Would we benefit from selling Modric this summer?

[brasil_spur]

My main worry right now is that:

If i weren't a Spurs fan and Modric asked me my advice on the best way for him to engineer a move out of Spurs then i would tell him to do exactly what he's doing now. Call be cynical, but at the moment he is playing just badly enough that it isn't de-valuing him as a player or making him less of a good signing for someone like Chelsea but it is causing us fans to massively doubt whether we need him right now.

If Redknapp drops him (which i believe he should) it even gives him the opportunity to come out and make a public statement about being dropped, the TV pundits will agree with him that he's been one of our best players throughout the season and as such there will be a divide created that will increase the chances of him getting his move out of the club.

I'm almost 90% sure that Modric will go this summer, and i reckon when it happens the majority of fans on this board will be fairly happy with the outcome.

 

[Gbspurs]

I'll be sad to lose modric but I want player who want to play for spurs. Also I think a midfield three of Parker, Sandro and Vander could be good with Lennon and Bale wide.

 

[Kingstheman]

Based upon the fact that when played centrally, whether it be in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 he rips the arse of every team he's up against. Whether it's United, City, Inter Milan, Barnsley, anyone.

He is not a left sided midfielder (Everton away, United home to name but a few) and he's not a holding midfielder (Norwich home) when we're chasing a game.

Tell me a game and time when he has been played centrally, and he has been shit, and i mean real shit. And you can warrant Sigurdsson over him!? DROP ME THE F*** OUT.

Parker is our Keane/Vieira, Luka is the orchestrator. Let the man have the full run of the midfield and he tears teams to shit. It's like saying Bale's heart isn't in it and he cant be bothered when he's being played on the right wing.

Stick Jenas back in that midfield, and you'll be crawling on your hands and knees to Stamford Bridge or wherever he ends up going and carrying him back on all fours.

Half of you don't understand just how good you've got it. Makes me sick.

a) No, he does not rip the backside off of every team we play against.

b) He CAN play on the left side of midfield. He has done it for his previous team, us and Croatia.

c) I don't warrant the Swansea player over him, but he has been poor a lot since the whistle went against Arsenal. He was poor when I was stood in the East stand against Norwich and he was centrally deployed then.

d) If Luka is the orchestrator, where has been the last 2 - 3 months? And there is a reason why I quoted the players above. They have stepped up. They have made themselves master of the middle. I think Bale's heart is in it, he's just not been tracking back in the same period the way he did in the first half of the season. Parker, for any criticism, is obviously up for it and putting his shift in.

e) No one is advocating bringing back Jenas - but we have all noticed a marked decline in Luka Modric's play since we did Newcastle up the backside. This is a player who I have heard described by the average football fan to the pundit as, 'different gravy', 'Spurs' Fabregas', 'World class' and people have been saying is the 'heart beat of our side', 'creating assists'.

We all know he is good. He just hasn't been good for us in the last 2 and a half months and people are trying to work out why. People postulate that it is the formation, his colleagues being powder-puff around him and/or that he wants to play for 'Big Bucks Utd' and simply has one eye on them.

Given that I am watching a player who has played for us (and only us) since 1997/8 and has been our captain and is playing despite being injured half the time, putting his leg at the risk of being crippled and who is looking like a shadow of himself, his reputation - perhaps - tarnishing as he does so, being criticised and written off (sometimes, sadly, by myself), I am not going to sit idly by and say, 'Well, it’s OK, Luka Modric is sooooo good, we won't know what we are missing', when he is going missing in matches already.

 

[StartingPrice]

I am not very good at watching matches once I know the result (unless I am getting paid to analyse it, that is...note to Dan Levy ), but, without wanting to draw too much out of it in a team/tactical sense, I have to say, the game at the Lane against Cheslea two seasons ago, when we qualified for the CL, is one of the few games I watched again, and not once but twice, just for sheer pleasure. We absolutely annihilated them, and could easilty have won by five or six clear goals. Anyone who thinks we were outplayed in that game and got a lucky result really needs to go back and watch the whole match again - we were superb.

 

[Riandor]

Torn on this one.

