Before you read the title and quickly scroll to the bottom of the page to post a comment along the lines of, “you don’t know what you’re talking about, you idiot. Of course he’s been missed, who wouldn’t miss him?”, read exactly what I’ve got to say and ask yourself the question I’m really posing, which is why haven’t we missed Tommy more? This isn’t intended as a Tommy bash in the slightest as I hope you’ll see. Nor is it intended to wind people up who believe he’s excellent, it’s just something that crossed my mind and when I asked the question as to whether he’s been missed at all on twitter the responses I got were 50/50, which I found interesting.
Eleven games he’s missed now. That’s a third of the game’s we’ve played so far this season and until the Everton game it coincided with our best unbeaten run in over a decade. Some of those games included Chelsea, Werder Bremen and Liverpool at home and the likes of Arsenal, Birmingham and Everton away. Some would argue it’s not been the hardest run of games but there haven’t been any pushovers either (is there such a thing any more?).
Thomas Andrew Huddlestone is without doubt an excellent footballer. Blessed with vision, control and a passing ability that has seen him likened to Glenn Hoddle. That likeness is usually quickly followed with an “obviously not that good though” comment but he’s one of the best technically gifted English footballers playing today, a statement which I don’t think many would argue with. However, although only just 24 he’s struggled to get into the England fold and when given the chance hasn’t given a reason to get another. He’s also not a player that many fans of other clubs talk about. He gets the odd mention here and there but not in the same way our other midfield players do.
He’s quickly racking up the appearances in a Spurs shirt, having played 118 times for us. Quite a few of those have been from the bench but he’s still only managed to amass a paltry 14 goals. In all fairness to the big man, his partner in crime for the last 18 months Luka Modric, hasn’t got a much better return than that either, but with the talent he possesses and shooting ability this number should be a lot higher than it is.
He’s part of a young generation of Spurs players who have been with the club for a while now, having developed their skills and are the reason we’re currently in a rich vain of form. The likes of Michael Dawson, Benny Ekotto, Aaron Lennon, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale were all bought at a young age with the intention of improving and becoming either major saleable assets or a team that could take us somewhere. At present they’re all the latter although their stocks have risen somewhat since we initially bought them if we were ever short of a bob or two. The same can be said for Tommy, but to what extent?
Last season he was a linchpin in what turned out to be one of the best years we’ve had in two decades. His partnership with Modric developed into one of the best in the league and the thought of being without him left many to wonder how we’d cope. However, this season, including before his injury he’s struggled to reach the same heights in my opinion and as such we haven’t missed him as much as we probably all thought we would. When the news of his injury was released many struggled to see who would replace him in that central position. Excusing last night’s game where everyone played poorly and the odd inadequate performance from individuals, Palacios and JJ have filled the gap left my THud fairly easily and neither of them are particularly brilliant at anything even when playing well. Whether the form of Modric has helped that or whether the fact Tommy isn’t playing is the reason for Modric’s return to excellence is open to conjecture.
What I’m saying is this. We’ve been without Dawson for a large proportion of the season and we missed him badly. We’ve missed Defoe when he was injured too. I know a lot of people out there don’t like him, but if Ekotto got injured we’d be in real trouble because not only is he a more than decent defender and works well with Bale but we’ve got no cover for him. Gareth Bale in the last year has transformed himself from a bench warmer to indispensable to the team. We’d struggle without Modric pulling the strings centrally as we did when he was injured last season although we’ve probably got better cover now with van der Vaart, of course another who has become central to everything good the team does. Even Aaron Lennon is missed when he’s not in the team because of what we can replace him with. Whether it be vdV on the right or Bentley/Niko/Modric none of them offer the same pace and directness we miss when Lennon’s not playing.
Why is it so easy to see why all these players would be missed and are vital to the team and chances of success and yet Huddlestone isn’t?
There’s the possibility that had Tommy played the last 11 games we would’ve won them all because of the calmness and ball retention he offers over the likes of Palacios and Jenas. However, we can only look at the facts and as much as we should and probably have missed him in certain situations, the results have been good in general and he’s not been obviously missed like the others in the group of players I mentioned would’ve been.
