Huddlestone rumours rubbished

[JamesTheYiddo]

Skysports.com understands reports suggesting Tom Huddlestone could be on his way out of Tottenham are wide of the mark.



Weekend newspaper reports claimed Juande Ramos had informed Huddlestone he could leave during next month's transfer window.


Huddlestone, who joined Tottenham from Derby in the summer of 2005, is highly-regarded within the corridors of White Hart Lane.


The England Under 21 international has missed Tottenham's last two games, but it is believed he will return to the squad for Tuesday's Carling Cup clash with Manchester City.


Huddlestone's representative, Gary Porter, has rubbished the rumours over the midfielder's future.


"Contrary to reports Tom has not been told he has no future at Tottenham," Porter told skysports.com.

 

[General Levy]

His performance against Anderlecht was inept to say the least. Excellent passer, but he suffers from poor game reading skills and off the ball movement.

 

[Stoof]

His performance against Anderlecht was inept to say the least. Excellent passer, but he suffers from poor game reading skills and off the ball movement.

I agree totally, with the slight exception of his Carrick-like game reading and hardly wrong-place-wrong-time OTB movement.

Berbatov's performance against Birmingham (which cost us the game) was inept too. Shall we sell him based on one game too?

Maybe if you look to the games we've turned around? Huddlestone has come on twice and changed the game completely. Someone with as much talent as him at such a young age should be nurtured, not rubbished by impatient fans who quite clearly wouldn't know talent if it sent them a High Importance email.

 

[eViL]

Here we go again..

 

[General Levy]

I agree totally, with the slight exception of his Carrick-like game reading and hardly wrong-place-wrong-time OTB movement.

Berbatov's performance against Birmingham (which cost us the game) was inept too. Shall we sell him based on one game too?

Maybe if you look to the games we've turned around? Huddlestone has come on twice and changed the game completely. Someone with as much talent as him at such a young age should be nurtured, not rubbished by impatient fans who quite clearly wouldn't know talent if it sent them a High Importance email.

I do admit that he came on and played excellent, in the Birmingham game and the Aalborg game. Unfortunately, due to his poor game reading skills and off the ball movement, it seems that he would play best in a 5 man midfield, so that more robust players can do his dirty work for him.

Your Berbatov analogy is a poor one, for the fact that Berbatov is a proven International/World Class striker. I do agree with you that the Birmingham 3rd goal Berbatov was somewhat to blame, and what does that have to do with Huddlestone? Do you honestly believe that I am rating Huddlestone's performances after one game?

IMO He should be loaned out, so he can gain some consistent matches under his belt; but what premiership club would take him?

 

[sundancer]

Hudd needs to learn how to read a game when he does not have the ball he seems to be unaware of opposing players running in behind him, unlike some I am not to worried about his mobility or his forward play but unless he learns to pick players up he will struggle to become a top player. However he does have promise so we should let him progress under Ramos.

 

[Stoof]

Do you honestly believe that I am rating Huddlestone's performances after one game?

Read your post again, and you see what it sounds like.

Others would focus on a kid at 21 turning two games round almost single-handedly. One in the strongest league in the world, the other on a European stage.

Yeah - loan him out. :?

 

[General Levy]

Read your post again, and you see what it sounds like.

Yes, I can see what you were getting at.:wink:

 

[Bus-Conductor]

You have to ask yourself how can a player like Huddlestone be accomodated on a regular basis in a potentially top side in todays premiership. Will his thought process and mobility quicken with age ?

He has a lovely passing range and pretty good technique but this league moves so quickly, i have had doubts that he would make it for a while. He often plays a pass and than stands still admiring it.

When I first saw him I said that I thought he would make a great sweeper or even a really cultured CB. Having seen alot more of him I don't think he is quick enough to be a CB either.

As others have said, I think he only really makes sense in a 5 midfield (sure he can play in a four, but not regularly and would need a bloody good partner).

