There Goes The Fear

Reputations sometimes grow about players...they don’t track back/they never give the ball away/they go down easily/they are a brilliant every game and usually Man-of-the Match. (For the last one I refer you to either Bryan Robson or Steven Gerrard as viewed by a string of co-commentators). Sometimes the reputations are positive, sometimes negative. And in most cases they are usually exaggerations, or simply myths.

Gerrard and Robson have had quiet games. Paul Scholes did occasionally misplace a pass. Re-watch the 1981 Cup Final Replay and see how much hard toil Glenn Hoddle did actually put in, largely ignored by his critics. And there was even apparently a game during his spell in Holland when Luis Suarez did not roll-over six times when there was a passing breeze, although admittedly that rumour is unsubstantiated.

The same is true of Managers. Anyone who has played close attention to his time at Spurs knows that the Harry Redknapp is not the perfect man-manager casual readers of the back pages might believe. However, on the flip side of that, he is also is more open minded to tactical changes than the picture his harshest critics paint.

At Portsmouth he went with his gut instinct, and against some of his more cautious players’ wishes, to change to a system he felt was more suitable to the players he had. From the outside, he looked right. He had three centre-backs reasonably comfortable on the ball, wide players who may be more effective in advanced position than at full-back, and a player who could do with a bit of freedom of the middle of the park (Niko Kranjcar, incidentally). So, he changed the system to 3-4-1-2, against popular convention, and after a week practising it in training.

He has been more reluctant to change systems at Tottenham, but he has occasionally done so. Towards the end of his first season, in similar circumstances to Portsmouth, he played three centre-backs away at Everton; he utilised two attacking full-backs (Alan Hutton and Gareth Bale) as wing backs, with three centre-backs comfortable on the ball (Corluka, King and Woodgate), a central midfield three which gave more license for the talented Modric to roam (alongside Jenas and Huddlestone), behind a front two (Keane and Defoe).

The three in central midfield is key, because it is very unusual for any side of the highest calibre to play without three in the middle now, either through a player being able to play between the lines by dropping off from the hole in a 4-4-1-1, or by playing a 4-2-3-1. 

Rarer is the 4-3-3, but seemingly forgotten by most, Redknapp used this positively, and promisingly, with Spurs a couple of times last season.

In the second league game of last season we had an excellent win at Stoke with Lennon and Bale playing either side of Crouch in front of a midfield three of Palacios, Huddlestone and Jenas. Also away, in the second half of the league game at Wolves, Lennon and Bale came on, this time to play in a front three with Defoe in the middle, and looked like creating a goal-scoring opportunity every time they got the ball. Lennon played on the left, and Bale on the right, and while they hugged the touchline when they received the ball, the three midfielders allowed them to be more advanced and yet still have space to run onto, inside, on their favoured foot.

This is exactly how Angel Di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo play at Real Madrid, how Messi and Ronaldinhio both started at Barcelona, and how great wide players from Chris Waddle to Johan Cryuff have prospered. Football at the highest level is all about Movement.

Great forward players also need to be able to rotate within those forward positions. At International Level for Wales Bale has no problem playing on the right because he has three central midfielders behind him, and plenty of space to come infield. And as early as 2006, Martin Jol wrote in The Times during the World Cup to say that Aaron Lennon could play in the hole, and he thought he could do that for England. He rarely played Lennon in the hole himself, with Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov at his disposal the following season, but when he did (at the front of a diamond in the 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup), he was fantastic.

As well as Bale and Lennon, Spurs have Rafa Van Der Vaart; so three match-winners who can play between the lines and win games. Not all are going to be fit or on form all the time, so the challenge is to use them, and the rest of the squad, to the greatest effect.

Yesterday at Newcastle, Spurs started well for the first quarter of an hour but started getting sloppy in possession and the game got scrappy. Newcastle never really threatened, but Spurs failed to capitalise on being, on paper anyway, the superior team player-for-player.

To begin with, Modric tucked into midfield from the left, Bale was advanced on the right, Van Der Vaart was playing behind Adebayor, with Ekotto effectively starting as a wing-back, clearly under tactical instruction. The shape looked promising. The movement in the final third created an early opportunity for Van Der Vaart after a lovely dummy by Adebayor, and twice nearly created further chances, with final flicks just failing to put Van Der Vaart in.

But, Spurs still lacked a cutting-edge. Bale looked ineffective from the right, but was even less effective when he moved to the left midway through the first-half. There is a reluctance from many fans for Bale to play on the right, perhaps naturally, because when you look back at many of his great moments they have been on the left. Both his outstanding performances against Inter were on the left, as was his wonderful performance at home against Chelsea in April 2010, and countless other games. But in many of those games, including the three I mentioned, he was running from deep and running into space, against teams who were pushing up on the attack.

