How do you solve a problem like Luka?

Modric scoring against Weder Bremen in happier times

As Spurs fans we’re gluttons for punishment, we’re used to having our hearts broken, used to watching matches against lower opposition when we underwhelm and under impress – “same old Spurs”. One thing we’re used to is falling in collective love with a player, baptising him the new Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter or Neo of White Heart Lane.

He loves us. We love him. Simples.

Then, they decide to move on – Teddy Sheringham, Sol Campbell, Robbie Keane, Dimitar Berbatov – to name a few. One sign I remember vividly from the apocalyptic fallout of our home grown stalwart Sol leaving us to move to the other side, you know, the dark side, they who must not be named, the machines, on a FREE, a bloody free transfer no less, was one that read “We hate you so much because we loved you so much.”

Keane became the new talisman, he could do no wrong but after the Carling Cup win in 2008 he moved to his “boyhood club”, Liverpool. It all went tits up and he came back a damaged player – he’s never been the same.

Berbatov sulked, striked and moaned his way out of White Hart Lane to Manchester United in a move that was horribly handled despite the massive fee.

We hate you so much because we loved you so much.

Luka Modric was supposed to be different. He was the real McCoy,  a grounded human being, superb footballer, no airs and graces – a triffic lad. Harry Redknapp didn’t do himself any favours by frequently suggesting that “Luka could play in any team in the world.” We all knew he could but we were sure he was happy with us – helping us to build future etc etc.

I went to the last game of the season against Birmingham when Modric was riding on the crest of a wave of professional and fan adulation. Many pundits had him down as the player of the season despite being unceremoniously omitted from the PFA awards shortlists. Kenny Daglish when asked who he would have voted for said,

“The PFA Player of the Year has seven worthy nominees. But the player I would vote for isn’t among them.

With apologies to Samir Nasri, Nemanja Vidic, Scott Parker, Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart, Charlie Adam and Carlos Tevez, the best player I’ve seen this season is Luka Modric at Tottenham.

He is the driving force behind a Spurs team who have had another great season in the Premier League and Champions League. The little Croat can spot a pass, run with the ball and just keep the team ticking along.”

He won the Spurs fans player of the season award and looked completely nonplussed on the jumbo screens after the match. A contrast from when he scored against Stoke a few weeks earlier and fans on a Spurs forum had said:

“That celebration of his goal said a lot to me, he loves it here Ive no doubt, also he always seems to score cracking goals.” ctw01

“After the game when he ws driving out of the car park and saw the amount of fans waiting there, he had such a big grin, loved it.” Smithy

I said to a friend of mine at the time that I had a horrible feeling that it was the last time we’d seem him at White Hart Lane as a Spurs player. My friend responded by reminding me of the new five year deal he had signed the previous year. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Except, you see, Luka doesn’t seem to value contracts the same way I or you do and he doesn’t seem to be the pixie-faced innocent little angel we all believed he was. Sky Sports News have done their very best to engineer a move for Modric elsewhere this summer but it was the Daily Mail who beat them to it for an exclusive interview with the Croat. Luka quoted on a boat abroad as saying he’d love to move to Chelsea as it’s a big club and he’d like to depart Spurs as friends. The sound of a man who doesn’t seem to interested in honouring his five year deal.  

Forums trembled, imploring Daniel Levy to make a big bold statement like “he’s not for sale at any price.” Well, he did just that. I hoped that was the end of the matter but when asked by Croatian TV if he could still move to Chelsea, he said “anything is possible.” Once more, as Spurs fans, we got worried. Only for Daniel Levy to uncharacteristically come out all guns blazing after a meeting with Luka saying:

“Its not about money, we’re not selling our best players”

“He understands the clubs position”

“I’m sure when he sees his teammates again he’ll be fine”

Daniel Levy in pensive mood

That seemed to be that. End of story. Modric started training with the boys and Rafael Van der Vaart did his best to lighten the mood by saying:

"I think he's happy here and he also told me that he likes to play with us again and train with us.

"So we're happy that he's staying."

So, matter sorted, he’s a professional and he’ll be grounded enough and enough of a traffic lad to buckle down and play with us for another season.

That is when the issue started to get quite messy and demoralizing. Luka Modric, darling of White Hart Lane, fan favourite, top professional, traffic lad, now says that Levy threatened him, told him he’d rot in the stands. Well, good on Levy. You sign a deal like that, you make a commitment – you certainly don’t ask to leave the very next year. Not content with saying that Levy’s version of events was “twisted” he has today kindly added that he will hand in a transfer request if we continue to block his move, which we will, I’m sure, do.

