Then you have Aaron Lennon on the right, he clearly isn’t the best right-winger in the league, but he has improved a lot. You have to watch Lennon regularly to realise just how consistent and valuable he is for the Tottenham team. Though his recent spell on the sidelines was only for a few weeks it was clear to see how much Spurs missed him. His acceleration, first touch and driving runs are crucial for opening up space in opposition teams and when you combine his presence with that of Gareth Bale on the other wing the partnership they have is ruthless. It may not be a conventional partnership in that very few passes are played between the two but both rely on the other. With both Bale and Lennon on the pitch it not only stops opposition full backs from attacking but it stretches them defensively.
So if you consider that midfield four of Bale, Modric, Parker and Lennon, then remember that Spurs have Van der Vaart, Huddlestone, Sandro, Pienaar and Kranjcar as reserves it is hard to argue against the fact that not only do Spurs have the best starting midfield players but also the best strength in depth. Clearly Man City has some very talented individuals.
Samir Nasri, David Silva and Yaya Toure are all exceptional players. However Adam Johnson, Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry are consistently underwhelming in their performances and even Silva and Nasri have been disappointing over the Christmas period. No other teams even come close, United have excellent wingers but the fact that they need to bring a 37-year-old Paul Scholes out of retirement is testament to the quality of their other central midfielders.
Then you have Liverpool who have extravagantly assembled the most mediocre midfield in the league, Chelsea who lack a defensive midfielder or any real midfield partnerships and Arsenal who are desperately trying to deal with a season in which they lost Nasri, Fabregas and Wilshere all at the same time. Believe me, as an Arsenal fan, it took me a long time to come around to this conclusion, but ultimately you can’t really argue against it. Hopefully it won’t last.
Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay
Written by Hamish Mackay for FootballfanCast.com
Introducing the neat little app that’ll pay you to view content tailored to your interests:
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.
Good Article, Nice to see some Arsenal Fans say nice things about Spurs. Also Thank you for comparing Silva and Bale not Modric and Silva- that is so annoying when other writers do so! Tottenham have a fantastic midfield, just wish we could get someone like Higuain to complement it! Ade and JD are can’t do it on their own!COYS!
Our problem is that we have great players who play great football but none of them are prolific scorers. Modric, Ade and Lennon immediately spring to mind, but VDV hasn’t scored since October. Bale is the only player who scores a good amount of goals for his position.
Poor article really
Yes we do have the best midfield.
1. can’t compare Bale with Silva, completely different players
2. Who says Lennon is clearly not the best right winger. Who is there that is so superior?
3. VDV isn’t a midfielder, he is a second striker and certainly not a reserve
and so t goes on