Another nearly player in a team of nearlys.

 

[joey55]

I don't understand why people keep suggesting he doesn't read the game well. It's pretty obvious that he suffers badly from a lack of mobility, which would suggest that if he also couldn't read the game, then he wouldn't be able to get anywhere near the ball to put in tackles or make interceptions. Yet this clearly isn't true. He puts in a tackle every 20 mins, compared to JJ every 22 minutes and Zokora every 29 mins. How can he be doing better than those 2 tremendously athletic players if he isn't reading situations? The Hudd intercepts the ball every 33 mins, whilst JJ only does it every 43 mins and Zokora every 47 mins. Again if he isn't reading the game, how on earth does he manage to get his huge frame aroung the place to the extent that he makes more intereceptions than either JJ or Zokora?

It's hard to deny that we should all have major concerns about the Hudd's future. He so talented, but his mobility issues may well end up meaning he doesn't make it. But, as for his reading of the game, I think for a 21 year old it is pretty damn good and should be all the more reason to be dissapointed if his mobiility holds him back, as he has not only the technical ability superior to our other CM, but it would seem he is mentally ahead of them aswell. Imagine what his tackling and interception stats would be like if he was as athletic as JJ and Zokora.

 

[PT]

The very fact that his age is relatively young and that he has the experience of over 100 league games for Derby and Spurs means that Spurs have a player with pliable potential to be moulded even now into the type of component that Ramos will require in his engine.

Think Hoddle or Carrick - neither blessed with raw pace yet both proclaimed to be astute passers that could alter a match in a Spurs shirt.

The Hudd can't yet be classed as equal to either but he has the tools and the training regime to be as important to our team.

 

[stevenqoz]

Here we go again. Concentrating on the negatives. Huddlestone is not the complete package but that is no reason to write him off. In a modern day EPL there has to be room to carry a Huddlestone with his passing, touch and vision, especially if we have room for a Gardener, Staltieri and a Tainio. Only Spurs fans could be so foolish.

 

[justfookinhitit]

Hudd is soon to be 21, for Christs sake !!!!! Give him a couple of years. We would be foolish to bin him now. Some of this thread reminds me of duscussions in the past about an ex-spurs player :-

"In his younger days, the Tottenham fans were split in two camps over his merits.
There were those who argued he was gifted and should be allowed to do his own thing and there were those who argued he was the laziest player to wear a Tottenham shirt since Jimmy Greaves. There was some truth in the latter description because he often disappeared from the action when tackling became too rough for him. He was frequently intimidated in his early days. But he worked hard on this aspect of the game and also on playing a defensive role when called for."

Who does the above paragraph refer to? Well, it could be on Hudd but it is actually on Hoddle (source = Spurs Odyssey) and the pertinent sentence is the last, and if anyone can guide Hudd through that learning process then Ramos can.

 

[The Apprentice]

He would be excellent in La Liga.

 

[General Levy]

He would be excellent in La Liga.

Serie A more likely.

 

[Krafty]

I with some expert tutoring Hudds could become a very good player. His passing and vision is magnificent, probably the best any English player can offer (better than Carrick, Gerard, whoever) and he has massive strength on the ball and a decent shot.

What he, and every players in spurs midfield needs, is to either play next to a mdifield general who will organise him throughout the game, or grow to become that general.

When I see him play I can see him wondering exactly where he should be (when we ahvent got the ball). Should he stand his ground? Should he go out and press? Should he mark the runner? In the end he does all three and fails to do any of them.

I think his size has been a hindrance, as he has admitted. He has almost made that holding midfield position his default even when we are not playing with one.

He needs to work on his reading, and will need help with this. He also needs to be a bit lighter on his feet, a bit more flexible and quicker over ten yards. I dont mind if he cant run 100 metres in under 12 seconds, thats not really important if he can do the above.

We cant sell him. We need to improve him, as with many players. if we cant do that we are in the shit.