He gets less space to do the most damage when pushed high-up up on the left of a 4-4-2 against a team that is defending deep and in numbers, which is why Redknapp has often said he could be most dangerous at a left back, where he first showed how good he was when Redknapp finally gave him a run. His left-foot and technical ability is so good however, he is still the best option on the left of a 4-4-2 not just at the club, but arguably in the world. But, then, who plays 4-4-2 now?

Bale has also excelled when given more freedom, such as away at Arsenal last season, at home against the same opposition in April 2010, as well as his successes playing on the right already mentioned. His poor performance yesterday, which including giving the ball away cheaply when doing pieces of skill he usually nails against the best opposition in the world, was due to form rather more than positioning.

With over half-an-hour remaining and the score at 1-1 the introduction of Jermain Defoe, who was fresh from two weeks without a game, looked to be what was needed. And indeed, Defoe came on and made a difference, scoring the second goal and twice being in positions that could have won Tottenham the match (the first time he didn’t receive the ball from Adebayor, and the second time he failed to square the ball to Jake Livermore who had an empty net).

However, Redknapp could have been braver with his substitution. He could have brought Defoe on, but rather than taking off Van Der Vaart, he could have brought off Bale, and played either a diamond, a 4-3-1-2 with Van Der Vaart in a free role behind the strikers or even the Christmas Tree. 

Redknapp said he took Van Der Vaart off because he had played two International games; that’s true, but so had Bale, and Van Der Vaart utilises his energy in dangerous positions (as Joe Cole noted at the weekend conserving energy is favoured more outside the Premier League), as opposed to the all action Bale, who clearly looked tired.

There are times when there are more reasons for Van Der Vaart to come off, such as when he is on a booking, but having spoken to the press about a historic hamstring injury in the week (leading to speculative team news Van Der Vaart was doubtful, when he wasn't), it seemed Redknapp was expediently jumping into the bed he had already made. Did Van Der Vaart really look “leggy”? Or more tired than Bale? Or was it a kop out to not change the shape?

A Christmas Tree, a 4-3-2-1 with Van Der Vaart and Defoe advanced of a three-man midfield, could have been the best system with the players, had Redknapp been brave enough to take Bale off. It would have allowed Modric to have freedom in the middle, the attacking full-backs space to push into on both sides with Livermore and Parker protecting the centre-backs, while also giving Van Der Vaart more license to roam as well.

Instead, Bale struggled on the left, and we were without our most regular match-winner for the final third of the game. There are times when it is ideal two have two recognised strikers on the pitch, but it would be foolish to think that 4-4-2 is the only way to do that, particularly with the players we have got.

Just a look at the current league table is a reminder that when Man City or Man Utd play two strikers, one of them drops in the hole, or when they play with a front three, two of them come in from advanced positions out-wide. Just as Chelsea also do, with three central midfielders behind them. Just as Barcelona do. And Real Madrid. And on the International stage Spain, Holland and Germany.  

At the highest level shape and movement are key. Redknapp knows that, and he knows he has the players. He just needs to be brave enough to put that into practice. To Dare is to Do.

MG

My e-book on Tottenham Hotspur's return to the European Cup for the first time in 49 seasons is now available to download on Amazon and Smashwords.

 

Across the Lines

Rafa Van Der Vaart and Spurs

Later today, as every other day in an international week, Sky Sports News will cover live press conferences of England players, who will rarely deliver anything more than platitudes and clichés. Press journalists will also be given time with players, and in some of the broadsheets, from some of the better journalists, there may be more insightful interviews to come in the week.

According to The Guardian’s ‘Secret Footballer’, footballers in general are more intelligent than they are given credit for. This is sometimes hard to believe when they constantly talk about practical jokes which regularly involving “cutting-up” each others clothes, but in their defence, when they are interviewed straight after a game on television, or at a press conference, they are usually spoon-fed words, so they can state the obvious.

With Dutch players, things are different. Anyone who has taken only a passing interest in Dutch football knows that their players have a reputation for being bright, articulate and often constructively critical. Their willingness to be analytical about football is particularly refreshing when the game in England is still covered so complacently in so many formats. We are as likely to have as much time on clips of someone falling down to comedy music on Match of the Day 2, as we are to actually looking at formations, and even Sky’s Super Sunday would still rather shift its agenda to talk about so-called controversial incidents at the drop of a hat on a live-game than talk about tactics.

This dumbing-down in football coverage is in sharp contrast to Sky Sports excellent coverage of cricket, hearing John McEnroe cover tennis on the BBC or listening to Michael Johnson talk about Athletics. Instead, in football, on Sunday night we had the bizarre situation of Dion Dublin trying to question Rafa Van Der Vaart’s great close control, on the back of a contrived moment of controversy.

