicting myself)-in the modern era pace is surely more important given the propensity of coaches towards the counter attack,illustrated most aptly in the European Championships by sides such as Holland,Russia,Germany and Portugal?Hence,to spend 12 million or so on an area of the team would be ridiculous,particular given that the improvement that Bentley would bring comparative to Lennon is dubious.Often watching Bentley I feel he lacks the requisite pace for a modern winger,while often his tendency to drift inside can make a team lose its shape,while his tendency towards the killer pass can breed long ball football(though under Juande this is unlikely to be a problem).There are much more immediate needs,so the signing would be,for all intents and purposes,a waste of money,particularly given the desperation of Tottenham's need for a DM,LW and CB.Lennon is, to some people's minds,a potentially top quality player whose inconsistency can be attributed to his age,nothing that a bit of coaching won't solve,eh?
But equally,to toe this line is to pressupose that Ramos is an idiot,but also vastly underrate the quality of David Bentley,a player thought to be at the forefront of none other than Capello's plans for England's future.Ramos sees Lennon play every day,as well as knowing his work ethic,attitude and will to win and improve-we see a very limited,albeit the most important,part of Lennon,and so do you think Ramos would really sell him/bring in a replacement if he was that good,or if his all round mentality and attitude was that of a top class player? This argument is particularly pertinent given Ramos' track record and standing within the game as one of Europe's finest managers.Bentley has produce the goods for nearly two seasons in a team with much less talent than our own-he has crossing ability reminiscent of the late David Beckham (I use this metaphorically,owing to his 'death' as a top class footballer upon joining LA Galaxy),can take a wicked free-kick and has one hell of a shot on him: all things we have been blatantly lacking in recent years,creativity, guile and regular service from midfield.Lennon by contrast has regressed in relative terms compared to his counterpart.As has been mentioned all to often,he often flatters to deceive,drifting in and out of games and almost inevitable failing to find his man with the final ball.Those suggesting that it is simply a case of 'staying behind for ten minutes after training and practising a bit of crossing' are naive in the extreme-do these genius' think that the ignorant (apparently) Juande Ramos hasn't thought of this? Ridiculous,and I maintain that Ramos must be trusted with regards our squad-after all,he is being paid na extortionate 6 million quid a year to do so.While Lennon is not 'the' problem,neither is he necessarily the solution-.His regular substitutions(not to mention exclusions,most notably v PSV away) put paid to the belief amongst some(albeit a minority) of fans who believe he is one of our best players,while his performances too suggeotherwise.But equally perceptions of his 'decline' have been vastly exaggerated,a symptom both of the inherent ,yet very Tottenham, need amongst fans to scapegoat,but also the corrosive influence of the British tabloids-if I remember rightly Lennon was still considered one of our best players up to the point that some redtop with a mischievous and ulterior motive published some bull around March (on the back of one substitution) about Ramos wanting him out.More rigorous analysis of his form and the nature of his contribution emanated from this,and subsequently his decline gathered pace proportionally to increasing unrest regarding his displays,as his confidence plummeted.This argument suggests that it would be logical to replace Lennon with a player of superior quality,just as we have gone about replacing the lkes of Dawson,Robinson,Chimbonda and Lee (in effect) with Ramos' first few signings-to do so with Lennon is,by this reckoning, the next logical step.There can be little doubt that Bentley is a much better all round footballer-equally,while he often comes across as cocky,he is patently ambitious and a true winner who is willing to work his heart out to improve,qualities which are as important as they are underated in trying to build a succesful,consisten winning machine.
On reflection,I believe Bentley would be a good signing,not as a replacement for Lennon but rather a compliment to him.I still firmly believe that Lennon is not a 90 minute player for 38 games a season.When has he at his best for Sprs and England? Roaring off the bench in the 05/06 season with nothing to lose and everything to gain as he injected a much needed spark to a side lacking in sharpness at times.Hence,this is how he ahould be used;Bentley starting,tearing up the oppo for the first 60,the Lennon coming on as an attacking option for the final 30,either to win us the game as a replacement maybe for a defender,or to replace Bentley/our LW and give us some much needed fresh legs.I have often thought we lacked genuine options off the bench,particlarly in the Martin Jol era:Lennon would go some way to solving this problem,an argument that gains added strength in the context of the Premiership's introduction of 7 subs for next season.Can you imagine Lennon,Dos Santos and,say, Taarabt (controversial) coming on for the last 30 against a beligerent Bolton away from home? Bolton's obduracy would be emphatically negated,and no doubt our abysmal away record would go some way to being improved.
Of course,this raises all sors of additional dilemmas; Can we justify spending 12 million on what would be,in essence, a squad addition? The signing of Bent for an extortionate sum would suggest this to be an unwise course of action. Similarly,would Lennon be happy with such a role,and could his resulting disquiet have an unsettling effect? And where would that leave Malbranque,who it is widely acknowledged is an excellent footballer and one of our best players last season,but equally is not a left winger? Would he be able to ably fill the role of starting RM/RW,with Lennon as an alternative,providing healthy competition for places,but equally making the signing of Bentley superflous?And would this signing be to the detriment of the players we need more readily in other areas(LW and DM most pertinently)?
So many questions,yet apparently so few answers.
What are your thoughts?
