There’s a buzz about Spurs at the moment. Everyone is talking about Harry Redknapp’s team electrifying the Premier League. There’s even talk of a title challenge! After the first two games of the season, who would have thought that?
Brad Friedel has made the goalkeepers position his own by offering calm and confidence in place of Gomes panicky flappiness. King and Kaboul are forging a centre back partnership the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Mabbutt and Gough turned out for David Pleats exciting 86/87 team that went oh so close to winning everything. Kyle Walker is forging a reputation for himself and looks set for the right back berth at Spurs and maybe for England for many years to come. On the other side Benoit Assou-Ekotto continues to prove that not only is he an awesome left back but he might just be the coolest character in English football for a very long time. Up front Emmanuel Adebayor is providing a dominant presence who can hold the ball up and link play. Whilst all these players take their plaudits and deservedly so, it is the midfield that has really set all the tongues wagging.
Bale and Lennon are terrifying full backs as only they can, meanwhile inside them the trio of Parker, Modric and van der Vaart are setting new standards of excellence on a game by game basis. Parker is the most prolific tackler in the league, but he’s so much more than that, his drive and energy allied with a fine range of passing make him probably the best all round midfielder in the country right now. Luka Modric has put the summer transfer battle behind him, well and truly behind him and is now showing exactly how much he cares about playing for Spurs, even with the ‘chicken badge’ on his chest. He was sublime against Villa and ran the show. Van der Vaart meanwhile continues to ooze class as only a Dutchman can, he’s scored some vital and delightful goals this season and also provides excellent service for his team mates along with a ferocious work rate.
All of this must leave Tom Huddlestone wondering how on earth he’ll get back in the side when he recovers from his latest injury. Fact is right now, there doesn’t seem to be a place for him at all. Spurs football is all pace and high energy, balls zipping from one side of the pitch to the other and midfielders driving from the centre of the park to join attacks. THudd’s languid style just won’t fit with how the team are playing currently.
Of course the season is but a third of the way through and squad depth will surely be tested at some point. However even if one of the central midfielders picks up a knock there are surely others ahead of the big Nottingham born man. Sandro, the breakout star of last season has seen his minutes curtailed by first injury and then Parkers addition to the squad, but he must head the queue should Redknapp see the need for a more physical presence in midfield. For all Huddlestone’s size it’s always been felt that he doesn’t use it well enough. Early in his career he seemed unwilling to get his foot in and as he’s developed when he does get physical he seems to get, well, thuggish, as evidenced by his Champions League elbow and a couple of other unsavoury moments in the last eighteen months. Jake Livermore now also seems a better bet to play alongside the more creative Modric if our Brazilian wonder is not available, he’s not quite up to Sandro’s standards yet but has masses of drive and energy as well as endless enthusiasm and determination to make it at Spurs. Determination is another quality that Huddlestone has been accused of lacking over his time at The Lane, his talent has rarely been questioned, but his desire to make the most of it hasn’t always been evident.
So perhaps THudd could end up as understudy to Modric? Of course his range of passing and ability to split a defence are plain for all to see. Many have said he’s the best passer since the legendary Glenn Hoddle to grace the White Hart Lane turf and that is hard to argue with, but his slow and ponderous style is completely at odds with the way that Modric buzzes around, keeping the ball moving and the team ticking over. Even Niko Kranjcar offers more mobility than Huddlestone and must surely, when fit, be seen as first alternative to Luka. There is another alternative to Modric, anyone who’s seen our Europa League campaign cannot have failed to miss the emergence of Tom Carroll. He may look about twelve years old but the Watford born youngster is growing with each appearance he makes. He is very much of the same style as Modric, a deep lying playmaker who always finds space and wants the ball and is ready to give it to a team mate and then make himself available again. It may be too soon to start thinking of him becoming a Premier League regular but if he were to play then unlike Huddlestone, he would slot straight into the team without Redknapp having to adapt or change style to accomodate him.