Football on TV is still too much like a News Bulletin that gives over half it’s coverage to ‘And Finally...’ stories; even worse, its coverage in the tabloid press is like a sensationalised version of the 60 second news bulletin, where the presenter has to spell the headline out, and talk really slowly, assuming the viewer is really stupid, without ever covering any detail. (Yeah, that one).

Perhaps it is because of this shit that we are regularly served up that when an intelligent player states the bleeding obvious, as Rafa Van Der Vaart has done, it is taken out of all context.

I was very confident ahead of the North London on Sunday. I believed Spurs should have finished ahead of Arsenal in the League last season, and was confident even after our poor start to the season that we should be challenging for a top three finish this time around. Adding Scott Parker and Emannual Adebayor in the transfer window and the return of Ledley King now make us a very, very strong team. If King and Parker play the majority of games this season, we will be very hard to beat. And with Adebayor, we now look like we have a cutting edge to add to match-winners at our disposal who include Van Der Vaart, Garteh Bale and Aaron Lennon. Sandro and Modric aren’t bad either.

However, drinking in the sun in the pub garden in N17 before the match, I was disappointed when the team came through on Twitter. I would have played Rafa Van Der Vaart, no question, but I would played him in the hole behind Adebayor, certainly not on the right of a 4-4-2. If we had played a 4-2-3-1, Van Der Vaart could play anywhere in the three, although he is clearly our best player in an advanced central midfield position, as his goals, assists and ability to constantly threaten (such as at Milan away) have proved.

Van Der Vaart is the player who when he arrived took Spurs to another level last season. He has a genuine winning mentality, world class technical ability, and most importantly is the player who can win matches from the crucial position between the lines. A great signing by Daniel Levy.

At away games at Stamford Bridge and Anfield last season he linked up in a central triangle with Sandro and Modric, which allowed us to dictate games, so it is not surprising when he says, as he was quoted today, that central midfield is his best position.

The idea of a best XI is a bit of a red herring; fitness, form, tactics and opposition are all factors before picking a side. For now though, prior to the transfer window, it would be hard to imagine a big game, when the squad is not being rotated, where King and Parker would not be the first two names on the Spurs team sheet when available; Van Der Vaart should then surely be next, crucial in the central role behind the main striker in either a 4-4-1-1 or a 4-2-3-1.

Modric has been most effective from deep centrally, dictating the pace from the back as much as any player has since the departure of Michael Carrick. But it will be hard to displace Sandro from there now, particularly with two away league games next. Things may be different in home games when teams come and defend, and two wingers are required from the start, and Modric will be more valuable as a creative force from a deeper lying central position than Sandro. But barring any injuries in the next two weeks, Modric is likely to start from the right against Newcastle.

Van Der Vaart made it clear he would play anywhere for Spurs in the interview that he was quoted from today. But that doesn’t mean he should play in a position which takes away his best qualities, which are so valuable to the team. For him to say that publicly is not some act of mutiny; it is just an intelligent bloke articulating what I, and many others, have long thought.

When asked about his injury, he said, not unreasonably, it may have been better if Harry Redknapp hadn’t fed the press a line about him wanting to come off previously because of hamstring injuries. And that line naturally led to Van Der Vaart now being asked to questions about his substitution on Sunday. Having already scored four goals in less than three full North Derbies, and already having played three killer balls that afternoon when he roamed inside, it was not surprising he didn’t want to come off with the game in the balance.

Of course most of us would have made a change, as we were getting outnumbered in the middle of the park, and the introduction of Sandro paid off. But Van Der Vaart is entitled to feel disappointed it was him that was withdrawn, when he could have gone in the middle behind one of the strikers.

It wasn’t long a go Redknapp was belittling Van Der Vaart on Sky Sports News because of an overblown press reaction to his surprise, while he was away, that he was left out of the Europa League Squad without being told. Unlike Redknapp’s comments, Van Der Vaart didn’t seek to score points or appear to be clever at anyone’s expense in these latest quotes, he just gave an honest and reasonable assessment of something most of us already knew.

When I first went to the Amsterdam Arena to see Ajax play in a league game nearly ten years ago, kids who could have been no more than six years old came on at half-time and showed fantastic skill, technique and intelligence in a fluid, passing game of five-a-side. It is no wonder the Dutch players have intelligence both on and off the pitch.

We should embrace that at Tottenham, a club where Danny Blanchflower and Ossie Ardiles, two of many articulate Greats, had their best days. As Johan Cruyff once said, “Football is a game you play with your brain”.

MG

My e-book on Tottenham Hotspur's return to the European Cup for the first time in 49 seasons is available to buy from Amazon and Smashwords.