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| I think we all know where that ball will end up... |
The news that Tom Huddlestone will be out for three months with an ankle injury is a crushing blow for Spurs fans and a management team who were daring to believe that they would soon have a team back to near 100% fitness. The revolving door to the physios room sees Huddlestone going in and Defoe and Lennon coming out.
There was a time when Huddlestone couldn’t buy a game in a white shirt, often overlooked for underwhelming speed and tenacity for a player of such physical stature. However, under Harry Redknapp (as with most of the current crop of Spurs players!) he has truly blossomed into a true battleaxe of a midfielder. He crossed with his left or right foot, both come equally naturally to him, to pinpoint targets all over the field of play. His little backlift when striking the ball underlines a knack for hitting the sweet spot and scoring some excellent long range goals in the process. Couple with these talent normally more suited to a small agile attacking midfielder, he has greatly improved his tackling, can shepherd the ball around the pitch and boss the tempo of a match. His introduction against Young Boys at 3-0 whilst we stared Champions League embarrassment in the face changed the course of the game.
So the point of this article? How does a Spurs team which has been so reliant on Huddlestone cope without him? Well, quite easily actually. The proof was in the pudding on Saturday when an arguably lightweight midfield of Modric, Jenas, Van Der Vaart and Bale zipped the ball around the pitch admirably with only errors by the defence preventing a first clean sheet since the opening day of the season. I run against the grain when I say that I have called for Jenas to play a lot more in the league since his excellent appearances in the Champions league for us. He set up an excellent opportunity early in the first half against Blackburn and I thought that the dark haired played searing down the left wing to deliver a pinpoint cross must have been Gareth Bale but it was JJ. Luka Moric has enjoyed a renaissance in the last few matches and proved his versatility by playing off Huddlestone or equally with attacking flair alongside Jenas or behind Van Der Vaart. How do we replace Huddlestone against Arsenal? Stick with the same midfield.
Well, sort of. Whilst we have the luxury of lots of round pegs for round holes in our field, with Krancjar being the only glaring huge square peg in our team at the moment (don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten how good he was last season), we will need some form of defensive midfielder to guard against Arsenal’s pace in midfield. I would suggest Palacios but he has been off his best this season, so for me Sandro should start. He made a glaring mistake against Bolton to gift them their first goal but his aggression, tenacity and ability to move with the ball makes him the perfect fit for a Huddelstone replacement for me. He also has great experience of hugely passionate and intimidating atmospheres from derby games in Brazil so if anything the North London Derby will fire him up.
The Spurs team of late has seen attack as the best form of defence and I think that with the speed and skill of both Tottenham and Arsenal’s midfield’s at the moment, we are in for quite an unusually open game on Saturday. Huddlestone will be missed but his place will be ably filled by a pacier midfield anchored by Sandro, leaving VDV, Bale and the likes to try and find ways through the Arsenal defence. I think that Aresnal fans won’t be too worried about us or this game but that they will be slightly nervous of what Van Der Vaart and Bale have done to other teams this season and so they could be the men to do it for us.
I hope the revolving door at the physio’s room closes soon but until Tom Huddlestone recovers (get well soon Tom), I am sure that we can cope.
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