Dissecting the midfield

[hellava_tough]

**I've been wanting to write this article about our midfield for sometime now. With the current emotive situation at Spurs over the last couple of days, I figured now would be as good a time as any. So let the discussion about our midfield begin :grin: !**




With a decent enough defence, and okay strike-force, I believe that our main problem this year has been the lack of talent and/or balance in the midfield.

By this I mean that some of the players do not possess what it takes to be in a top 5 squad (afterall, that's what we were aiming for before this relegation scrap came along), while other players have the talent, but don't fit into any particular system which Spurs have deployed this year.

I'm sure that some readers will disagree with some of my player assessments, stating that in certain games said player was fantastic. I don't doubt that this was probably the case. However, every football team needs players who apply themselves week in and week out, stringing together a run of form, thus helping the team put together back to back results.

Anyhow, below is a break-down of our midfield options:


Zokora: Probably our most physically impressive midfielder, displaying the hall-marks of a Premier League player; strength, pace, aggression, lunacy :grin:. However, anyone who's ever seen Zokora play can spot his weaknesses almost instantly; impetuous, rash, a wayward passer and the ability to dribble the ball 60 yards around every opposition player, including the keeper, before blasting the ball into Alan Green's commentary box. Not exactly the type of player to build a top 5 midfield around.

However, we could resign Atouba to form the funniest, and craziest, double-act since Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas! Or we could just put him on the transfer list.


Bentley: I have to confess I was rather excited when we signed him. He has great skill and passing ability, as well as a certain amount of natural flair. However, his attitude aside, just like Tom Huddlestone (below) his lack of pace is a real concern. In the current Premier League you've got to have pace, especially if you're going to be playing out wide where there is more space to utilise, but sadly Bentley lacks it. Added to this, if you wanted to utilise Modric's abilities in a 4-5-1 (below), then Bentley wouldn't be quick enough to support the striker, attack down the wing, or get back into a defensive position when needed.

For me, an effective Premier League side has to be built around pace and physique, which Bentley lacks.


Huddlestone: Great vision, great passer; terrible pace and mobility. For this reason alone, I'm afraid to say, he shouldn't have a future at Spurs. The Hudd would have been a great player 15 years ago, when midfielders got a hell of a lot more time on the ball, and didn't have to run around the pitch like lunatics on heat.

In today's game, though, pace and physique are par-for-the-course. To be fair to Huddlestone, he's done a lot of work on his fitness, but he'll never have the pace needed to be an effective Premier League player. If one looks at the top 4-5 clubs in the league (at least; I believe you could detail clubs lower down the league as well), all of them possess midfield players who are quick, mobile and energetic. Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool aside, this has been one of Aston Villa's main threats this year!


Lennon: Great pace and skill, and very young as well. Due to his light-weight stature, he needs stronger more physical players around him to help him out. The current Tottenham players who possess those physical attributes (Zokora), sadly do not possess the technical attributes needed to succeed in the Premier League.


Jenas: I can understand why people like the guy; and I can understand why people hate him. He's the closest thing we have to the personification of Spurs; talented and skillful, with bags of potential and an expensive price tag to boot, but who never quite lives up to the fans' and pundits' expectations. For this reason alone, he should be captain of Tottenham Hotspur FC :grin:.

While the debate rages whether Spurs should keep him or not, the fact remains that Jenas simply cannot consistently dominate the central midfield during games, in the same way that top draw central midfielders can; he doesn't even seem to do this against so called 'lesser' teams!


Modric: A great player....when played in a 4-5-1, or similar formation. There maybe a chance that he could play in a 4-4-2, but a truly outstanding defensive midfielder would need to play behind him, and the wingers in such a side would also have to do their fair share of tackling. This is not to say that Modric doesn't get stuck in; he does, and he's pretty tough for a little lad. But when he clashes with other central midfielders in the Premier League, for example Essien, it's like Joe Pesci going up against Tyson. The angry Italian may want to rip Iron Mike's head off, but it just ain't going to happen.

For Modric to be truly effective, then a 4-5-1 would have to be selected. This would require two pacy and skillful widemen (possibly Lennon and Dos Santos), complimented by two hard working, and technically gifted, defensive midfielders; two players we don't possess.


Ghaly: A player who doesn't seem to have a set position, which reduces his effectiveness. Unsure what Harry will get out of him in the future, although he's probably not good enough for the Premier League, considering he didn't get a game for Derby last year.


Taarabt: Who knows? The management (i) don't rate him, or (ii) don't want to risk him in these troublesome times. I doubt he's the type of player for a relegation slug-fest, and from the few times we've seen him he seems to have plenty of skill, but no end-product. Shame.


KPB: Now on loan, I won't dwell on him too much. I haven't seen anything of the guy that would suggest he should be anywhere near the Premier League, let alone an aspiring club looking to push on.


O'Hara: I like O'Hara a lot; plenty of bite and confidence, and still pretty young. The problem seems to be that he is still considered a squad player, having not made any particular postion his own. This season we've mainly seen him on the left hand side of midfield, probably to compensate for not having a natural defensive midfielder in the side. He doesn't possess the natural flair and creativity to be an accomplished winger, so perhaps in the future a central midfield role might be suitable?