We hate you so much because we loved you so much.

Little twinkle toes, the chosen one, Neo, now a snarling, money-grabbing glory hunter who wants to move to one of our most hated rivals. How things change.

What do we do now?

Well, we have the power, he signed a long term deal and legally amongst other things he is contracted to play for us. He talks about a gentleman’s agreement with Levy to consider any offer from a top club if its in mutual interest. I hardly believe this was ever discussed as a whole host of top clubs would naturally come knocking on our door looking for Luka, so why would Daniel Levy offer him such an easy get out clause. The second bit is most relevant though – mutual interest. Luka Modric moving away from Tottenham does bugger all for Tottenham, its not in our interest at all. An offer of £22 million for player worth much, much more in an inflated transfer market is not in our interest at all either.

Some fans are already saying, that “his head is turned, sell him.” They don’t factor in that Levy has committed himself to manager, fans, players and press to keep Modric – to sell would be to go back on all the pre-season rhetoric about not being a selling club, pushing on and keeping our best players.

To sell also sends a disastrous message to other top players, namely Rafael Van der Vaart and Gareth Bale. They’ll be looking to this saga to see how the land lies at the new “high achieving” Tottenham Hotspur. Sell Modric and they’ll see no drive to improve and may ask to leave sooner rather than later. They’ll know that after a bit of politicking they can beat Daniel “the pushover” Levy and move to bigger and more ambitious things. Keep Modric and the squad sits up and takes notice, they know they can’t beat Daniel “Hardball” Levy at his own game and will have to honour their contracts (Gareth Bale’s six-year deal offering up many Modric parallels). They’ll also know that the club does want to keep their best players, push on and achieve more.

How would I sort the problem? I’d sign two top, top players. Send a tangible message to Mr Modric that the club means what it says, we are pushing on and we do want to get back into that top four. If (when) Modric hands in a transfer request – something he said he would NEVER do – then he gets left on the bench or in the stands. His international career before Euro 2012 may suffer so hopefully he can fight his way back into the team and play out of his socks for us and either he helps us get back into the Champions League or he increases his value and he is sold on.

If we sell a player we all naively thought was that little bit different, whom we all loved and who brought us so much joy then we remain a selling club for the next decade and must prepare for an exodus of players and a sharp drop in the quality of players who would want to play for us.

If he leaves, I’ll hate him, simply because I loved him so much. He masqueraded as an honorable noveau footballer but has come out smelling rank, integrity shot to pieces. If he is there against Everton for the first game of the season then I’ll be the first to forget, the first to cheer when his name is read out – the first to start up the eh eh eh Luka Modric song. But, if like your girlfriend shagging your best mate despite your recent engagement, he forces his way out of White Hart Lane, then he’ll have done more damage that Sol, Dimitar or Robbie ever did.

How do you solve a problem like Luka? Easy, lock him in the changing rooms until the first game of the season.

Over to you Levy.    

The Road Well Travelled

Dress rehearsal against Inter Milan. First night on Tuesday against AC Milan.

Tottenham Hotspur made the first hugely positive steps towards the Quarter-Finals of the Champions League when they had conceded four goals and had Heurelho Gomes sent off before the first half of the match against Inter Milan was over. The side took an even bigger step towards conquering AC Milan by coming back to 4-3 against the blue and black rivals of the red and white Italians in the cauldron of the San Siro.

A great loss, as Harry Redknapp would say.

AC Milan aren’t a team easily scared, but Gareth Bale, who tore Inter Milan apart over two legs, surely strikes terror into red and black hearts – simply because he has literally been there and done that (three times). Bale won’t start against AC because of a troublesome back problem but he’s already done his bit for the team. You see, 11 players walked onto the pitch against Inter Milan at the San Siro, probably in awe, full of nerves, aware of the expectation but raring to go. 35 minutes later they were 10 broken men, wanting the ground to open up and the cameras to stop rolling. After a half time rollicking and a spectacular one-man hat trick, 10 men walked of the pitch proud, triumphant, relieved and probably thought “I wish we could do that again”. Tuesday night is their chance.

