It’s not as if Harry Redknapp is short of midfielders at Tottenham, but recent indications are that he will be looking to strengthen areas of the squad. This could well be down to the recent wave of injuries that has set upon the team’s central midfield, with Luka Modric, Sandro, Wilson Palacios, Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas and Steven Pienaar all currently unavailable. But should they be looking to purchase a new centre-mid or look to fill the gaps with other squad players, with the likes of Jake Livermore and Danny Rose looking for opportunities?
With rumours of a transfer bid for Lassana Diarra, after Redknapp stated that the chairman is trying to do something there, it could leave other squad members out in the cold when they return. Harry obviously has the connection with Diarra after working with him at Portsmouth, and he would strengthen the squad with his strong physical presence and midfield versatility. Also, with the potential sale of Wilson Palacios, Diarra would be able to fill a hole there and balance up the midfield. But after some good performances in recent seasons when fit, players like Huddlestone and Jenas must be seeking confirmation on their role when they return from the sidelines. There are a lot of good players who will be waiting to play first team football in a couple of months, players who are certainly not considered to be deadwood.
With difficult fixtures on the horizon, including Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal in the fist six games, Spurs are going to need an organised and match-fit squad to get off to a good start. Using youngsters or playing players out of position in a key central midfield role may not be the best option in these games. But transfer moves, even loans, don’t seem to go through quickly these days, with a lot of talk and negotiation. Therefore if Spurs need to raise cash through players sales, like Roman Pavlyuchenko and Wilson Palacios, then they need to get their skates on to fit a newcomer into their squad. There was talk of a potential loan move for Scott Parker, but this was apparently ruled out by Harry and deemed too expensive to consider.
Tottenham have always seemed to be one the the most injury prone teams, particularly in recent years, and the need for a sizeable squad has become apparent. But I think they should use their resources a little more shrewdly at times and consider moving players around the pitch a little. For example, I have always liked Niko Kranjcar and think he brings great qualities to the team, but is often undervalued. He could be used in centre midfield and someone such as Giovani dos Santos could be used on the wing. There is certainly room to experiment in the Spurs squad, but unfortunately an injury-hit pre-season has undoubtedly had an affect on Harry’s ability to try different things out in match situations.
One key player they have got back fit, who I have spoke about before, is Rafael van der Vaart. This is a big bonus for Spurs as he is often instrumental in being the creative part of the midfield and getting things going in the final third. But I think it is the other side of midfield play that Harry could be concerned about, the nitty-gritty get stuck into a tackle kind of play. It seems valuable these days in the Premiership to have someone more deep-lying who can ‘break up the play’ and ‘protect the back four’, and Harry may be coming to realise this more as his squad thins.
I personally don’t see much point in keeping players who aren’t really going to get much game time either through being injury-prone or out of favour. People like Jenas, Kranjcar and even David Bentley, whom I have no doubt are quality players, but might as well be sold and the money spent on someone like Diarra who can have a more effectual role and perhaps someone else more versatile who can also perform consistently. It sounds rash and harsh on the players surplus to requirements, but in the long-term better for both parties. I don’t think Harry should be scared to have a bit of a clear-out as long as the money is re-invested wisely.
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No research. Huddlestone played part of the second half last night. He’s not injured. Was but if he played last night why was this excuse for an article not edited? A little knowledge is obviously a dangerous thing.
First of all, this article was written and scheduled before the game against Hearts. At the start of the week Redknapp said “I’m struggling in that area. Jermaine Jenas is injured and so are Sandro, Steven Pienaar and Tom Huddlestone.”
The point still remains that they are thin in that area at the moment, maybe it doesn’t show against weaker opposition like Hearts so much.
May i remind all my fellow Spurs fans we did well against so called better teams with a shed full of injury’s. The problem was the referees won the game and the so called weaker teams beat everyone Wolves beat Utd we drew 14 games i bet if Hudds had not bean missing for four months and King we would have finished a lot higher than fifth and could have got has high has second because five of those games we where leading and that would have meant 72 points. The problem was Harry swapping systems in our champs run and Defoe Pav and Crouch who became Vans provider and he never scored till the Liverpool game.We need a midfielder like City need more players.