The Midfield

Do you see anyone from our current midfield making the cut for next season?

Personally I wouldnt mind if anyone we have now is just backup for our first choice next season, Steed and Lennon could be great squad players and I think Huddlestone shows a lot of potential to be a great player. We havent had a player like him since Carrick left, the pass and vision he has is amazing at time, great potential.

But, im sick of waiting for Jenas to realise his potential. We know he can play great but he does it so infrequently its just not worth it. Zokora is a tough one, he shows some great play but I think his understanding of the game and the defensive CM role is fundamentally wrong and we dont have the time to be patient with him.

Ohara shows great commitment, effort, and dedication to the cause but im not convinced he has the ra ability to ever be in the starting 11 but by all means keep him at the club. Tainio too injury prone, but again a legendary Yid, like the guy but a squad player no more.

I have no idea who we could get for our midfield next season but a new starting four is imperative IMO, maybe 3 top class players and let Lennon, Steed take the other space on either wing.

Alonso would be a great start and the other 2 or 3 will be people I dont know much about from Spain or something. Poulson maybe? Would we have a role for him and Alonso in our midfield together?

Tiago could also be an option.

Lennon has got to go , his final ball is atrocious plus he loses possesion far to easy as does Malbranque .
JJ needs to do it on a regular basis , Hudd looks to be maturing nicely in to the creative player we need since Carrick went . BUT .......... we still boast no top class midfielders that the "big 4 " seem to have in abundance . Perhaps Ramos can raid Spain the way Wenger does France to bring in some much needed quality .

you'll never ever get alonso no disrespect but if he were to leave Liverpool it would be to a big spanish club....

i always thought Spurs fans liked lennon i think he's good a bit to inconsistent but isnt he like 21 he'll get better with experience...

zokora is a tube huddlestone is better and prince=boateng was young player of the year in germany were is he

Hes been awful thats why he aint playing.

Personnaly i think we play better witout Jenas in the side, not just because of the pompey game, but i think Hudd and Zokora work better together.

Personnaly this is the midfield id like to see next season but who i think is possible to get:

Jesus Navas--Huddlestone--Tiago Mendes--Barnetta

Navas- I think we could get him because of the Juande Ramos factor
Tiago - We almost got him in Janurary if you believe the speculation
Barnetta - Really rate him and hes not at a big club so could be possible, maybe Berbs could work his magic and go come on look what happnened when i moved from Leverkusen to Spurs, im a legend here you could be too.

Our midfield is certainly our most troublesome area now that we've sorted our defence out a bit. The problem is that we seem to have several very good midfielders but no particularly great ones. Like Jono, I don't really know who we are likely to sign during the summer but no-doubt Ramos will already have some people in-mind - probably from Spain.

Of our current crop of players, here's who I'd like to keep/not keep:

Jenas - keep in the squad. He has immense potential but we all know he doesn't do the business often enough. I'd like him to have another season - a full season under Ramos and co. - to see if his inconsistencies can be worked on.

Huddlestone - keep. He's one for the future, there's no denying that. At a young age, he's already one of the finest passers of the ball in the EPL. He can't tackle and he turns like a 747; he hasn't even got a great deal of pace, but he can unlock a defence and spread the play like almost nobody else. With some players, I find myself screaming at the TV because I can see a pass that they can't, as I have the advantage of the TV camera angle. Huddlestone usually sees these passes that others don't.

Malbranque - undecided. I like old Steed - he's a real work-horse. Like most people though, I find it hard to see him starting regularly for us if we manage to crack the top four and start playing Champs League footie. He does work hard but he doesn't have any stand-out qualities which make me want to keep him. He's not a fantastic shooter; he's not got electric pace; he's not the best of passers; he sure-as-hell isn't a tackler. He is, however, somebody who can do a job on the left and decent left-sided players are scarce. I'd like to keep him in the squad, but if cut-backs were needed, then Steed might have to go.