Here’s my theory on why. He’s the perennial under achiever. He promises so much but often delivers very little. Apart from a lack of pace he’s got the lot, technical ability, passing, strength, tackling, vision etc. Some of those aspects of his game are better than others obviously but when he plays I don’t think we miss the traditional defensive, tough tackling midfielder so he does what he has to in that role. The other players in our first team have stepped up and made themselves indispensable, Tommy is yet to do that. If out of form players like Palacios and Jenas can cover your position when you’re injured without it being a major problem there’s something wrong.
If Redknapp signs Diarra, or Sandro suddenly becomes the world class player some were led to believe he would become who’s place will they take? Tommy’s. It’s as simple as that.
So in conclusion as much as we thought we would miss him and as much as it could be argued in theory we have missed him, the fact of the matter is we haven’t missed him as much as we should when you consider he’s a vice captain and plays a central role in the team (has a sentence ever contained the words much and missed more?). Of all our players, Huddlestone’s injury has shown he’s not quite as vital to the teams success as maybe we thought he was. Or at least he’s not as vital as 6 or 7 of our other players and when he comes back, it’ll be up to him to make sure that’s not the case any more.
Like everyone else I thought when he got injured we could be in trouble but the fact that hasn’t been the case is either down to good squad players in Palacios and Jenas (who a large proportion of the fan-base don’t rate) or the fact his influence on the team isn’t quite as effective as we thought. He’s a hugely talented player with the world at his feet. A young player who I think most teams in the premiership would have but one that needs to mature quickly and make sure any replacement better be world class or they’re going to spend a lot of time on the bench.
Hurry back and prove me wrong Tommy.
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Yeah good article. Very interesting, on the money. The fact is Moddle is doing the jobs of two men lately. Tommy, i love, and have done since i saw him play at Derby. Him and Mod are not the complete midfielders, however they are extremely effective. Harry, will no doubt shoe him straight in alongside Mod wen he can. Therefore him biggest test for him is; can he pick up from where he left off? Can not wait to have him back.
You don’t know what you’re talking about you idiot .
so much for your prediction of people running to make a comment!!
huddlestone has had years to sort his weight out. all it proves is that he doesnt have the desire to succeed that top players need. i think o’hara should be given a run, does anyone remember when he was playing for portsmouth, he was indespensible for them. also has anyone seen KPB at ac milan i cant believe he was sold, would have fit in perfectly in the starting line up.
We have missed him. Badly. You wait til he’s back , sometime early Feb one hopes, and as long as he’s laid off the ketchup , the boy will be mustard.
The pass that Modric made to Hutton away to Villa was a sublime piece of vision . Big Tom can do that kind of thing with his eyes shut. That is what we’ve missed.
COYS.
I think we have had a relatively easy run of games (including out of form Chelsea and Villa), strikerless Fulham, lower table Everton, etc and by general concensus of opinion we havent been that impressive.
Hudd’s absence has partly been covered by the excellent form of Modric – also this season we have been rescued numerous times by VDV or Bale.
Both JJ and Wilson have their limitations although both are capable of a good match. Hudd is a better all round player than both as he proved in the critical matches against Arse, Chelsea and City last season. He is still frustrating in that we much like to see more aggression, leadership, speed and better tackling which is why we have been linked with players like Parker, Muntari, Diarra.
If you asked Lennon he’d probably love to have Hudd back as he seems to get much more room and better service than he gets from JJ, Wilson (and Hutton).
I saw Tom at the Lister hospital the day before it was announced he would be having surgery and he told a guy in the waiting room that he had not been playing well since Feb 2010 and that was due to the ankle issue. Hopefully now he has had surgery he can begin to recapture his best form.
In many of the games we have really missed him. In particular, Blackburn at home and Everton away. He has played differently, this season. He has stayed back a little, giving Modric more freedom and blocking the opponents attacks. That isn’t always obvious as it’s usually just by being in the right place and making them stop or pass sideways, thus giving other Spurs players the time to get back in position. The recent improvement of Palacios has made up for Hudd’s absence to some extent, but in the Balckburn and Everton matches, Jenas was completely useless in this respect.
Nonsense. When him and Modders are in the middle Spurs keep the ball so well that situations about what to do when we lose possession never arise. Has got a “pounds” problem for sure. But, I can think of so many midfielders who were not mobile but were deadly effective nonetheless; Effenberg, Socrates, Riquelme and a certain David Beckham spring to immediately to mind in this regard. I think he has to learn to manage his lack of pace with intelligent movement and positional play. That only comes with experience unfortunately so give him a little more time to sort out this aspect of his game. Personally can’t wait for his return. Think the only guy I can see worrying him in future is Sandro. Boy is still young and has to come to terms with the pace of the English game. But can do it all – pass, tackle, shoot, run…
Well balanced article.