Under a better manager he might blosom again... let's say for emaple Mourinho as he might see us again as the big team working back to the top. But if it's anyone else I believe his disillusionment will continue and he should be sold as well.

He played well first half of season even in the 4411 set-up, so either teams have learned to deal with us better when we play that formation, or Modric has lost form/interest (or all 3).

If we're doing a quick rebuild/shuffle with the likes of Rodgers or Lambert (or similar) in charge, then the financial shot in the arm for that manager to get their players in might be worth it (and I wouldn't see Modric wanting to stay).

Again though, if it's a Mourinho-esque replacement set-up then I would try and sell that concept to him and if he's motivated, then keep him. he's too good a player to let go easily, but he doesn need to be focussed.

R.

 

[Spurvert]

It's clear Luka's head is elsewhere. Yes, he's a superb footballer and when he's on form he's our best player, but he wants out. You can see that. I still think he's annoyed/surprised we refused to sell him last summer if I'm honest.

Of course you wan't talented, motivated players like Luka Modric in your side. He's class. But a tired, aggrieved Luka Modric with his head elsewhere? There's only so long we can tolerate that before it becomes detrimental.

Is this is something that can be remedied by an overhaul in management, training and tactics? Absolutely. That's what we're crying out for.

Unfortunately the events of last summer are still fresh in peoples minds and even a change of manager and philosophy will not be enough to keep Modric.

 

[DHMadboy]

on sunday Parker was our most creative midfielder, and as others on here think if we deployed him and sandro in the middle with pacy wingers, Bale and Lennon then VdV in front and a big lone striker up front, i think we would be playing far better, and as much as i'm a fan of BAE i also think he needs a stint on the bench as lately his tracking back has cost us a few goals, so give Rose a try. Also on that note King and Gallas should not be starting CB's next season, if playing for us at all, we really should have gone all out to secure Cahill. Modric can go for me any amount over £30 million take so it can be reinvested in the team quickly and be ready for next season.

even thinking Roy Hodgson should be given a chance as manager.

with the team looking somewhat like this

Gomes
Walker Kaboul Dawson Rose
Lennon Sandro Parker Bale
VdV
Ade?

plus with the sale of modric and others we could have 40-50 million pounds to re-invest.

 

[nickchrissi]

You're the guy who said VDV is an overrated fat slug right?

Oh sorry, he's been amazing since his run of 6 goals in a row. He's scored another 10 and been our best player this year. If Luka doesn't do enough, Rafa definitely doesn't.

 

[nickchrissi]

So to summarise what has been said since the morning.

1. Sell Modric
2. Buy Sigurdsson
3. Buy Dembele
4. Buy M'Villa
5. Appoint Hodgson as the new manager
6. FML

 

[nickchrissi]

All I'll say is, THANK GOD you lot don't run our club. I'm just getting flash backs of the whole Berba scenario when every said he didn't try, just sell him etc etc. But when he left, it really hit home how much we missed him.

And I couldn't give a flying f*** if Modric has played on the left before, or on the right, he's the best central midfielder in the league. Play him there. The last time he was played there without being moved out of position was Wigan and Newcastle at home. I wonder what happened there?

Against Norwich, going 4-4-2 with 2 wingers was suicide. They had a spare man in midfield and were breaking in numbers that we couldn't deal with. And then after Harry realised his mistake and knows we're chasing the game he take off our holding midfielder in Livermore and leaves Luka as the holding midfielder!

Going 4-4-2 against anyone with a 5 man midfield is suicide. Sticking your most creative player out on the left in those game is slitting you're throat. Arsenal away we had Saha and Ade up front with Bale having a free role up top, this meant we had a midfield 3 of Luka, Scotty and Kranjcar. Arsenal were attacking with Sagna and Walcott down the right, Luka was drifting wide to support Benny cos Bale wasn't there, the ball was being played inside and it was 2 v 1 against Parker every time. The same for the right side with Kranjcar. The same away to Everton. The same at home to United.

The reason it didn't affect us against Newcastle is because they thought they would try and cause us problems and went 4-4-2 themselves with Ba and Cisse.