Lennon - keep in the squad. Another player with potential who I'd like to be given another season to see if he can prove his worth. He's a fans-favourite because he has genuine pace and is exciting to watch - unfortunately he's equally as frustrating. His crossing ability is almost non-existent which makes his ability to beat players practically useless, as he demonstrated against Portsmouth today. He can't shoot either so he's certainly not redeemed by that attribute but he does work fairly hard and track back quite a lot, which is always good to see. I really want him to improve because it's rare to find raw talent with so much pace - he could be fantastic for us if Ramos can sort him out. If he can't sort out his deficiencies within a reasonable amount of time, then he'll have to go.

Taarabt - keep. We haven't seen much of him yet but we all know he's a serious talent. He beats people for fun (in a non-violent way) and is a real crowd-pleaser. Once he matures and develops his game to it's full potential - which he surely will under Ramos - he can be one of the most exciting prospects in Europe.

O'Hara - keep in the squad. Again, another hard-worker. He resembles a left-footed Malbranque, but one with slightly better defensive instincts. He's still young and is still quite fresh in the Premier League arena, so I think he should be given the opportunity to develop. He's English and he likes being at Spurs - these are both important factors in my opinion.

Prince-Boateng - don't keep. Perhaps it's harsh to condemn him to 'transfer listed status' so soon and after he's played so little, but I really don't see a place for him in the team. He's clearly got talent; you don't win the 'Young German Player of the Year' award for nothing, yet I'm still not convinced about him. He seems to be out-of-favour with Ramos at present, but Ramos wanted to sign him during his time at Sevilla so perhaps he has plans for him in the long-term. I don't even know where his best position is as he's just been used as a gap-filler since joining Spurs; perhaps we'll see more of him next season.

Zokora - keep. I like this guy a lot. He was a bit naive when he first joined us but he seems to be adapting now and also toughening up a bit. He still has some bad games but they are outnumbered by the good ones. He's quite combative and can give good protection to the back line and whilst I enjoy his bursts forward, he's never going to score many goals. He often carries the ball out of trouble though and shows great pace in doing so. I also like his personality - he seems like a good person to have around.

Tainio - keep in the squad. Tainio can be very effective in certain circumstances and seems to be a well-liked player. He and Zokora are our main defensive influences in central-midfeld and although he hasn't had much game-time this season, he's still managed to put in a couple of immense displays. He's also quite versatile and can fill a number of positions in both midfield and defence, if needed. He's never really going to be a regular starter as the club moves forward, but I'd like to see him stay within the squad.

Some of our current players aren't fantastic, that's for sure, but most are very good on their day. It's obviously not possible to have seven or eight top-class midfielders in our squad - nobody really has that luxury, apart from a few select teams. What we need to do is sort out the players who are either solid performers already or players who show great potential and add two or three true quality players to this established group.

I'm confident that we can attract some top names over the summer, considering the current state of the club coupled with the fact that we're quickly improving in all departments. I can't believe it's almost time to dig up that old 'Summer Transfers and Rumours' thread already...

Good write up mont, would like to get this section going a bit more and posts like that is what we need!

I think you are being a bit overly sentimental with some of those players tho, we dont need to keep all of them but I see where you are coming from, could all be useful to have in the squad next year.

I usually dread the offseason and transfer window as its 95% [beep!] but I think this one is going to be really exciting for Spurs fans, Ramos' first chance to really put his stamp on the team.

Never mind that, where's the bar?

O Dogg made me pack it up, says we arenty licenced or something.

Thanks matey.



Perhaps you're right Jono - it's difficult to criticise players who have been good servants to the club but sometimes you just need to be ruthless. The only players that I said we should keep though were Huddlestone, Taarabt and Zokora; I decided I'd like to see Jenas and Lennon given a chance to improve under the guidance of Ramos but I wouldn't be distraught if they left. I think Tainio and O'Hara are decent squad players because they don't have huge egos and they seem to know their place. Again though, all of the players that I've marked up as 'keep in the squad' could go and I wouldn't be too worried.