All of this must be very frustrating to watch for Huddlestone. It took him a while to get truly established at Spurs, it wasn’t until his key role in Redknapps team that qualified for the Champions League that the majority of Spurs fans truly accepted him and recognised what he could do. THudd was absolutely outstanding in 09/10, particularly the second half of the season when he formed an attack minded central midfield pairing with Modric. However last season injuries took their toll and Redknapp also learnt from the Champions League adventure that gung-ho was all well and good but no team succeeds at the top level without some defensive security in midfield. For all his skills, for all his 60 yard pinpoint passes, for all his thundering shots from 30 yards, Huddlestone just doesn’t offer enough mobility to fill Luka’s role nor enough defensive tougness and savvy to take over from Super Scotty Parker when needed.
What Huddlestone’s future holds is uncertain, but he must be questioning whether that future is at White Hart Lane. Harry Redknapp may well have ideas on how Big Tom can fit back into the squad and play a role at the club, but a move elsewhere may be the answer. He’s already been linked with a switch to Liverpool, he and Charlie Adam could form the most immobile midfield ever conceived if that were to happen. Whilst it’s true that Damien Comolli loves a midfielder that move just doesn’t make sense really. Even so, it may well be that if THudd is to establish himself and push back into the England reckoning, he was close after the World Cup in 2010, then he may have to look to pastures new to do it.
Whilst it would be sad to see such a talented player move on, and although injuries have played a part, Huddlestone has never truly fulfilled all the potential he arrived at Spurs with.
COYS
Stuart Watts ( @THFC1882dotcom on Twitter )
Follow this blog on Twitter and ‘Like’ it on Facebook – use the buttons on the right hand panel!!
Related posts:
Spurs News 24/7
We’re playing our best team. Keep with the pace. Dawson? I’d play Kaboul everytime. Hudds? Defoe? No more than decent back-up. Gallas and Sandro are probably the only two players outside the current 11 who could seriously challenge the 1st team.
You must be joking about hHuddlestone Villa was the only team playing normal speed football in the second half we have played in the previous four games. Go back too the Fulham game a team who should have bean leggy Huddlestone passing would have made Fulham think twice about marauding forward in numbers. You are insulting football saying Hudds is not fast you will be shocked if you asked the trainers how fast he can run and he has skill when he needs it but his passing is so quick and good he don’t need to run around a lot. There will be games like the Fulham game where we need to find away from teams squeezing the space we need to play and can you imagine him hitting passes to Ady 6ft4 frame and getting Bale away and Lennon in a flash. i for one cant wait for him to come back and see his thunderous shot and great passing and he can tackle when he played with Modric. The one person who has made us better is King followed by Ady and Parker. Remember this when King went off we suffered a draw Hudds will be a vital member like Dawson will in where we end up if they come back fully fit.
Here here Davspur, what a ridiculous comment and pointless article! Thud has been outstanding for us, mesmerizing with his passing and linking the play like a young Hoddle. OK he needs to work on his movement but I think we will need him if we are to last the season and maintain this lofty position
coys
Livermore and Carroll ahead of the Hudd, come on. For sure he’ll have to battle for his place and he will have to wait till injury or poor form creates an opening but Tom is a key member of the squad and offers something that the others lack. We have four top quality cm’s now in Tom, Luka, Parker and Sandro and over the season all four will be needed and I would say those four are probably the strongest four cm options of any team in the PL
I have to say the best defensive partnership is Kaboul and King. Dawson should struggle to get back into the starting XI. I’m hoping that Huddlestone can come back a better player knowing those who are ahead of him. Modric and Parker are dead certains in the midfield, and Sandro surely has to be next in line. Huddlestone has to step up his game if he wants to play. As for the Foolham match, in my opinion Bond & Jordan made the wrong substitutions. Sandro should’ve come on for VDV, and Defoe should’ve come on for Lennon. The midfield was being over-ran and Sandro should’ve been the preferred choice to help shore it up.
He, for my money would make a able deputy to modric. Playing alongside sandro or parker would be just fine. However, having never lost a game playing at centre half and playing there as a kid, feel that may be his best chance to secure a long term starting XI spot @ the lane. Would hate to see him leave.