I'm sick of people pointing the finger at players when our manager has been tactically inept since England game calling. I've never in my life wanted a manager to leave, ever, until now. The man is poison and I can't wait for him to go.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I am not very good at watching matches once I know the result (unless I am getting paid to analyse it, that is...note to Dan Levy ), but, without wanting to draw too much out of it in a team/tactical sense, I have to say, the game at the Lane against Cheslea two seasons ago, when we qualified for the CL, is one of the few games I watched again, and not once but twice, just for sheer pleasure. We absolutely annihilated them, and could easilty have won by five or six clear goals. Anyone who thinks we were outplayed in that game and got a lucky result really needs to go back and watch the whole match again - we were superb.

Can you explain to me how a team with a man advantage, and a supposedly superb midfield pairing, end up conceding 60% of the ball and conceding one goal to the ten men ?

Of course your "glass always spurs full" mentality will see that as us annihilating them, what I saw was a team incapable of keeping hold of the ball, when that is all they had to do to see out the game, conceding possession and territory to a team with a man disadvantage, who piled forward trying to get another goal - having already got one back - leaving themselves open to the break - none of which we made count - by the team who should have been keeping the ball but couldn't manage it and ended up pinned in their own half.

We played well for 15 minutes either side of half time in that game. Which was at least 30 minutes more than we played well in the arsenal game a few days before, and about the same as we played int the City game (the final 30).

None of which were a good advertisement for a cm pairing of Hudd/Modric.

 

[ohwhenthespurs]

This breaks my heart to say, as Luka's been probably my favourite Spurs player to watch in the flesh for the 20 years I've been going. But yeah, the jig is up, let him go.

 

[Paxtonite]

Modric seems to be making it blatently obvious that he does not want to be at Spurs by his recent performances, or lack of more to the point.

Getting the best price we can for him and investing it wisely is the best way forward. We know that Daniel Levy will do the former, but TBH it's the latter that worries me.

Typical comment from a broad brush perspective bordering on cack. So by this process of elimination can i safely assume that all of our players no longer wish to be at spurs next season? Most of them have been playing worse than Modric imo so this must be true.

Modric link play in midfield has been excellent. He keeps us ticking along and whilst he does not score enough goals, that has never been his game though he offers much more class and guile to this team. To me he looks drained, as do some of our other players (Walker, Bale and BAE in particular). What do these players have in common? Oh yes undroppable because they can't be replaced. It's catching up with them. It is affecting the whole team.

Problem with us spurs fans is that we don't deserve class players sometimes.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Typical comment from a broad brush perspective bordering on cack. So by this process of elimination can i safely assume that all of our players no longer wish to be at spurs next season? Most of them have been playing worse than Modric imo so this must be true.

Modric link play in midfield has been excellent. He keeps us ticking along and whilst he does not score enough goals, that has never been his game though he offers much more class and guile to this team. To me he looks drained, as do some of our other players (Walker, Bale and BAE in particular). What do these players have in common? Oh yes undroppable because they can't be replaced. It's catching up with them. It is affecting the whole team.

Problem with us spurs fans is that we don't deserve class players sometimes.

Abso-fucking-lutely this.

Even on his worst day, played out of position, Modric is worth more to us than most of the ****'s we've had before or the alternative's like Livermore or Huddelstone.

We have players like Bale who fucking walk around with their thumbs up their arses letting everyone else do the work, contributing fuck all for 95% of the game, and people want to point the finger at Modric as one we can do without.

Modric is not blameless, defensively he as weaknesses, but they should have been addressed by the coaches, and he should not be playing as a deep holding midfielder, it is a waste of his talent and is the fault of our manager.

A month ago it was Parker who'd "lost form" and who was looking "disinterested". It's such a load of bollocks.

When our management and coaching staff get players playing in the correct tactical shapes and application (pressing coherently etc) all our players look excellent. Modric was very, very good at Chelsea, against Bolton and Swansea. No form dip, no looking disinterested, just being played in a more conducive environment with better balance that gets the best out of our players.

Modric had a poor game Sunday, but it isn't as simple as him just having an off day, in the four years he's been here I have never seen him look disinterested or not try, bar maybe City at home earlier this year for obvious reasons.