I’m sure that the players will relish going back to venue of one of their greatest comebacks, a wholly unique attempt at a “take two” in the Champions League because of the Inter / AC ground-share. I’ve had every part of my body crossed for Gareth Bale’s back but this is more for the aforementioned scare-factor he would bring and in the cold light of (to)day I’d rather start will a fully fit, back to his best, firing on all cylinders, right footed, left footed, wanting to prove a point Niko Krancjar over a struggling to be fit Bale, saving the latter for a Glory Glory night at White Hart Lane.

What miffs me slightly about accounts of our 4-3 triumphant loss against Inter Milan is the way it was described as a one man fight back. Naturally the plaudits should go to Gareth Bale for a heroic, running on empty and then some, hat trick but lets not forget the other players. There was Gomes who…. Oh. Bad place to start. Cudicini and his back four stemmed an almighty tide in the second half, letting in 0 goals as opposed to 4. Surely they deserve some mention for proving they can defend. Then there were our wingers: Bale, well we know about him, but I thought Lennon was utterly fantastic and I really feel he is key to any attacking success on Tuesday night. Whereas Bale has probably been sussed out by Europe now (and therein lies the biggest compliment), Lennon is still a shadowy enigma. We know what he can do, especially when he cuts in field as he has done recently in the premier league and when he did so against Inter to set up Bale’s third goal. Crouch still bamboozles defences, Defoe’s pace is unsettling and surely Pav is due a cracker of a game? (He seems to relish the big stage…).

No Luka Modric tomorrow?!? What?! I couldn’t care less really – he only played 8 minutes against Inter (people forget) before being sacrificed to make way for Cudicini. We’ve done it without one of our most talismanic figures before, we can do it again. If Modric is magically fit then it’s a total bonus for the team but we can handle AC without him.

I remember being deeply depressed that Rafael Van Der Vaart was suspended for the Inter Milan game (yes we did it without him too) and in any case he only played the first half of the win against White Hart Lane. So again, it’ll be a huge huge bonus if, and it seems he will, VDV starts – he will no doubt relish the biggest stage once more.

We lost brilliantly without captain fantastic Michael Dawson, remember that? Yep, he was absent through injury at the San Siro. All Spurs fans were gutted for him and at the time we no doubt argued that we played the game without Defoe (also injured at the last leg), Dawson, VDV – our best players! Well now we have them back, we have a second chance and most importantly of all – that Cauldron of a stadium holds absolutely no fear for our team.

So who starts the game? Well, based on the latest medical reports I would suggest the following:

(4-4-1-1)

Gomes

Corluka                        Gallas                                                Dawson                        BAE

Lennon                        Sandro                                    Piennar                        Krancjar

                                    VDV

                                                            Crouch (if fit) or Pav

Why?

The back four writes itself and has done well recently together (assuming none of them have to change their boots or has a crazy moment (I don’t think Corluka knows what the word crazy means actually….)). Lennon starts on the right and AC will probably commit two men to contain him. Krancjar starts on the left and likes to cut inside – both him and Lennon will narrow and stretch the width of the game at will and both can swap wings with ease – confusing eh?! Well that’s the idea! Piennar is tenacious, like Wilson Palacios in his prime but with a fantastic passing vision and attacking verve. He is a disciplined player and I think he’ll need to be at his best to control the AC Milan midfield. Sandro is a player I have always liked and now he’s played a full game he goes into my team. He grew in stature against Sunderland and not only made excellent tackles and defensive blocks all over the pitch (huge work rate) but his attacking runs were also fairly fruitful, and one led to Krancjar’s winner. Sandro will need to be very disciplined as he is still inexperienced and UEFA referees are notoriously mental when it comes to ridiculous yellow cards (poor Jermaine Jenas) but I think the continental (slightly less pacy) style of football played by AC Milan will be more of what he was used to when he played in Brazil. Van Der Vaart has to start, we need someone of his guile to unlock the AC midfield and defence. If VDV starts then he will need Crouch for his knock-downs if he’s fit. If Crouch’s back isn’t up to it then Pav has a chance to shine.

Prediciton?

I don’t want to guess. A one goal deficit is realistic but perhaps a score-draw like  2-2 isn’t out of the question. All I ask is that the tie is still very much alive for a cracking return leg at White Hart Lane.

As if you needed any more to hearten you then look at this video from ITV of the Inter game. Watch the start, experience the crushing loss and then witness the (nearly) great escape:

http://www.itv.com/sport/football/championsleague/news/toptenuefachampionsleaguegames2010-2011top503284/ (select Inter v Spurs)

The game against AC Milan will be a long and very, very tough road, but its one well travelled for our team and one to look forward to, not fear. I’m sure we’ll bring our unique brand of attacking football to the table and play without fear. For all those going to the game – make some noise!