We play much more fluidly without Huddlestone as he tends to slow everything down while he thinks about a pass, and he offers nothing going forward.
He has the potential but he needs to become more mobile and start hitting the target more with his powerful shooting.
I still think Sandro looked a better option, fast, mobile, good tackler and end-to-end player, but Harry seems to have finished his career at Spurs so we will probably never find out.
I believe people are going overboard. Hudd plays a role in the team. He becomes the HUB. He makes sure that he is always available to be passed to from defence, wings, attack. When he receives the ball, he already knows where he wants to put it. It sounds simple, but it is not. But it is a vital role. He doesn’t get forward too often because his role requires him to sit in the centre. So don’t expect many goals from him. Other teams that play with a “hub” allow the hub to go forwards by having someone cover his position. Spurs cannot do that because we play 2 wingers, Modders & Vdv – who is gonna cover? He is not an underachiever – he does what he does well. And don’t forget that he is still relatively inexperienced given his age. More to come. We have dealt with his absence well – but given that Wilson has not 100% claimed the spot back, Hudd will walk straight back into the team.
i read the first few paragraphs of this and then came to the conclusion that you cant have watched any of our games this season. Tommy has been missed big time. granted our results have been decent but lets look at the lack of goals and the manner of the goals we have scored. Palacios in particular is wreckless and cannot pass 2 yards in front of him. Jenas means well and performances of late have been on the up but with no real impact. Can you honestly say either of his last few shots in the dying minutes of the 10 men games were destined for goal… i think not.
granted all our games have been hard fought and credit to the team but we have missed hudd’s technical gifts in the middle of the park. agaisnt arsenal we were lucky, as were we with chelsea to even hold on. our goals of late have been just hittin teams on the break and that is purely down to 4 players. mod, bale, lennon and VDV who are carrying the team. We need Tom back big time!! he completes what i would call the best 5 midfield in the prem, maybe on par with arsenal when walcott and nasri are firing.
Last bit more irrelevant point. We need a top class striker. Crouch has been great for VDV but we need a striker than can put the ball in the net, not just win a knock down. Also corluka was a million times better than Hutton when he came on last game. Lennon thrives under corlukas confident passing, his ability to hold back and his intelligent inside balls. Bring back TOM AND CHARLIE!!!!
Hmm, mixed reactions to this article in the comments. I think Thudd does bring something to the team and should be part of our first choice midfield. I’d rather have Thudd than Palacios or Jenas any day.
On a side note, you mentioned that assou-ekotto is another player who isn’t that liked by lots of fans, but on the article I wrote on my blog defending him yesterday I’ve had a little vote going between benny brilliant and benny bell-end. currently 83% are saying benny brilliant. 83% of Spurs fans are switched on, non bandwagon jumping, good eggs.
I want to disagree as I do rate Huddlestone…. however you do make a good argument. My only rebuttal would be to suggest that just because we have played well for the most of the last 11 games… MAYBE, just maybe we would have played better with THud in the mix too. I certainly think he does a far better job than either JJ or Palacios and have little confidence that Sandro is going to push on.
I certainly look forward to his return!
We have 3 starters for midfield (Fact) Bale, modders & Lennon, for me its always been the 4th midfielder thats been an issue for me, Palacios has tackled well but he’s passing has been shocking, Jenas has supprised me, i used to knock him all the time, but he has played we recently but he has had his off days.. for me its Hudds all the way, he’s not the best tackler but he’s stronger than jenas and he can put the ball on a pin head anywhere on the pitch.
He isn’t built for speed and i don’t think he needs to be fast, he holds the ball up and sprays it around and not forgetting he has a nasty long range shot when it opens up for him, for me Hudds couldn’t come back quick enough, we have missed him. COYS
nothing to do with the artical, but team to play Charlton;
…………………………Cudicini………………………..
Cor——Bassong —– Khumalo?? —– ??