Dos Santos: Obviously has plenty of pace and skill, but is he physically and mentally ready for the rigours of Premier League football? I think if we had two hard-tackling bad-boys in the centre of the park, and an experienced left back, then we might have seen more of DS this year. Unfortunately we don't on both accounts, so DS's appearances have been few and far between.


So as one can see, our midfield is made up of odds-and-sods. A jumble of talent, crap and potential, some of which lacks the robust physical nature needed for the Premier League. It also lacks balance, and it lacks potency

There is hope though, in the fact that we don't need to overhaul the entire central midfield. If we happened to sign two good central midfielders -and it looks like we're already getting one in Appiah- I believe that our performances would improve incredibly, because we would have more options. We could play a straight 4-4-2, or a truly effective a 4-5-1 with Modric calling the shots in the centre, knowing that he's got two solid midfielders backing him up.

Essentially we've signed individuals for too long. We must change tact and begin to sign players who will collectively form a well balanced team.

 

[Bobishism]

How can 3 sentences on each of our midfielders be a dissection?

 

[Bobishism]

Oh right, you were illustrating how limitted they are?

 

[hellava_tough]

How can 3 sentences on each of our midfielders be a dissection?

Well I could right an essay about every single midfielder BUT THAT WOULD TAKE FOREVER!

 

[stemark44]

At times like this it seems that selling the lot and starting again might be a better option!

 

[THOWIG]

At times like this it seems that selling the lot and starting again might be a better option!

Hate to say it, but as the genius that is Arsene Wenger once said "The team that wins is always the one with the best midfield".
Fact is if any of our midfield, bar Modric, was sold I wouldn't care.

 

[stemark44]

Hate to say it, but as the genius that is Arsene Wenger once said "The team that wins is always the one with the best midfield".
Fact is if any of our midfield, bar Modric, was sold I wouldn't care.

I would include Modric.

 

[Rackybear]

I think ive made the point in many other threads, but when we play 4-4-2, our problem stems from negating a part of our game due to the limited abilities of some of our players.

Jenas and O'hara are our only two players who can do a bit of everything, they are equally good in most aspects of being a midfielder. Just that JJ is slightly better in every field.

Like you have pointed out, if we play Huddlestone we lack mobility and pace in the middle, if we play zokora we reduce our offensive threat and ability to pass and if we play Modric we have an offensive and creative player, but one who will not make himself be counted when off the ball.

It opitimizes why we miss Carrick. In him we had a player that bettered the vision and passing ability of Hudd, but matched that with his ability to better the job Zokora does. Effectively he was an all in 1 player, we got various vital aspects of a midfielder in one player - the ability to pass, create, protect and dictate.

To get this mix in our midfield now, we would have to play Huddlestone, Zokora and Modric all in the same team, and that would mean a 4-5-1, in which we look lethargic and fail to support the frontman.

We dont have the right players to play a 4-4-2 with a decent balance, but I do know that either JJ or O'Hara must start every week, for they are our only two midfielders who can offer something in terms of defending and attacking. Or play them both, with O'hara on the left tucking in, and allowing the full back to over lap.

Gomes
Corluka Woodgate King BAE
Lennon JJ Modric O'hara
Pav Defoe​

I think thats the best we can do for now.

 

[Adam]

Hate to say it, but as the genius that is Arsene Wenger once said "The team that wins is always the one with the best midfield".
Fact is if any of our midfield, bar Modric, was sold I wouldn't care.

Wenger also famously stated that a good pass is one that can be passed on first time.

Looking at that list, only Huddlestone and Modric have the ability to either pass the ball well enough for it to be pushed on with one touch or play a one touch pass themselves.

That is seriously depressing.

 

[THOWIG]

Wenger also famously stated that a good pass is one that can be passed on first time.

Looking at that list, only Huddlestone and Modric have the ability to either pass the ball well enough for it to be pushed on with one touch or play a one touch pass themselves.

That is seriously depressing.

I totally agree, bit I've been slated so often for my appraisal of Huddlestone that I thought I'd be fighting a losing battle.

 

[Adam]

I totally agree, bit I've been slated so often for my appraisal of Huddlestone that I thought I'd be fighting a losing battle.

Well keep fighting the battle because we've scored 2 goals from through balls this year, both played by.........You've guessed it. Without him in the side for every game, we are going down without a prayer.

 

[mil1lion]

I do think we need better passers in midfield and a holding midfielder who actually knows how to play that role and read the game. We need to pass the ball a lot quicker for me and be more positive. Modric is our key midfielder and we should look to build around him like we did with Carrick. So we need a physical presence in holding midfield. And i'd go with 1 winger and 1 box to box midfielder. I'd go for Bale or O'Hara on the left as the box to box player, and Lennon or Giovani on the right as the winger. Most of the top teams play with only one winger like Lennon and it gives them a great deal of freedom to roam behind the strikers and link up the midfield and attack. If we got a left winger then we could balance it better when we play Bentley on the right.