Audere est Facere – and we do like to dare!

COYS!

Charlton, a new star (again) and a 25 man what?

Will he play or will he go?

First things first, I haven’t “blogged” in a while for various reasons and had instead treated myself to watching as much Spurs as I could get my hands on during December, leaving it, rather lazily, to the other excellent Spurs bloggers to sum things up (triffictottenham.co.uk, youllwinnothingwithyids.com and tottenbloghotspur.blogspot.com) – thanks guys for keep my Spurs fluids drip topped up!

I was at the Charlton game on Sunday and it was a game of two typical facets of Spurs’ method of football. The first half was a subdued midday home match atmosphere, very little Spurs chanting (I, too, was part of that problem for once) and little cutting edge or invention in the Spurs attack save for the excellent Andros Townsend. The first half ticked by without much excitement but Townsend looked incredibly pacey, full of attacking intent and played without fear or abandon. Particularly impressive I thought was his likeness to Gareth Bale in that he is more than happy to knock the ball past a player (left or right as he kicks with both) and run after it and deliver a killer ball. He also displayed a strong physical presence, only losing out a couple of times in 50/50 challenges. Young Andros could offer an alternative to Lennon in that whereas we are used to Lennon running into the box, hugging the touchline all the way and then gaining a yard from standing still to knock balls along the ground, Townsend can have the defender playing catching up, Maicon-style, from further down the pitch and can deliver arcing balls – many of which could have done with Peter Crouch on the field – not the lacklustre Pav.

I told my old man at the interval that Spurs needed a goal – Charlton or otherwise to give ourselves a kick up the arse. I suggested the hauling off of Wilson Palacios whose first touch had totally deserted him, as had his passing radar (giving it to Charlton players on several occasions) for Luka Modric. Harry Redknapp made the change at the interval and immediately White Hart Lane was treated to a master class in how to run a football game. Modric popped up all over the pitch, dictating the speed (often set to ‘Bale’) of our attack. His link up play was very good with Niko Kranjar (a man who looked poor in the first half and for this season in fact but had a better second period with his fellow Croat in tow. It didn’t take long for the deadlock to be broken. Townsend, who continued to be excellent throughout the second half and who seemed to relish playing with Modric took the ball, ghosted past a challenge and drilled the ball low into the net from 20-odd years – just desserts for an excellent debut performance. The lively Jermain Defoe, livelier since the introduction of Luka and his penetrating balls (come on now!) through the back four, scored two goals in quick succession, the first an excellently timed run and the second a reward for doggedly chasing about three rebounds in the Charlton box! An excellent second half was just the right performance ahead of a huge game against Manchester United when Bale, Van Der Vaart, Gallas and others should return to give the Red Devils a run for their money.

Although talk before and after the match has been dominated by the arrival (for training or otherwise) of David Beckham, it is heartening to learn that the players coming through out youth system are starting to deliver at the highest level – I just wonder when they will ever get a start. Another thing that I was made aware of today (something I had forgotten) was that David Beckham would have to fit into our 25 man Premier League squad, as would, say, Andros Townsend. Whereas he would be an excellent addition to our team against AC Milan, Beckham would play a limited number of matches in the league but take up a place for the rest of the season. It got me thinking about who would be in my 25 man premier league squad – here’s my run-down:

Goalkeepers

Gomes

Cudicini (who was excellent against Charlton)

Pletikosa

Defenders

Dawson

Gallas

Kaboul

Hutton

BAE

Corluka

Bassong

Woodgate

Bongani

Midfielders

Bale

Lennon

Jenas

Huddlestone

Sandro

Modric

Van der Vaart

Kranjar

BECKHAM???

Strikers

Defoe

Pav

Crouch

Suarez/Tevez/Kaka/ etc etc (a new striker please)

That’s my attempt at incorporating Becks and I’ve also made room for Woodgate assuming he can get fit but with so many centre-backs now available, he might make way for another midfielder like Townsend or even Palacios.

I am firmly in the “Beckham could be good for Spurs” camp. Our team has excellent team spirit about it – even BAE seems to enjoy playing with his “workmates”  - and I can only see Becks adding to that atmosphere. His experience against AC Milan would be very important and he is surely born to cross onto Crouch’s head to nod now to VDV or Defoe.

On the back of a good win against Charlton, some tough games await – whether Beckham plays or not.

COYS!