After Mondays night 2-0 victory over Aston Villa, Harry Redknapp came out and said that he believed his side could still win the Premier League this season despite being 9 points behind leaders Manchester City, albeit with a game in hand. This article will analyse whether Harry’s claim is possible or whether the heart operation he had recently has tipped him over the edge.
“The title is a possibility. If you keep winning matches and believe in yourself, you will do it. If we keep up our form, we’ll win the league, but it will be very hard.” And on current form it is hard to argue with him!
In the last six premier league games, Tottenham are second only to Manchester City (see a pattern developing here) with 16 points out of a possible 18; City have 18 (Showoffs!). One of the key platforms for this success has been the consistency in team selection shown by Redknapp; with the same starting eleven starting the last three games, allowing the players to know the system that they play. With Redknapp not adopting a rotation system (in the league anyway), he lets his players go out and do what they do best knowing that they are being picked on form alone and not because one of the others is being saved for a big Europa League Tie against Shamrock Rovers!
Simply looking at the Spurs squad, it is clear that they have an abundance of talent. But is it a good enough squad to win the league? Let’s take a look at their chosen starting eleven in more detail, starting from the back:
The Goalie
Brad Friedel – A legend of the English game, Freidel has started a whopping 277 Premier League games in a row and still is in peak condition at the age of 40. A stunning performance two weeks ago against Fulham helped seal the 3 points and kept the winning run alive.
The Back Four
Walker, King, Kaboul and Assou-Ekotto (and an honourable mention for Bassong)
The back four for Spurs in an interesting mix; although they have conceded 15 goals in 11 games they do seem to go through spells of being hard to break down when playing their defensive game. However with the two attack-minded full backs in Walker and Assou-Ekotto, there is always going to be space for the opposition to counter attack as they are left stranded up the park.
One of Redknapp’s toughest jobs will be to keep Ledley King fit/alive/fitted with a robotic knee (delete as applicable.) His partnership with Kaboul in the last three games has been exceptional; Kaboul simply dominates in the air and Ledley does the rest. In fact Kaboul leads the way for the number of headed clearances this season with a whopping 79 of them.
Another key part of the defence is the pace that both the full backs possess, as well as their attacking intent. This allows them to get much further up the park and press on the opposition defence, allowing the two wingers to have the option of an overlap if it is needed.
The Midfield
For me this is Tottenham’s biggest strength by far, as they have one of, if not the strongest midfield in the country. The balance that they have is the kind you would dream of while playing Football Manager. The praise for this midfield should go not to Redknapp though, but Daniel Levy the chairman; a man who in summer not only turned down what can only be described as “constant sexpesting” by Chelsea for Luka Modric, but also went out and added Scotty Parker to his midfield collective.
Parker and Modric dovetail each other beautifully in the middle of the park, with the more attacking one given licence to push forward and draw defenders out of position while the other one sits in the middle of the park ready to break up play should they lose the ball. The beauty of these two central midfielders is that they are both adaptable to play defensive or attacking midfielder so they can switch around if need be. (Modric has been playing further forward this season but has had to drop back at times when needed.)
The other two members of the midfield collective are young attacking wingers determined to either hit the byline or the back of the net. Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon are, for me, two of the most exciting players to watch in English football, a throwback to the golden days of football where pacey, skilful wingers ran the show. The pair have seven goals between them already this season with a few more assists and have teams altering their formations simply to deal with them, and Bale in particular, as shown by the disgustingly inaccurate doubling up of both Alan Hutton and Carlos Cuellar on Monday.
The midfield four have been brilliant in the last couple of games and dictate the pace of the game, the downside meaning that when they play badly, so do Tottenham.
Attack
Every title challenger needs a strike force that will get the goals when they’re not playing well and Spurs seem to have that this season. With Redknapp playing the 4-4-1-1 formation this season, Tottenham’s attacking duo have been Rafael Van Der Vaart and Emmanuel Adebayor. The summer signing of Adebayor on a season-long loan has been a masterstroke by our ‘Arry as he has fitted in perfectly with the team, scoring goals for fun but perhaps most importantly putting an incredible shift in every time he puts on the jersey and giving his all. (Before this season I am almost certain the only time I had seen him run box to box was in a now infamous celebration!)
Van Der Vaart has been playing just off Adebayor this season and is simply a player who oozes class. Although known more as a playmaker before signing for Tottenham last year in a rushed deadline day deal, Van Der Vaart has scored 19 league goals; a record only bettered in that timeframe by Robin Van Persie and Darren Bent (Makes you wonder how many Mrs Redknapp could have bagged in that time!)
Replacements
With the exception of injuries, Tottenham finally do have enough strength and depth to challenge for the title. A look at the players not in this proclaimed 11 show you the calibre of player that they can turn to when needed if fit. In goals they have Carlo Cudicni a title winner with Chelsea many moons ago or Heruelo Gomes aka the footballing equivalent of Manuel from Fawlty Towers.Their replacements in defence are numerous with William Gallas, Vedran Corluka, Michael Dawson to name but a few. Spurs were unlucky with injuries to their back four last season with numerous players being ruled out at the same time, something that they can ill afford this season.
In midfield, they have an abundance of central midfielders waiting to make an impact, whether it be Sandro, a player who has looked impressive when given a lengthy run in the first team, or Tom Huddlestone the man with a shot harder than Allan McGregor watching the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. They also have the cultured Steven Pienaar and Niko Kranjcar waiting in the wings as well as Giovanni Dos Santos, a player who consistently looks like a Mexican Lionel Messi when playing for his national side, compared to a Mexican Lionel Blair when playing for his club side. An enigma if ever there was one.
Up front the stars on the bench are few and far between; namely Jermaine Defoe and Roman Pavyluchenko. Defoe is unaccustomed to not being the star man and has been linked with moves away while Pavyluchenko has been rumoured to be leaving Spurs since the minute he got there. Redknapp has made no secret of his desire to sign another striker and you can’t help but wonder if he may rue his lack of success in the summer transfer market should Van Der Vaart or Adebayor pick up a lengthy injury.
Can they do it?
I would love to say that I think Tottenham can win the league this season, but the truth is that I can’t. It is inevitable that the Manchester City Juggernaut will falter at some stage of the season but I think United are more likely to capitalise on it than Spurs. Redknapp may believe that his players can go on and push them all the way but the big test for Spurs is how to respond when things aren’t going their way. I do strongly think that they will sneak fourth place again so long as their midfield keeps working their magic, and if ‘Arry does his traditional wheeling and dealing in the January transfer market to bag another striker then I think fourth place is a certainty. Surely even his wife can see that!
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About the Author
Having made his comedy debut in September 2008, Ray has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting new acts on the comedy circuit. A two time Scottish Comedian of The Year finalist, Ray has travelled the lengths and breadths of the country telling jokes to anyone that will listen, making his name as an MC for various promoters.
“Very funny” – STV
“a very promising writer, able to create some enjoyably twisted punchlines” – Chortle
“Has a Clear Comedy Gift” – Edinburgh Evening News
“Funnier than a falcon…” – Frankie Boyle
You can follow Ray on Twitter: @comedyray
Check out Ray’s Website http://raybradshaw.co.uk/
What a great post, might even hit paddypower now.
Glad you enjoyed Nulty, though SCFC cannot be held responsible for any losses incurred by our readers…!