I wont go into it too much as i'm a bit tired of it now and have gone into it in the past few days. But the most important thing is that Harry has said all the right things. When he says this is a badly put together squad, he is right. Its now up to him to sign the right players.

 

[stemark44]

I do think we need better passers in midfield and a holding midfielder who actually knows how to play that role and read the game. We need to pass the ball a lot quicker for me and be more positive. Modric is our key midfielder and we should look to build around him like we did with Carrick. So we need a physical presence in holding midfield. And i'd go with 1 winger and 1 box to box midfielder. I'd go for Bale or O'Hara on the left as the box to box player, and Lennon or Giovani on the right as the winger. Most of the top teams play with only one winger like Lennon and it gives them a great deal of freedom to roam behind the strikers and link up the midfield and attack. If we got a left winger then we could balance it better when we play Bentley on the right.

I wont go into it too much as i'm a bit tired of it now and have gone into it in the past few days. But the most important thing is that Harry has said all the right things. When he says this is a badly put together squad, he is right. Its now up to him to sign the right players.

We didn't need to build anything around Carrick because he doesn't have any weakness that needs to be compensated for by other players.
For me Modric is not a key player to build our team around and so far he has barely contributed on the pitch.

 

[markie]

Why not try a midfield of

----------O Hara------------
Bentley ----Hudd---- Lennon
---------Modric-------------

Or if he wanted to play 4 in midfield he could drop Hudd or Modric depending on the team we are playing??

 

[waresy]

At times like this it seems that selling the lot and starting again might be a better option!

I think that is why we are in this situation. The turnover of players over the summer was too great.
look at the players that featured in the cup final last year and how many have now left!
Robbo, Chimbonda, Taino, Kaboul, the front 2 we know about and Malbranque.

That doesnt allow building of a team, we may have improved the individual quality but have taken away the bit that holds em together and started again.

Villa, Everton to name 2 outside of the percieved big four dont do this and have built their team up, adding quality a step at a time. Giving stability and progress.

I know that doesnt necessarily comment 'on topic' but I think that our issue is more to do wth this than individual players and their percieved quality

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

A mostly accurate assessment and an interesting read. I disagree with a few points but in general you seem to have got to the crux of our problems, that none of our midfielders seem to be ideal solutions either individually or as a group to make an effective midfield.

I think you have been a little harsh on Zokora's passing. I see to often people slate his passing ability, but it actually isn't that bad the majority of the time. The biggest worries I have about Zokora are that positionally he can go walk about, defensively he isn't that secure and he panics on the ball. Combine that with a footballing brain that isn't that great he struggles to be effective enough. I also don't think he uses his physical ability enough.

I'm also not sure that Modric can't play in a 442. I watched him pretty closely during the Euro's where he played as many games in a 442 as he has in a true 442 for us this season and he was exceptional. We have to get the balance in midfield right if we play a 442 to make sure that it isn't too flat as Modric has to be able to get into areas further up the field where he can do more damage and we have to get the ball into his feet. I think he can be decent enough defensively although we haven't seen it yet, but he needs to hustle and harry far more. His positioning is intelligent enough that he can always find space and we need to make better use of that to keep possession and move it forward more effectively.

I also think O'Hara's ability is underrated by many. He had a habit of being a bit negative with his passing and going backwards or sideways too often, but he actually has decent technique and a nice left foot. I think sometimes with his passionate attitude he gets mistaken as just being a worker but that is a bit unfair. He is confident at the moment as even though things aren't going well for the team, for him personally he is in a good spell of form. He probably deserves a spot in the midfield in the absence of any better options.

 

[Chiedozies_Afro]

Good post but no dissection of Gareth Bale as a left 'winger'.

(Taken from today's daily mirror) - "Redknapp is losing patience with left-back Gareth Bale and wants to sell him or use him as part of a deal to land Middlesbrough midfielder Stewart Downing."

A bit drastic me thinks! Maybe if Harry played him on the wing instead of as full back he wouldn't be losing patience.

 

[Michey]

"Lennon: Great pace and skill"


Lennon is all pace an no skills. Perfect example against Wigan....he got his chance on the break to set up Defoe and even before he failed we all knew he wouldn't succeed. I surely hope he picks this up but if a good passing game doesn't exist now it most probably won't suddenly appear.

 

[jamesc0le]

bale is way out of form but i've always thought he had great potential to be a key player and definitely gonna go further than downing. this is ridiculous. i hope we are not still after downing as we would have to pay over the odds as with bentley. get gio performing and stop messing around with overpriced players redknapp!

 

[jamesc0le]

"Lennon: Great pace and skill"


Lennon is all pace an no skills. Perfect example against Wigan....he got his chance on the break to set up Defoe and even before he failed we all knew he wouldn't succeed. I surely hope he picks this up but if a good passing game doesn't exist now it most probably won't suddenly appear.

no skill? BAHAHAHAHA

''lennon backheels a volley into tainio's path.... what a goaaaallll!!!'