[al][/al]Give them some tender, loving care, place them in the sunlight - or spotlight - and watch them grow. No, it’s not an Alan Titchmarsh line from Ground Force, but something that must surely apply to Tottenham’s two forgotten young Englishmen.
Let’s start with a Motty-style stat. In the 22 matches since our season-turning defeat to <st1lace>Liverpool</st1
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Of course, it could be argued that before <st1:city><st1
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After leaving both out for most of last season, the big man seems to be coming round. On the Hudd, he said: “He’s outstanding in nine out of every 10 games. On the ball, he’s probably one of the best in the Premiership in his position.
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“He’s still only 19 - though he looks 25 - and it’s a great thing to have such a good young player as him. He has to improve on getting the ball back sometimes. In hindsight, we needed that in the Arsenal game. I can’t recall a game in which Tom played and we lost.”
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With Jol, absence often makes the heart grow fonder for someone else. While Defoe is profiting from Keane’s injury, Huddlestone is benefiting from the sale of Michael Carrick and a sly Arsenal kick to Jermaine Jenas’ foot. But what does the enormous youngster, who turns 20 today, bring to the table that other more experienced midfielders can’t provide?
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It’s no secret that our away form has been as impressive as David James’ recent slick hairstyle. However, with Huddlestone starting on the road, we have beaten Slavia Prague, MK Dons, Besiktas and Manchester City, and picked up a point at Watford. For me, more than his passing ability, it’s his retention of the ball that harms the opposition, especially away from <st1:street><st1:address>White Hart Lane</st1:address></st1:street>.
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With Zokora, Jenas, Ghaly, Murphy and the other members of our midfield army, the first instinct is direct - to move forward or lay the ball off. If you watch Big Tom, as the ball heads towards him, he looks up quickly to see if a first time pass is on. If not, he’ll often retain the ball, keep possession, play a one-two while waiting for a chink to appear in the opposition armour to be exploited by a pinpoint pass.
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The similarities with his predecessor are marked in this department. We won a lot of away games last season with Carrick running the show in the same way, frustrating the opposition players and subsequently their supporters. Both he and Huddlestone have the ability to make room for themselves, stepping away from unwanted attention. It does make you wonder why Huddlestone didn’t come straight into the side when Carrick left, such was Jol’s love of the Geordie quarterback’s work. Perhaps an £8m Ivorian put paid to that plan. Even Jol admitted recently: “I asked Chris (Hughton) why we haven’t been playing this guy.”
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There are sides to his game that have to improve. For someone comfortable in central defence, his aggression in the tackle is miles behind the bite of Dawson or King. The boy himself admits he has been affected by years of being the biggest player in the youth sides with referees blowing up at any collision between him and smaller opponents. He subconsciously curbed his tackling and hassling over that period.
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His pace is an issue, especially when the likes of Kieron Dyer fly past him, but Carrick was hardly Linford Christie. He offset that with excellent positioning, which saw crucial interception after another. If Huddlestone can add that to his game, he has the potential to be better than the man he watched enviously from the reserves’ training pitch last year.
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Then there’s the other person in this little and large tribute. Finally, Jermain Defoe is doing what he’s threatened for the last 18 months. He’s banging goals in with both feet from all over the place – 11 goals in 10 games is a lethal ratio. He’s second only to Drogba in all competitions.
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He was heading for another frustrating season like his last. Although his professionalism in the face of being Martin Jol’s third favourite striker has been immeasurable, he was probably doing mental summersaults at the sight of Robbie Keane limping off the pitch against <st1
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The Defoe/Keane debate has sliced the Lilywhite world in half with those who prefer the pacey Englishman and those behind the tricky Irishman. Anyone who’s read my book probably knows I fall into the Defoe camp, although I feel Keane is the better impact player of the two and is therefore a vital squad player.
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While Keane can come off the bench and change a game, Defoe is a confidence player who needs match sharpness to perform. The other major factor is Dimitar Berbatov. He plays different roles with both strikers. When Spurs play with Keane, they effectively become a more defensive unit, in a <st1:date year="2001" day="4" month="5">4-5-1</st1:date> formation, with Keane dropping into central midfield or the left wing to link up play. This leaves the Bulgarian alone up front as a Mido-like target man forced to feed off Robbo’s punts.
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When Defoe plays, Berbatov can utilise all his abilities. It’s more of a partnership. He can stay up front or drop deep, pick up the ball, hold it, jink past men or pick out Defoe’s runs. Not only did he set up both Defoe’s goals on Tuesday, but he frequently tackled back around his own area. Earlier in the season, as a knackered, lone striker he often got labelled lazy by fans for not chasing back the length of the pitch.
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The press is now picking up on the partnership, one that has become somewhat brotherly. Berbatov berates his young sidekick whenever his greedy, poaching ways have no end product, yet he continues to supply him with endless passes and is usually the first to congratulate him when he smashes the ball home. Likewise, Defoe has admitted he’s picked up a lot from the Bulgarian.
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Work on the training pitch with Jol, enhancing his positional awareness and cutting down on his offside runs, is paying dividends, realised in many of his recent goals. He admits he’s never felt better. Knowing Jol cannot bring on Keane if he hasn’t scored by the 65<sup>th</sup> minute has probably done wonders as well. How many goals has Defoe scored late on in recent games this campaign? Compare that to last season when a rare start would often find him after an hour sitting back on the bench in his big jacket and woolly hat?
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Both Huddlestone and Defoe have profited from a run in the team at the expense of others. In today’s world of constant squad rotation, perhaps managers have to be reminded sometimes that cohesion and understanding can only come with a settled side - Rafa, are you writing this down too? The form of both young Englishmen has been of such a high standard that both will surely keep their place when various injuries are healed.
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Terry Venables left <st1:street><st1:address>White Hart Lane</st1:address></st1:street> on Tuesday seconds after Defoe plundered his sweet left foot strike. No doubt El Tel returned to a certain ginger-haired fellow with the news that not only had one young English poacher rediscovered the way to goal, but he had just found a talented giant to anchor the nation’s midfield.
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The Transfer Rumours and SC ITK forums are now open :-)
Time to Grow
Discussion in 'Spurscommunity Front Page News' started by Allygold, Dec 28, 2006.
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by Allygold, Dec 28, 2006 at 2:21 PM
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Discussion in 'Spurscommunity Front Page News' started by Allygold, Dec 28, 2006.
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