Haha what a joke. Like you said.. Spurs most successful season in prem years was when he was virtually ever present.
Also remember, the last time huddlestone was fully fit, and didn’t start.. Was in early 2009. He’s Harrys favourite player.
Lastly.. Scott Parkers ‘fine passing range’ haha.. 24% pass success rate isn’t a ‘fine passing range’
Where did you get Scott Parker at 24% accuracy? You only have to watch the games to know thats complete nonsense. Try looking at this site: http://www.whoscored.com/Regions/252/Tournaments/2/Seasons/2935/Stages/5476/PlayerStatistics/England-Premier-League-2011-2012 and you’ll see he has 90.5% accuracy.
The team has moved on from 09/10, in my opinion THudd doesn’t fit any more. At no point in the article have I said that he isn’t a great passer, he is.
Thanks for reading but if you’re going to comment then at least read it all and don’t just pick out the bits that suit your own particular stance.
Hey remember that time Xabi Alonso (huddlestone) left Liverpool because they didn’t need him with gerrard (modric) and mascharano (Parker).
Yeah the most technically gifted English player in the last 10years is an understudy at tottenham! Be real.. Save this blog so when he’s playing everyweek next year we can laugh
Fair play mate I take ure point, I just disagree.. Especially as you haven’t gave him a chance to play in this team yet. I just don’t see why you are calling him an understudy and his style won’t suit us, when the last time he was fit he was dictating against inter milan etc.
I have a lot of time for Huddlestone.But the one thing that does worry me,is his general lack of pace.And at times because of this he gets caught out.As mentioned,perhaps with Parker and Sandro,either side of him,he could get away with it.He is a very good playerbut his lack of pace,would leave us very exposed,against counter attacking teams.Especially if we have one of those games where,we create heaps of opportuniies,and fail to take them.Still its all a matter of opion.
injured not forgotten. sandro looks good. glory glory.
A question for the commenters: Who would you drop to accomodate THudd? Modric, Parker, VDV, Bale, Lennon?
This isn’t the blog for it, but to suggest Dawson is better than Kaboul is sheer nonsense.
At no point have I dissed Hudd’s ability, just asked the question of whether he see’s his future at The Lane and stated that he’s not lived up to his potential, which he hasn’t. If he had, he’d be World Player of the year by now. He’s never even been an England regular.
And no way is Hudd the most technically gifted English player of the last 10 years. Have you seen Wayne Rooney?
Come on chaps….Hudd is a class act.It is a sign of what a great squad we finally have that he wont make the starting line-up when fit.
He will have to be patient along with Sandro,Niko,and even Piennar, these are all good players to have and to be able to call upon when needed.
Hudd is young and full of potential…..why should we let him go anywhere?
Comolli didn’t sign Hudds – Arnesen did. Other than that, the post has its merits, and yet manages to end up being complete drivel. Of course it will be difficult for Hudds to get back in the starting XI – but his only competition on the bench is Sandro. So 4 players vying for two spots in central midfield: Modric, Parker, Sandro, Hudds. Hardly a reason to ask for a transfer, is it?
Who gives a monkeys who signed Hudd?.
He’s a spurs player and has been one of the better ones for a while now…
Its not a case of 4 players into 2….there will be injuries and game when it suits Hudd,and games when Niko can come in aswell…..has anyone seen him have a bad game for us?
Piennar is capt of SA….and hasnt had a chance to prove himself as yet…….never mind livermore and tom carrol coming through.
Hudd will be back in the team and you wouldn’t need to drop Parker or Modd if we played with a 5 man mid (or 4-3-3). Playing against better sides (possibly in the CL) we might need to defend more, so we could take off VDV from in front of the midfield 4 and put Hudd in behind the midfield 4, shore up the middle of the park and look for Hudd to release Bale and Lennon down the wings on the counter. Not having of a dig at Harry (much) but, utilising different formations would mean Hudd could still have a big part to play in this Spurs side.
