Massive Redknapp and Rafa rumour!

[Bus-Conductor]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...pay-price-for-missing-out-on-Luka-Modric.html

Very interesting read, not least because a lot of it is typical football journalistic bollocks:

Modric had had a poor start under Ramos, partly because he was played too deep in midfield or peripherally on the left wing.
At Dinamo he had played on the left on occasion but was best used in the hole. Redknapp saw that Modric’s talent was being wasted and initially played him off a lone striker before this season switching him to playing orthodox central midfield.

Modric definitely took time to settle into the fast paced EPL, new country, new league etc, but he was played centrally once by Ramos, in the hole once I think and and wide left every other game.

Redknapp then played him wide left for a year and a half, until injuries forced him to put him in central midfield against Stoke away in March 2010 with Kaboul.

To my knowledge Redknapp has played Modric once in the hole behind a lone striker, against ManU in the CC final, where he was superb, which made it all the more strange that Redknapp didn't use him there more often subsequently.

As far as pressing the ball higher up the pitch, if this is Redknapp's intention, he is singularly failing miserably to get this tactic across to his players, including Modric.

 

[Spurger King]

I remember Harry saying that playing off a lone striker was the "only" position Modric could be played in, and was saying it like it was a huge problem.

As good as he is in the middle, I feel we're only seeing half the player. He needs to be further forward, and given more freedom to do what he does best....create chances.

One of the things I was fearing most about his possible transfer to Chelsea was that I could see them playing him in a more attacking role, and we'd realise just how much we'd compromised him.

 

[Coyboy]

Very interesting read, not least because a lot of it is typical football journalistic bollocks:

Modric had had a poor start under Ramos, partly because he was played too deep in midfield or peripherally on the left wing.
At Dinamo he had played on the left on occasion but was best used in the hole. Redknapp saw that Modric’s talent was being wasted and initially played him off a lone striker before this season switching him to playing orthodox central midfield.

Modric definitely took time to settle into the fast paced EPL, new country, new league etc, but he was played centrally once by Ramos, in the hole once I think and and wide left every other game.

Redknapp then played him wide left for a year and a half, until injuries forced him to put him in central midfield against Stoke away in March 2010 with Kaboul.

To my knowledge Redknapp has played Modric once in the hole behind a lone striker, against ManU in the CC final, where he was superb, which made it all the more strange that Redknapp didn't use him there more often subsequently.

As far as pressing the ball higher up the pitch, if this is Redknapp's intention, he is singularly failing miserably to get this tactic across to his players, including Modric.

Maybe so, but that's opinion and beside the point.

You asked for evidence of Modric lauding or even reporting Redknapp's tactical work and I provided it. You then just went on a tangent.

 

[jonathanhotspur]

I was looking for something in particular and stumbled upon this. Interesting read.

Harry Redknapp believes his Tottenham team are following in the tradition of the great push-and-run side of Arthur Rowe who led the club to their first title in 1951.

Redknapp is delighted not just with Spurs' results this season but the way his team are winning and has particular praise for Croatian midfielders Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar.

He said: 'I love watching us, I enjoy the way we play the game and we play some great football. I like the way we move the ball and I like the movement. When you're the manager and you have players playing like that it's a lovely feeling. Arsene Wenger must feel the same when he watches Arsenal.

'I don't have a team that lump it up the pitch and scramble for it. We pass the ball and we move it really well. All the top teams do it and we certainly play at that level, at that pace and with that kind of movement. I think the Croatian boys have played a big part in that. Modric comes in off the line and he finds little holes, Kranjcar does the same and we play through teams.

'Modric, Kranjcar, Tom Huddlestone - we're talking about fantastic passers. That's how I like to play, I wouldn't know any other way.

'I think Tottenham have always had a tradition, they were the original push-and-run team under Arthur Rowe. That may have been 1950 but the same principles still apply now. That's how we play, we're always moving and making angles for each other.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...e-watching-says-Spurs-boss.html#ixzz1Wz6GngQh

 

[jonathanhotspur]

Anyway, I have no idea what Modric is talking about when he says we are more compact these days. Not only because of what I've observed but the manager has repeatedly gone on record as saying that we are a very open side.

Some nights of football defy you not to enjoy them. Even the most mean-spirited Arsenal fan must surely have felt at least a small stirring of joy in their souls at Spurs performance against Inter Milan. If Spurs can keep this kind of performance up and it is a big if, there will be two teams on North London capable of playing sublime if quite different kinds of football.

Arsenal’s cerebral game of intricacy and vision is often best appreciated by the impartial fan with the mind rather than the heart. For the neutral it is easy to admire but sometimes less easy to love. In contrast, Spurs’ cavalier blitzkreig game sets the pulse racing with its pace and openness and against Inter, it was utterly captivating from start to finish. In many ways, this is the kind of football that makes us fall in the love with the game. While there are many ways to play and win games, this mixture of free-running and open expansive play is the epitome of good-time football.