Although a lot of our current midfielders aren't world-beaters, I think it's unrealistic to think that we'll get a completely new set of players in - some of our current players will be staying I would imagine. Anyway, here's a rough suggestion of how I'd like our midfield squad to look next season:

This is just a preliminary set-up and I'll no-doubt change my mind over the coming months. I've selected two players for each role but I'd expect a couple of players such as Tainio and O'Hara to remain in the squad as they're quite flexible.

First choice: J.Cole-----------Zokora----------- Arshavin-------Lennon

Second choice: Taarabt-----Huddlestone ----------Jenas------------???
(under-study to
first choice in
some cases)

LM: J.Cole and Taarabt. Signing Cole is unlikely, to say the least. He's gone through spells at Chelsea where he's been out-of-favour but he's on top form at the moment - I can't see Chelsea letting him go. He's an awesome player though and I'd love to see him at The Lane. English as well. Taarabt would be a great under-study for Cole and a fantastic impact player until he matures.

CM/DMC: Zokora and Huddlestone. I've already explained what I like about these players. The Hudd wouldn't be an under-study for Zokora, he would simply provide a different option. Zokora is the defensive, combative option; Huddlestone is the more attacking option due to his passing and shooting abilities.

CM/AMC: Arshavin and Jenas. These are the attacking, goal-scoring midfielders and the players who should be involved in much of the play as we go forward. It's a crucial role and Jenas isn't consistent enough so I'd like Arshavin - who has been nothing but classy every time I've see him - to come in. I've compared him to Fabregas in the past and think he could be a great signing.

RM: This is a position I'm currently unsure about. I like Lennon as I think he fulfills the brief of what we need on the right-hand-side: a proper winger. With Cole on the left - a right-footed player who is prone to cutting inside, much like Steed - I think we need a player on the right who can beat people with pace and skill, to balance things up and make sure we're not too narrow in our play. I think someone could come in to replace Lennon but I wouldn't mind someone as back-up for him either. I'm going to keep an eye out over the next few months. Suggestions welcome.

To compete in the premier league and to challenge for a cham league place you need to buy the finished article . I would like to see and with a decent bid it could happen , Juninho come from Lyon , i also like Yobbo's shout of Jesus Navas .

Juninho would be class, its players like him, Tiago, Navas, Poulson that we need to get in.

IMO get in four midfielders of that quality, a new goalkeper and we are set!

Juninho is a class act - there's no denying that. He's too old though in my opinion; he would be almost 34 if we signed him for the start of next season. The other players that have been mentioned all sound good to me though.

Does anyone approve/disapprove of Arshavin? He's pretty special from what I've seen.

No opinion, dont know [beep!] all about Arshavin apart from his unfortunate name

Haha, his name is unfortunate, that's for sure.

I can't make a particularly accurate judgement of him either because I haven't seen enough of him, but what I have seen has been very impressive. Here's a few facts:

Name: Andrei Arshavin
Age: 26
Current club: Zenit Saint Petersburg
Position/role: Playmaker, attacking midfielder, right midfielder or forward.

He was the 'Russian Player of the Year' in 2006. He's an extremely flexible and creative player but not only that; he scores approximately one goal in every four games. I'm sure he would slot into our team somewhere and I'd like to see him alongside Zokora or The Hudd.

There are quite a few videos about him on YouTube if anyone wants to look him up.

lennon---hudd---jenas---vicente(valencia)

Atleast two of those players arent good enough IMO, I want a full overhaul of the midfield this offseason.

Lennon and Hudd i can see staying in the squad but no more.

Put Modric in the midfield now

right now if we had him and noone else id play

Lennon Hudd Zokora Modric

I would like a centre midifelder who is more defensive minded to replace zokora even though i like Didier i dont think hes good enough.

A realistic midfield for next season:

Lennon--Huddlestone--Barry--Modric

People will say Barry is unrealistic but you forget he was and think still is a Tottenham Hotspur fan, and might be tempted to come by Ramos.