The idea of the blog is point of view of the writer for us to read. We can comment but as Stu says read it first! Enjoyed the blog, whether we all agree is another matter but it was an enjoyable read. We best watch Harry and see what he decides to do!!
Nice to see Hudd is so well loved by the fans, but no way he can be seen as first choice in our midfield four right now. He can’t play wide, Luka is the best midfielder in the league in his position and Scott is England’s first choice centre midfielder.
Lets remember Harry said we needed Scott Parker, if he thought Hudd was up to it would he have gone all out to by him? I think not.
Rest of it I would agree on most except for him being behind Livermore and Carroll.
Sandro 1st choice back up for Parker, then Hudd for Modric in the centre midfield roles. I see no way Livermore and Carroll can get in front of those two at the moment.
If Huddlestone plays I see VDV playing more in the midfield 3 and Bale and Lennon pushing up higher on either wing. Carroll is not ready for Prem football in a team aiming for top4 football, he needs a year or two on loan, but I think he lacks the physical strength to play in the Championship right now as well.
Good article Stu, opens up some debate anwyay
@Darrylyid: People who think ‘journalism’ should at least get the facts right? People who believe in “credit where credit’s due”?
And for 98% of the games we will play with ‘Arry at the helm, it WILL be a case of 4 into 2. As long as those four are Modric, Parker, Hudds and Sandro, though, we’re golden.
I agree with this. Huddlestone is good,talented slow and not 1st team material. Sandro all day ever day before him. Reality
Very thought provoking Article. Sadly though, I’m not sure why people insist on insulting someone who I assume doesn’t get paid to do this. A Blog is basically a personal diary, someone’s opinion, someones passion to write about a subject they love, yes constructive comments are encouraged, but its an opinion all the same. You don’t GET to write your opinion, or rubbish theirs. If you had anything interesting to say, or an ounce of talent to put it into writing, we’d all be reading YOUR blog. And not this one. There’s a fact right there.
He is a Spurs player and will be needed at various points throughout the season.
The 09/10 season was a great example. Modric injured early on, Huddlestone virtually led the midfield to 4th alongside the no nonsense tackling of Sgt Wilson.
We have FA cup games to come and, barring some miraculous results, Europa league knockout games plus the business end of the league season, We need all the top players that we have to compete in tournaments that we should all see as winnable
Also this isn’t the spurs of old where players can spit the dummy and demand a move if they’re not playing. This has the makings of a sucessful squad where players know that a bad game can and will most likely see you on the bench again
@The_Fox: I’m not a journalist. I don’t think journalism or aspire to be a journo. I run a succesful business and this is a BLOG. Look blog up in the dictionary if that helps you, I do this in my (rapidly shrinking) spare time and do not get paid to do so. You’ll also note the lack of adverts(they are annoying). I pay for this out of my own pocket because it’s something I enjoy. Yes I may well have got a fact wrong (I still need to double check it, because who’s to say you aren’t wrong??)
Just want to clear some points up, because clearly some of you haven’t read it properly, or have deliberately avoided reading parts to fulfil their own agenda or have just plain failed to understand what has been written:
1) at no point have I rubbished THudd’s technique or ability, some quotes to illustrate that: ‘talent has rarely been questioned’ ‘Of course his range of passing and ability to split a defence are plain for all to see. Many have said he’s the best passer since the legendary Glenn Hoddle to grace the White Hart Lane turf and that is hard to argue with’ ‘THudd was absolutely outstanding in 09/10, ‘For all his skills, for all his 60 yard pinpoint passes, for all his thundering shots from 30 yards,’ ‘sad to see such a talented player move on’
2) I’ve not said that Carroll should be ahead of him in the pecking order, merely suggested that he offered another alternative to Modric. This quote ‘It may be too soon to start thinking of him becoming a Premier League regular’ should have made that clear. As for Livermore I personally feel that he’s a better option for the more defensive minded role, but thats just my opinion.