It is easy to over-react to a couple of good performances but wiser heads than I who have seen more than my 49 years of football are, like me, wondering if we have ever seen a marauding performance the like of Bale’s against Milan. It was that good, that breath-taking; his slow-and-then-go change of pace utterly destructive even in tight corners; his wild, stallion-like length-of-the-pitch sprinting even with two minutes left on the clock couldn’t fail to thrill even the most hardened cynic.

It seems unlikely that Spurs could win the Champions League or even go close because their defence, especially Hutton on the right, seems too porous. However, this is one more reason why they should use attack as the best form of defence. Inter are no mugs. And even into the last ten minutes after they scored who amongst us was sure they wouldn’t get an equalizer? It’s a dangerous game Spurs play, but unlike much Champions League football in the group stages, it’s worth paying good money to see.

Redknapp deserves credit for setting out a side that entertain and thrill. It will end in tears because playing such an open game probably means they need to score three in every game to make sure of victory, but who cares. Better to go out with all guns blazing, than try a more defensive, cautious game that goes against the instincts of the players. By not playing it safe, they have already provided one of the games of the season in the Champions League. Long may it continue.

http://www.epltalk.com/spurs-play-breathtaking-football-that-arsenal-would-be-proud-of-26279

A splash of glamour and some extra cash were meant to be the brief rewards for Spurs in Europe. Then Christmas would come and the real business of winning the league title for the first time since 1961 would reclaim its hold on White Hart Lane.

This was the old-fashioned way: win your domestic championship then come over all cosmopolitan and head for the continent. But little about today's Tottenham Hotspur could be called linear, except Peter Crouch. In Harry Redknapp's universe Spurs are 4-0 down at Internazionale and lose 4-3; they trail by two at Arsenal and go home 3-2 winners; they squash Inter at home but lose on their own grass to Wigan – and away at West Ham and Bolton. A season ticket here brings the chance to observe at least two Tottenham personalities.

Which one would show up for the visit of Werder Bremen four days after the great counter-punch to Arsenal's jaw? Easy winners against weak German opposition, and six points off the lead in the Premier League, Spurs are dreaming of aboard and fantasising about home.

Europe suits them. This much we know already. It appeals to their aristocratic ethos and saves them from trips to England's north.

Caricatured as the ultimate London football man, Redknapp is even more at home in Europe, where individual creativity is less often snuffed out by mere rugged endeavour.

In the past week Redknapp has pumped up the idea of a serious title challenge. In Europe, success has driven the club to think more audaciously that they were entitled to when Internazionale led 4-0 at half-time at San Siro.

Spurs had not posted a clean sheet in 17 matches and shipped the same number of goals in eight outings prior to this, and yet here they are, advancing on two fronts, with Jermain Defoe back (off the bench) and so much confidence in their new fighting spirit that a former Arsenal captain (William Gallas) can wear the leader's armband.

One of Redknapp's assets is that players can't stop improving in his care. Younes Kaboul was a comparative journeyman until Spurs turned him into an international defender, summoned last week by France. Five minutes in, Kaboul impersonated a centre-forward, meeting Aaron Lennon's cross with a cool stroke of his instep.

The last frontier for Redknapp's man-management was to persuade Roman Pavlyuchenko that a football pitch is a space for running around, and with success has come a willingness by the Russian striker to break out of a trot. He displays no wish to resume his old role as impact sub and threw his gloves and chuntered as he was replaced by Defoe on 57 minutes. "I thought he was going to throw his gloves at me," Redknapp joked. After a 3-0 win even dissent is entertaining.

At the same time no current player expresses Redknapp's leanings better than Luka Modric, who scored moments before half-time. Gareth Bale, who tortured yet another right-back, missed a penalty to preserve dramatic tension before Crouch closed the deal with a third.

In the crushing of the European champions three weeks ago there were shades of another side managed by Rafa Benítez. Under him, Liverpool mastered the trick of excelling in Europe while chasing minor podium spots in the Premier League. Spurs may lack the quintet of European Cups but they have won three continental prizes – most recently, the 1984 Uefa Cup – so there is already a pedigree of having to leave these shores to prosper.

Which is not to say Real Madrid and Barcelona are only months away from falling under Spurs' wheels in the knockout rounds. Pundits will, though, pin a European label to this team. With their suspect defensive record few will think they are Premier League champions in waiting. Or not yet. Over 38 games, and with attrition so often the main factor, they may lack the consistent ruthlessness of teams who routinely overcome iconoclastic opposition.

But this season the less-rich have rebelled, which is why Redknapp fancies his chances of creeping past a few big names, November is too soon to announce the end of empires. Yet in Europe Spurs have already proved a mighty point. With their open style they risk an avalanche against top opposition but they are also more methodical now: less aimlessly artistic than Spurs teams of old and certainly more spiritually robust.