He was played against strong opposition in a tactical formation that does not see him at his best. He is not a ball winner, he is not a protecter or a busy ****. He needs to play with some freedom and he needs to play further up the pitch where he may not be deadly, but his movement, ability to move with the ball and see angles helps us build creative situations.

He is not beyond criticism, but why would anyone want to sell a player with his qualities is fucking ridiculous. Even if we can find better, why would we want him to go, surely he'd just make our squad even better. There are several average wankers we can offload before we start pissing ourselves about the need to be rid of a player as "bad" as Modric.

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

I'll be sad to lose modric but I want player who want to play for spurs. Also I think a midfield three of Parker, Sandro and Vander could be good with Lennon and Bale wide.

Disagree, as there will be no creativity coming from the centre and both Parker and Sandro don't score enough goals.

 

[Spurvert]

I don't think anyone wants a happy Luka Modric to leave Spurs. And yes, he's not going to be at the list of players/staff who have been underperforming of late, such list is headed by our manager right now. He's a fantastic player, one of the best I've ever seen in a Spurs shirt. However...

As far as I know none of our other key players went on strike last season or went out of their way to engineer a move to one of our rivals? That is why I started this thread, because another summer looms of uncertainty and multiplications of wages from across town or from up north.

Can we afford to shackle him to the club for another season? Is it worth trying? Or are we better off cutting our losses?

 

[king26]

get sando playing box to box more physical and more power

 

[StartingPrice]

Here we go AGAIN:
I said I didn't want to rehearse the same old arguments - but as I have explained to you several hundred times now, Redknapp stated explicitly that his gameplan was to keep compact at the back, and concede space where it didn't matter. He has stated this in several games where this has panned out, and yet after every one, and years later you are still trying to impose your conception that they had a lot of possession because we were really crap. We weren't we sat deep - many teams do this. We have done it on occasion - this was one of those occasions. I think what really galls you is that we seem to win these matches where we sit deep, and yet don't seem to win that many of those games where we play your pet obsession of keeping possession. Yes - before you try to patronise me as usual, I would like us to play a lot of possession football. No - it doesn't always lead to goals, goals, goals, wins, wins, wins.

In fact, I have been amused, in an irritated as hell kinda way, to note that in many of our recent disappointing results we have absolutely dominated possession to fuck and yet still lost or drew against teams we are clearly better than. How do you explain that? We hit Chelsea on the break and hit them fecking well, and should have been four or five goals up. They grabbed a goal which had little to do with all of the possession they had on the halfway line, and then saw a glimmer of hope. By that stage we really should have been clear and away. They got a little bit of hope and pushed for a goal. The bottom dollar, like it or not, is that we deliberately sat deep - it was part of Redknapp's gameplan, he said that, why can't you believe him. It worked and it worked a fucking charm. They hardly bothered us. We could have been 5 or 6 goals up - literally. They were down to ten men because they couldn't cope with Bale when we broke from deep after soaking up their so called pressure. This is not bluddy difficult to comprehend even if you don't like it. It worked and it worked bluddy well - we pulled them literally to pieces each and every single time we broke up their play. No, our possession stats were not as impressive as theirs - but their again that is probably because of our gameplan (get it yet, it's a bit of a recurring theme) - to sit deep, allow them to play in front of us, soak it up, and then spring from defence to attack with devastating pace - playing to our strengths, exactly. Get the fuck over it

At the end of the day, BC, you don't have to agree with my way of seeing that game, but you know that is exactly what I am going to say, so why the hell did you chose to ignore my statement that I didn't want to have to rehearse the same arguments - we had it after the match, we have had it periodically since.