3) At no point have I said that he should leave or that I want him to leave, merely questioned what he MAY be thinking, you can tell thats what I meant by looking at these quotes: ‘move elsewhere may be the answer’ ‘it may well be that if THudd is to establish himself and push back into the England reckoning, he was close after the World Cup in 2010, then he may have to look to pastures new to do it.’ See how I’ve used ‘MAY’ in them? You can all look that up too if you’re struggling to understand what it means.
@fox……its annoying when a yid talks shite….who made you the lord of spurs?…. its nothing to do with people who believe in journalism or 98% of anything…. its about opinions ….shut up and get off your little pony you mug….I’ve been supporting us for over 25 years…..I pray you wont be the prick I sit to next game.
Quite the little debate on here. I wouldn’t like to see Huddlestone leave, but rumours keep coming about his future, which makes me think it is something at least he is thinking about & will be thinking more about if he doesn’t get game time when he is fit. He no doubt has the technique and is a good Premier League player, but for me he has plateaued in his development.
He is competing with Parker and Sandro for one spot, unless Harry drops Lennon and plays 3 advanced men off Adebayor and sets up with two defensive mid’s like how Manchester City play.
These are good problems to have, the difficulty is keeping everyone happy and if you look at the 3 players Parker, Sandro and Huddlestone which one is most likely to be sold if they need to bring in a player who plays in more advanced positions to cover Modric.
Huddlestone is going to have to play out of skin when he gets fit and gets his chance. We all know his strength’s and also what he needs to improve on. Huddlestone not near the finished article and for me his future is uncertain.
I had a similar conversation with mates at the game Monday – Good article, enjoyed it
@Studub: That’s exactly why I put ‘journalism’ – I just don’t subscribe to the rather quaint notion that calling it a blog entitles you to misinform readers who don’t know any better.
I don’t have the slightest problem with your – obviously – very successful business or the fact that you do this in your spare time. Well done, cudos, respect, and all that.
I did two things: 1) I pointed out that you’d made a minor factual error (which it is – you can check all you want) and 2) I used the comments field to express my opinion, which unfortunately differs slightly from yours (reread my post, if you want). If this upsets you so much, I would suggest that you disable the comments field entirely, or begin writing stuff that is so generic and devoid of opinion that nobody will want to reply. The latter is hardly a winning strategy for a blog, though…
@Darrylyid: Talk shite? Lord of Spurs? What the f*** are you on about, mate? I’ve got a good 5 years on your 25 – not that it matters in the slightest – and if you’d been paying any attention, you’d have realized that I agree with you (or at least, I think I do): Hudds has a part to play at Spurs, and shouldn’t be looking to leave.
@The_Fox I don’t willingly misinform readers. I made an error, upon checking, you were right and I have corrected the article. No quaint notions involved, just simple human error.
As for your 2nd point, you’ve obviously taken exception at my other points which weren’t necessarily directed at you, just at commenters in general. So I can only assume that you either wilfully or ignorantly misunderstood the points being made in the article. I have no problem with people commenting and disagreeing, generating debate makes this a better and more interesting blog. I do however take exception to people who either don’t read it properly or purposely select only small portions and comment on it. That was the purpose of me clarifying those points. It was obviously needed.
I tend to agree with most of the blog Stu. If I have a concern at present its my fear that if Sandro doesn’t get much football he might up sticks at the end of the year & that would be a major blow.
Parker has been outstanding but I hope he will be rested occasionally so that Sandro gets game time.
It is the mobility of the midfield as an attacking force that is the major positive this year with the tempo being all important and even Hudds biggest fans would be hard pushed to argue that is a key part of his game.
He will be a key squad player though as the season goes on & will surely play a bigger part than the likes of Piennar.
huddlestone will only be warming the bench, you need to be real and ask yourself if he is beter than parker or sandro! The answer is always no!
yes he has great passing, but a midfielders job is not all about passing. Off the ball huddlestone lacks pace, is often found out of position and does not have the same desire as parker or sandro to get back and make important challenges.
with how attacking our midfield is now, we have to have a holding midfielder like sandro or parker in the team. so unless you drop modric, huddlestone will not be getting a game.