There will be dramas, be sure of that. The knockout stages now beckon for a side who sometimes get themselves in trouble and then get themselves back out again, often spectacularly. To watch a team grow and strive like this is a delight.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/nov/25/tottenham-hotspur-werder-bremen

 

[Ionman34]

I remember Harry saying that playing off a lone striker was the "only" position Modric could be played in, and was saying it like it was a huge problem.

As good as he is in the middle, I feel we're only seeing half the player. He needs to be further forward, and given more freedom to do what he does best....create chances.

One of the things I was fearing most about his possible transfer to Chelsea was that I could see them playing him in a more attacking role, and we'd realise just how much we'd compromised him.

Possibly, with the advent of Parker, we will see Modric pushed forward in the 4-2-3-1 formation to play just behind Ade?

 

[Spurger King]

Possibly, with the advent of Parker, we will see Modric pushed forward in the 4-2-3-1 formation to play just behind Ade?

Hopefully. I'd like to think Harry would play Parker and Sandro together, allowing Modric to get on with being a creative ball of brilliance.

 

[Rupstoh]

I reckon HR will walk soon.

 

[SpurSince57]

Has he had an accident?

 

[NEVILLEB]

Has he had an accident?

:grin:

 

[BorisTM]

I reckon HR will walk soon.

The sooner the better, he can take the full Modric package with him too - one is clueless as a manager, the other - as a player.

 

[Pringle]

The sooner the better, he can take the full Modric package with him too - one is clueless as a manager, the other - as a player.

and all written by a clueless poster

 

[NEVILLEB]

Crouch has left the club btw.

 

[haslemereyid]

Possibly, with the advent of Parker, we will see Modric pushed forward in the 4-2-3-1 formation to play just behind Ade?

this. Parker and Sandro together will give us the ball winning platform that will release our attacking players. Personally i think it leaves VDV competing with Lennon for a position on the the right of the 3 - Modric playing ahead of Parker and Sandro with Bale Modric and Lennon/VDV in the 3 leaves us a much much better balanced side and hopefully releases Modric to fullly fufill his talent

 

[PT]

and all written by a clueless poster

No need for that old bean.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Maybe so, but that's opinion and beside the point.

You asked for evidence of Modric lauding or even reporting Redknapp's tactical work and I provided it. You then just went on a tangent.

Why is it you think VDV's interview was "spun", but Modric's wasn't ? Is it because one fits your argument and one doesn't ?

Personally I believe VDV wasn't trying to damage Redknapp as he was a happy player at the time and expressing this, he just didn't realise how it would be perceived, especially when there have been similar things said as criticisms of Redknapp in the past.

That doesn't mean tha Modic's words were spun either. I have heard Redknapp himself say he wants us to play high tempo pressing football - after Barca's reserves gave us a lesson at Wembley in 2008.

And we all know that Redknapp does do tactics. We've seen his diamond formation at Chelsea, his telling Sandro not to score goals etc. (that's a joke by the way).

It's just that his attempts at them are often rudimentary and ill prepared and leave us weaker rather than stronger and there are numerous examples of this.

And what VDV alluded to was Redknapp's lack of preparation, what Modric alluded to was Redknapp's alleged philosophy. Hardly contradictory statements. He may well want us to press the ball high up the pitch, but we clearly don't most games, what is evident at times is a definite lack of preparation - even basic things like set pieces and marking.

They both may very well be true, and what VDV says may well be the reason why what Modric says doesn't actually happen.

 

[Paxtonite]

Amazing how touchy some people get about anything remotely sounding negative about Redknapp. Why is it that anything that gets reported that goes against what certain people on these boards believe, has to come from a WUM or "the anti harry brigade" whoever the fuck they are?

Its a bullshit story ....so what? or what if it ain't (cos you all have proof of that of course) :roll:

 

[Dare!]

Amazing how touchy some people get about anything remotely sounding touchy about Redknapp. Why is it that anything that gets reported that goes against what certain people on these boards believe, has to come from a WUM or "the anti harry brigade" whoever the fuck they are?

Because it obviously has. The 'rumour' is a joke.

 

[bomberH]

Amazing how touchy some people get about anything remotely sounding negative about Redknapp. Why is it that anything that gets reported that goes against what certain people on these boards believe, has to come from a WUM or "the anti harry brigade" whoever the fuck they are?

Its a bullshit story ....so what? or what if it ain't (cos you all have proof of that of course) :roll:

And your post is typical of someone who isn't happy with the current set up. Works both ways then.

If the rumour was of a rift between King and Sandro and it was started by an arsenal supporter, and it was obviously bullshit, you'd say it was. No-one has proof either way, doesn't mean you wouldn't call it as shit. It just so happens this 'rift' may suit certain people's perspectives.

 

[sunnydelight786]

The original poster is/was happy to PM one of the mods to verify where he got his info from, has he.....? TBH if he has then it's no different to what the ITK lot post in the RO section as it's all hearsay.

For what it's worth I don't believe a word of it and you all know what side of the fence I sit regarding our current management.....