I think you obsession with possession stats to the exclusion of what is actually going on in a match is insane - especially when it makes you make ludicrous statements like claiming that they showed this, that and the other, seconds after conceding that you hadn't even watched the match. Now, for fuck sake, could you please, please, please just drop it - we know you are obsessed with possession stats, you know I do not agree with your possession stats analysis of this match, and others like it. Somtimes it is possible to sit deep, allow the opposition to have the ball where it is little use, constrict space where it is, and then strike fast on the break - do you actually recognise this as a legitimate tactic and that teams do, in fact, sometimes use it? Or do you really believe that every single time a team has a higher possession stat it means they were the better team? I seem to remember a particular game in Europe, recently, where the losing team had possession stat of something like 70% and got heavily defeated, but that you would have been too busy looking at the stats box on the corner of the screen, and so believed that the result had been the opposite. Or is it that you just don't believe that Redknapp could have stumbled upon this tactical ploy? Do you think he was lying when he explicitly stated that that was his game plan? That he said that after scraping a narrow win despite us being battered, and then came across this idea and decided to use it to cover the fact, mostly with you, he had criminally not dominated possession even though he won? Why would he even be looking for an excuse? I have, in fact, heard him saying, after a victory, that we got lucky and that he tried this, that or the other, but it didn't work, and that we got lucky...so why wouldn't he in this case? Why would he say that this was his game plan? Why would he not just say: "I apologise unreservedly to BC - those possession stats are shocking - okay, we won, but that was just fortune, because they dominated possession stats - BC will be annoyed, even if he hasn't seen the game, the stats will show him how incredibly lucky we were - oh, BC, I'm sorry, don't be hard on me, I tried to force the team to keep possession but they are just so crappy. I'm sorry that it was really quite a comfortable win and that we should have been 5 goals up before they got what was basically a consolation. I am sorry that we didn't retain possession better, even if it meant that THEY could sit deep, constrict space in the final third, break quickly - and beat us. I am sorry that by following these tactics ourselves John Terry couldn't cope with Bale and got sent off. I won't do it again, BC, I'll try to follow your trailblazing possession stat keeping genius (even if we get beat).

When teams play the fast counter attack they are more likely to lose the ball, because they play more passes that can be over-run, miscontrolled because they are more ambitious, more 50/50 balls, etc. It isn't rocket science to understand that this can lead to more progression but lower passing stats

ps - I never anywhere mentioned the THudd/Modric pairing - I just said it was an exicting game that I enjoyed watching more than once, and that we could have been 4 or 5 up before they even got fortuitoously into the game close to the end. Are you actually claiming that we couldn't have been 4 or 5 goals up before conceding - because if you are you really do need to just actually watch the fecking game again and forget all about possession stats, and you will see that we could and should have scored four or five goals before they actually got a late one, and that they hardly bothered us before then.

You are a stuck fecking record, man

Anyhoo...what tactics do you think we should adopt/adapt in order to get a result against QPR...and are you looking forward to the game

 

[Kingstheman]

Let’s clear something up. No Spurs fan wants THFC to sell Modric under normal circumstances.

But we’ve been here before…

Berbatov engineered a move to Man U (from what I have read, he drove himself to Old Trafford on a pretext of being allowed to go and see Man City’s offer) and had threatened to go on strike at Spurs. He had previously affected dressing room morale badly the season before and is reported to have told Martin Jol that both he and Jol needed to find a bigger club one year before moving to Man U. Jol was shortly sacked after a poor start, following such antics.

The only option Spurs had was to sell Berbatov for mega-bucks. It doesn’t matter what you think about fans wanting to sell him, he used our club as a stepping stone and forced a move and did his best to try and reduce THFC’s hand in the process. The best thing to do was to cut and run with the money. To not acknowledge the reality of this is quite silly.

Now on to Modric…

Assertions that he is the best central midfielder in the league are fine, but we are told that there is a circle that we are simultaneously being asked to square.

He can’t fulfil this role very effectively in a 4-4-2, despite this being the traditional staple of English and European football. Statements such as, ‘He’s the best central midfielder in the league’ are great. You don’t have to qualify them. They are merely opinion. As many of us have acknowledged, Modric’s passing success rate is one of the best and he is hard to dispossess in the dribble, but he is let down by lack of assists and goals. This season especially. To make your claim seem even sillier, imagine I told you that Ledley King was a world class centre half, but there was a problem, he was only world class in a centre half ‘3’ rather than ‘2’, what would you think? You’d doubt his ‘world class’ claim straight off the bat. Why can’t a world class centre half play in a 2? Likewise, why can’t the ‘best centre midfielder’ in the league play in a central 2 in a 4 against inferior opposition?

