Written by Joseph Walsh
After two red cards in the space of a week, Spurs have been forced to give a master class in playing with 10 men. Although strong arguments can be made that neither of these incidents should have resulted in sending offs, especially the Jermain Defoe one, the fact remains that, particularly Younes Kaboul’s red card; they tend to demonstrate a lack of maturity and experience on the pitch. An experienced head on the pitch such as William Gallas you would hope would not make that same kind of silly mistake, although Gallas has always had a bit of reputation for not being the coolest head on the pitch.
The infamous scene after drawing 2-2 with Birmingham in February 2008 of Gallas sitting in the centre circle seems to demonstrate a lack of composure and responsibility. However I maintain that on the whole he has matured as a player and does add a great deal of experience to our back line that is vitally needed due to the perennial absence of Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King.
His performance against Arsenal in the 3-2 victory at the Emirates, was the height of the turnaround of his thus far stuttering Tottenham career. Possibly additionally motivated by being given the captain’s armband and spurred on by his poor reception from some Arsenal fans, he put in a terrific performance.
This is exactly the sort of character that is needed at Spurs. As if you look through the rest of the team there are not many cool, experienced heads that know how to win major trophies. There is a lot of young talent and some older talent as well, but not much that has been in the habit of winning or challenging for major honours year in year out.
I feel a midfielder in this mould would be a great addition to the Tottenham set up. I doubt that someone still at the top of their game and playing for one of Europe’s biggest clubs would be tempted to join Spurs, but perhaps someone whose career is winding down. Not to necessarily be thrust as permanently into the 11 but more to be there as the guidance of a mature head, who knows how to handle the pressure of the business end of the season and can handle big games in intimidating arenas. As currently the team appeared a bit shell shocked at the San Siro and were blown away by an Inter team that we were to find out latter are not as good as they were last season.
Also they have picked up an infuriating habit of capitulating at Old Trafford. I feel one or possibly two more experienced additions would aid the team greatly in games such as these, and assist the players who haven’t been in these situations before. Which let’s be honest is the majority. Ideally, someone akin to Claude Makelele when Chelsea bought him from Real Madrid at the age of 30 and really added a steeliness and maturity to that team that went on to dominate English football for the next couple of years. Unfortunately players like that aren’t just wandering around waiting to be picked up by clubs like Tottenham.
This article was first published on FootballFanCast.com
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