Bently —— Sandro – Jenas ——- Kroncjar
Dos Santos
Defoe
i cant believe people are doubting him, it sounds to me like alot of people just read newspaper reviews and dont actually watch the games. without hudd in the team we are a counter attacking team because with Jenas or palacios in the middle we dont keep the ball anywhere near well enough, Bale hasnt been as hot because nobody else can find him with those drilled cross field passes (Jenas has tried a couple which have resulted in a throw in!). you also have a dig at him for not getting enough goals, he effectively plays as a holding mid to allow modders to go forward and play his more natural game! add that to the fact that was it not for Tom i dont think we would have even qualified for the CL after watching us go 3 down to young boys in about 20 minutes i was fearing for the worst, Hudd came on and changed the game, dragged the rest of the team through the remainder of the first half them pulled the strings in the 2nd which meant we ended up at 3-2 with our confidence back. i know people will say we won 4-1 in the return leg and would have gone through anyway but if young boys had a 3-0 lead to defend at WHL 4-1 would have been good enough for them to qualify and id have put my house on them turning up and parking the bus properly! what was the point of this article, Jenas and palacios couldnt lace hudds boots and sandro just inst ready yet, we need Tom, he has been fantastic for us, an i for one am dreaming of having a midfield 5 of Lennon, Hudd, Modders, Bale & VDV for years to come!
I’m not going to try and reply to individual comments because I’ll be here all day. One of the reasons I write this blog is to gain opinion and discussion either in the comments section or the forum.
I don’t purposely write things that could be viewed as controversial, I purely write what I believe will make for a good read and possibly take a more challenging view on some Spurs subjects instead of the normal match preview / match review layout.
Judging by the mixed responses, this has done just that. I tried my best to be clear how I felt about Tommy and how I see him to be a fantastic, young player but at the same time he’s the one in our current midfield who for one reason or another isn’t missed when not playing as much as the others. At least not so obviously missed. Whether we play better with him in the team or not is subject to how people see us. We haven’t played badly, although as stated we haven’t exactly played well since he’s been out but have somehow got the results.
Out of our current squad, the best four man midfield (if we assume vdV plays as a second striker) is Lennon, THud, Modric, Bale and what a midfield it is. Just out of interest, if THud is so good but we sign someone like Scott Parker or Diarra will either of those players get into that midfield and if they do who’s the player most likely to be dropped?
I’ll just comment on one individual remark, @Jack I’ve missed 1 game this season (Wigan at home) so yes I do watch the team quite a bit. That doesn’t make me right of course.
Lacking Huddlestone in the middle was exactly the reason we lost against Everton, and got away with some other games recently. If the balls constantly getting lost it allows the opportunity for them to break. Jenas or Palacios take your pick can run around all night and day, but cannot retain possession effectively, so we then revert to counter attacking, which is fine but sooner or later will come back and bite you on the bum. Huddlestone or not, a plan B or C is often required and we had neither on Wednesday!
An article like this has been long overdue, good on you for having the balls to tell it like it is.
We’ve picked up almost twice as many points and played far more incisive and dangerous football since Huddlestone’s injury, I don’t know how anyone can say we’ve missed him!
Our attack is working so much better with Modric pulling the strings and taking up advanced positions rather than sitting deep to cover for Hudds lack of pace and we should keep it that way – build around our best players.
Huddlestone’s probably a better footballer than Palacios and Jenas but its about the team at the end of the day. Even though the other two are mule’s Modric is much safer going forward with one of them behind him because they can at least keep up if the other team breaks. Every other top team is the same – a specialist ball winner who can give the other creative element more freedom. I’m hoping Harry will move towards that by signing Lassana Diarra. With him and another striker we’d be well set for an assault at the title.
Huddlestone is the heart of our team.. without him, we can’t keep the ball, nor can we spread it without giving the ball away. We have missed him and I cannot wait for him to return; him and Modric will boss midfields again! All hail the HUDD!
Yeah we picked up points, but almost nearly relying on three players, Bale, Van der vaart and Modric.. the fact that the HUDD and MODD, almost on their own smashed every midfield last season.. how dare people say we don’t miss him, Palacios and Jenas have nothing on the guy.. lacks mobility, but so what, you have Modric who flies into pockets working over the pitch and the big guy sits back.. and knocks 80 yard passes to create play, not forgetting defends extremely well too.. if you are a MOTD or football first fan, go elsewhere to discuss your football.. pathetic.