But enough of that…

Tottenham fans do not want to sell an international midfielder, especially one who has a passing success rate in the high 80%s (87 %?), one who on his day is very hard to dispossess of the ball. But we have been here before…

Last Summer Chelsea put in bids for Modric which were clearly beneath his market value. But that is all they had to do. Rumours that he could treble his salary must have entered his head and they are credible (or were credible, as Chelsea have Russian money to spare and then some). From being happy at Tottenham, he added a statement to an interview that ‘I want to say transfers could happen later’. He mentioned a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ which can neither be proven nor disproven (but smacks of him trying to look the ‘victim’) and is reported to have called Chelsea a big club (not that that matters) but the insinuation is that we aren’t (hmmm, stepping stone again)... He is also reported as saying that he signed the 6 year contract so that Tottenham could get the best deal out of subsequent transfers of himself to a big club (wow, thanks) and made some pathetic claim that he ‘played for us when he was sick’ (to which I politely refer him to Ledley King).

We can all guess what the summer will bring (excuse the hyperbole):

Clubs with mega-rich owners will offer him huge salary increases. The saga will continue. Interviews will come out and Modric will appear to be a spoilt teenager (one point of view) trying to get away from big old mean Tottenham and other people will paint him as a talented artiste, trying to get his worth (another point of view) escaping the clutches of an inferior club holding his talent back. He will probably be quoted in some Croatian paper as saying that ‘He always loved Roberto di Matteo as a player’ (joke) and that he believes that ‘Robbie can build something great there…’

Man U may play for him, with Fergie dropping hints that ‘Modric could be the heir to Scholes’ and that only at Utd can he reach ‘trophy coated glory’ and win the league, oh and he can double his salary with ‘The Reds’.

Man City may want him, with players praising his Euro campaign with Croatia and the Sheik offering him £250,000 a week (and a selection of women from his harem).

Croatian players and managers galore will state which one of the merry-go-round of clubs they think he should join.

Modric will be like a virgin outside a sex-shop in Amsterdam. He may even be reported to say, ‘I have helped Tottenham to over-achieve, why can’t they let me go…?’ He may consider moving. He may consider a transfer request if Manchester City wallop him with cash and women. He may consider not playing. His ‘head might not be right’ and this time, it might be more than a couple of games. (Anyone want a bad start next season?)

In the scenario – very possible that it is (and most likely not in such exaggerated terms as I have put it) – that Modric’s head is turned to the point of leaving, what do people recommend we do? Continue to keep him against his will? Play him, despite requests to move against a team we may be playing in the next week? Make him train with the kids? Fine his salary if he does not make himself available for selection?

People are claiming that Modric has been playing badly since Redknapp started using 4-4-2, but it ALSO coincides with the closing of the January transfer window and a run-in, in which Tottenham could displace a prospective employer from the CL. (OK, I admit, it is a very cynical assertion and may be considered too cynical). There will be people here who simply cannot believe that a ‘world class’, ‘best central midfielder in the league’ (yes, that is what was claimed) cannot play in a 4-4-2.

The less that is said about fatigue, the better, IMO. Other clubs have played as many games. Under Jol, players at Tottenham played 40-plus and 50-plus games (indeed Dawson almost hit 60). Jol remarked clearly that if a team has many games, the players train less (or less intensively) so they may recover.

I admit, Modric may be playing badly as a combination of all reasons cited and for the tiredness one (I hate that reason, but will entertain it…) we can blame the management for lack of rotation, over-training, lack of cover… If it is out of position reasons, then we must accept that he is a specialist and not as amazing as is claimed and can blame the management for poor utilisation.

The real question however is:

If he wants to go and we reach an impasse and selling him is the only option, can Tottenham turn it to their advantage, in which some of us believe, ‘Yes, get tons of cash and reinvest’.

 

[Supersi32]

I'll be sad to lose modric but I want player who want to play for spurs. Also I think a midfield three of Parker, Sandro and Vander could be good with Lennon and Bale wide.

Modric is not suited to the deep lying midfield role ala Parker and Sandro, he is much better suited further forward in a front three behind a main stiker...Harry then has to choose which three from Lennon, VDV, Modric and Bale instead of trying to shoe horn them all into the same team...