It has become apparent to me in the last few weeks that something very wrong is happening at Spurs. Is it the Redknapp saga? Is it the team spirit that has been dealt a crushing blow by the circling uncetrainty concerning our manager? I have come to think that is only a very convenient excuse. An easy way out if you wish for a fact that is very troubling in the long run.
I think a huge chunk of the problem concerns not the team but some of its individuals and the rest of the squad's loss of faith in those thus far select few who have carried us on their shoulders and been inspirational to the rest.
Player one, the ONE, Mr Tottenham, the most loyal of the loyal, Ledley King. After today's game I have no doubt that I don't want to see him in a competitive match ever again. I do appreciate the service, the struggle, the desire, but I cannot fail to notice that the ability is no longer there. Ledley has been identified as the weakest link of our defence. He has no speed, his positioning is off and quite frankly I think the rest of the defence know that they can't focus on their jobs alone as they have to keep peeping over to see if King is where he is supposed to be. And even if he is, whether he is up to the task placed before him. Sadly he was responsible for both goals today, could and maybe should have cost us a penalty, and, painful as it may be, he will only get worse. I admire his grit, but he has become clumsy, unsure of himself, and will sieve goals by the dozens if he is to stay on in a playing role. I wish him all the best, hope he stays on as a coach, but for me his playing days are over. And if we do get to the FA cup final I don't want to see him anywhere near the starting XI, or the bench for that matter.
I don't know if anyone agrees but Kaboul and Caulker need to form our main CB partnership next year and for years on after that.
Player two, the golden boy of Croatian football, the Hulk Hogan of the pitch in nothing but the hair, Luka Modric. How desperate we were to keep him and rightly so. His magic touch, sublime control, his confidence and elegance on the ball, the fear he instilled in defenders... is sadly all but gone. As has been pointed out, rare have become his awe inspiring passes of late, unless they go sideways or back. His commitment has vanished, his passion for the game has clearly been substituted by his mental money measure. If he hasn't yet become a paycheque player yet, he will in two months' time, mark my words. but from our perspective, what's changed?
He simply doesn't link the team in the way he used to, and as an offensive force, he has become a one of many; a man with neat skills but not as inspirational as he used to be. And I think the rest see it too. I think the time has come to cash in. In an interesting turn of events our most influential player has been replaced by the dynamic duo of Rafa VDV and Scott Parker. Is Luka Modric as critical to our long term future as we thought. In my opinion he isn't anymore. Opposition teams probably start their final tactical rundown with the words "Double up on Modric" and he has found it an uphill struggle to tackle the problem. Not creative enough (i.e. does not ctreate enough goals or score them - his career average is 0.2 goals per game, 12 in 117 for us), has a generally weak shot, can't take corners to save his life, his freekicks leave much to be desired so... if we miss out on CL and it seems we will, his contract value will offset that loss. And it's alright with me.
Player three is the Welsh wizard, the leftsided cruise missile, Gareth Bale. And relax, I don't want him sold. But I do want work done about his ever growing weakness - his ego. Gareth Bale is growing into a player who believes they are the complete package and that has a direct influence on his overall performance. How does it show? Well, he wants to be a one man show. He takes his shots from impossible positions to net that all time great strike and go down in history as... good question, what? Whenever Bale goes on his Han SOLO runs, I watch the others very carefully, and judging by their body language, they are far from impressed when yet another decent opportunity finishes with the ball rocketing into the top row, or the side netting, or near the corner flag, with his teammates in open space waiting for a pass. I do realise that Gareth Bale is a player of exceptional talent, but that talent needs to be kept on a leash so it can then be unleashed with even bigger effect. The fact that recently Defoe didn't want to pass to Bale when he was open tell the whole story.
I think our team is disinterating but not because of Harry Redknapp, or not solely because of him. The team have lost their spirit because things are happening in it that have nothing to do with the England situation. Some of the players expect to be treated differently, expect to be special, and that never bodes well. The razzle dazzle of the first 3/4 of the season has disappeared. We don't press, and suprisingly have become a team that is very light weight on the ball, too genteel, easily brushed off - non-committal in the tackle. Today barring Walker Lennon and Bale almost everyone seemed to be pulling their legs back, whereas Norwich were sticking theirs in. A worrying sign of a lack of belief. I think Modric will want out again, and this time he needs to be sold quickly. Yes hackle for the best price, but get it over with early, do our business early, if need be get a new manager early and just focus on pre-season after the Euros.
It's back to the drawing board. We need to reenvigorate the team. Will Harry do it? Well, comparing him with Paul Lambert today I have my doubts. harry's main fault is that he cannot or doesn't want to identify the deep lying problem within the team. It's like at Barca when Guardiola came, sometimes you need to take out players tought to have been irreplaceable and replace them with others who genuinely want to be there.
I think a huge chunk of the problem concerns not the team but some of its individuals and the rest of the squad's loss of faith in those thus far select few who have carried us on their shoulders and been inspirational to the rest.
Player one, the ONE, Mr Tottenham, the most loyal of the loyal, Ledley King. After today's game I have no doubt that I don't want to see him in a competitive match ever again. I do appreciate the service, the struggle, the desire, but I cannot fail to notice that the ability is no longer there. Ledley has been identified as the weakest link of our defence. He has no speed, his positioning is off and quite frankly I think the rest of the defence know that they can't focus on their jobs alone as they have to keep peeping over to see if King is where he is supposed to be. And even if he is, whether he is up to the task placed before him. Sadly he was responsible for both goals today, could and maybe should have cost us a penalty, and, painful as it may be, he will only get worse. I admire his grit, but he has become clumsy, unsure of himself, and will sieve goals by the dozens if he is to stay on in a playing role. I wish him all the best, hope he stays on as a coach, but for me his playing days are over. And if we do get to the FA cup final I don't want to see him anywhere near the starting XI, or the bench for that matter.
I don't know if anyone agrees but Kaboul and Caulker need to form our main CB partnership next year and for years on after that.
Player two, the golden boy of Croatian football, the Hulk Hogan of the pitch in nothing but the hair, Luka Modric. How desperate we were to keep him and rightly so. His magic touch, sublime control, his confidence and elegance on the ball, the fear he instilled in defenders... is sadly all but gone. As has been pointed out, rare have become his awe inspiring passes of late, unless they go sideways or back. His commitment has vanished, his passion for the game has clearly been substituted by his mental money measure. If he hasn't yet become a paycheque player yet, he will in two months' time, mark my words. but from our perspective, what's changed?
He simply doesn't link the team in the way he used to, and as an offensive force, he has become a one of many; a man with neat skills but not as inspirational as he used to be. And I think the rest see it too. I think the time has come to cash in. In an interesting turn of events our most influential player has been replaced by the dynamic duo of Rafa VDV and Scott Parker. Is Luka Modric as critical to our long term future as we thought. In my opinion he isn't anymore. Opposition teams probably start their final tactical rundown with the words "Double up on Modric" and he has found it an uphill struggle to tackle the problem. Not creative enough (i.e. does not ctreate enough goals or score them - his career average is 0.2 goals per game, 12 in 117 for us), has a generally weak shot, can't take corners to save his life, his freekicks leave much to be desired so... if we miss out on CL and it seems we will, his contract value will offset that loss. And it's alright with me.
Player three is the Welsh wizard, the leftsided cruise missile, Gareth Bale. And relax, I don't want him sold. But I do want work done about his ever growing weakness - his ego. Gareth Bale is growing into a player who believes they are the complete package and that has a direct influence on his overall performance. How does it show? Well, he wants to be a one man show. He takes his shots from impossible positions to net that all time great strike and go down in history as... good question, what? Whenever Bale goes on his Han SOLO runs, I watch the others very carefully, and judging by their body language, they are far from impressed when yet another decent opportunity finishes with the ball rocketing into the top row, or the side netting, or near the corner flag, with his teammates in open space waiting for a pass. I do realise that Gareth Bale is a player of exceptional talent, but that talent needs to be kept on a leash so it can then be unleashed with even bigger effect. The fact that recently Defoe didn't want to pass to Bale when he was open tell the whole story.
I think our team is disinterating but not because of Harry Redknapp, or not solely because of him. The team have lost their spirit because things are happening in it that have nothing to do with the England situation. Some of the players expect to be treated differently, expect to be special, and that never bodes well. The razzle dazzle of the first 3/4 of the season has disappeared. We don't press, and suprisingly have become a team that is very light weight on the ball, too genteel, easily brushed off - non-committal in the tackle. Today barring Walker Lennon and Bale almost everyone seemed to be pulling their legs back, whereas Norwich were sticking theirs in. A worrying sign of a lack of belief. I think Modric will want out again, and this time he needs to be sold quickly. Yes hackle for the best price, but get it over with early, do our business early, if need be get a new manager early and just focus on pre-season after the Euros.
It's back to the drawing board. We need to reenvigorate the team. Will Harry do it? Well, comparing him with Paul Lambert today I have my doubts. harry's main fault is that he cannot or doesn't want to identify the deep lying problem within the team. It's like at Barca when Guardiola came, sometimes you need to take out players tought to have been irreplaceable and replace them with others who genuinely want to be there.
