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Various news stories have been published today stating that Luka Modric has put any talk about his future on hold until after the Euro 2012 Championships.

Spurs fans don’t need telling how important Modric is to their team, but his high valuation is often questioned by fans of other clubs, with his lack of assists and goals frequently mentioned.

To these people, I present the following stat:

League stats for the 2010/11 season:
Xavi (Barcelona): 3 goals, 7 assists.
Chris Brunt (West Brom): 4 goals, 11 assists.

Does this mean that West Brom’s Chris Brunt is a better player than Barcelona’s Xavi, who won the Champions League and Spanish League in the season mentioned? No, I thought not. There is more to Modric than stats can show (although an article published by the BBC today does a pretty good job, showing that he created the third most number of goal-scoring chances in the league this season).

The Croatian playmaker is quoted as saying “I’m ready for the big tests”. Whether he sees these ‘tests’ at Tottenham remains to be seen, but, like most Spurs fans, I’d prefer a summer without constant speculation. Both Manchester clubs are reportedly interested, and if, as expected, Modric reiterates his desire to leave, I wouldn’t be too upset if we were to accept a £40million+ offer.

As much as I admire his ability and respect the influence he can have on games, there is no point in keeping a player who doesn’t want to be here for another season. Sell him off, and spend the money elsewhere on the team (striker ASAP!).

So here we are at the end of a thrilling season. It’s been mightily exciting at times, but equally depressing at others.

The highs obviously include the 2-1 win over Arsenal, the 5-0 whooping of Newcastle, the remarkable rise in stature of players such as Kaboul, Walker and Steven Caulker at Swansea, and the development and recognition of our passing style– voted the most attractive in the league (officially!).

Regrettably, the lows also need to be mentioned (briefly): a 5-2 spanking from our Gooner neighbours, losing 3^rd place despite having a supposedly ‘unassailable’ lead over those below, and for me, a different, less-likable side beginning to appear in Bale (more on this in a later article).

Some may feel disappointment at only achieving fourth place given our grip on third for so long, but I know for sure that I would have taken this at the start of the season. The standard of the league is improving, and with teams such as Newcastle and Everton on the rise, getting 4th is still an admirable achievement.

On Saturday night we find out whether we’ll have a place in next year’s Champions League. Chelsea need to beat a strong Bayern Munich team on their own ground, which won’t be an easy task. Should they fail to beat the Germans, the final Champions League will be rightfully allocated to us – a reward that would provide a fitting end to a great season for Spurs fans.

So until Saturday, remember – there’s only one Bayern Munich!

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The draw was kind to Tottenham today as Spurs were drawn away to League One side Stevenage in the 5th round of the FA Cup. Tottenham advanced to this position with a less than exciting 1-0 over Watford on Friday but the club is keen on making a run to Wembley this year. Spurs have a great chance of reaching the 6th round and then we will see if the draw will continue to be kind to the Lilywhites. Here is the complete list of the 5th round matchups:

The time has come! After riots, two beat-downs courtesy of the Manchester clubs, the transfer out of Crouch and Palacios, the transfer in of Parker, the loan deal for Adebayor and a whole bunch of points gained in the Prem, the all important game in hand versus Everton is here. After Wednesday we will no longer hear talking heads say Spurs are X amount of points ahead or behind club X with a game in hand. This moment must be taken advantage of because a potential win does the following: puts Spurs 8 points ahead of Chelsea, 9 points ahead of Arsenal, level on points with Manchester United, and only 3 points behind Manchester City with a trip to the league leaders looming in a few weeks. Now is the time for Spurs to put this game in hand in their back pocket and move forward in the quest for domestic glory.

The team news sees Tottenham short on defenders both in the back-line and in the midfield. Ledley King (hamstring), William Gallas (calf), Sandro (calf) and Huddlestone (ankle) are all out for Tuesday and Scott Parker is described as “very doubtful” due to a knee injury. This news leaves Spurs with just three healthy center-backs in Bassong, Dawson, and Kaboul and one defensive mid in Jake Livermore. I would expect Kaboul to be partnered with Dawson at center-back and Livermore to play with Modric in central midfield with the rest of the usual suspects (Walker, BAE, Bale, VdV, and Adebayor) playing as well.

Everton are in so-so form in the league capturing 8 of a possible 15 points in their last 5 matches with the most recent being a 2-1 loss at the hands of Bolton. The Toffees have their own injury concerns as well with Jagielka, Rodwell and Cahill all possibly out. American Landon Donovan has returned to the club on a loan from the MLS but he may or may not feature. Donovan’s play-making is badly needed in a side that sees left-back Leighton Baines tied for the team lead in goals scored with just 3. If Spurs can control possession and dictate the tempo of the game with the work of Modric, Everton should not offer much of a scoring threat which is good as Kaboul and Dawson get reacquainted. 

The Prediction:

Tottenham 2 – Everton 1

I can see a clean sheet from Friedel here but I believe Kaboul and Dawson will have some king of mix up or Everton will take advantage of a set piece to get on the score sheet. Spurs should still creatae enough chances to put a few home themselves taking the 3 points at the Lane.

Theft In The Highest Order

Using a host of backup players, Spurs defeated Cheltenham 3-0 Saturday to advance to the 4th round of the FA Cup. I have no player ratings to offer you as the only people who actually saw the game where those within White Hart Lane. This lack of TV coverage sent those without tickets searching for audio coverage of the match and I found mine from BBC Gloucestershire who were commentating the game from a Cheltenham point of view. Overall I thought their commentators did a solid job and were not skewed to the Robins point of view so if you are searching for some type of ratings today I would rate them a 7. As for the match itself Defoe, Pavlyuchenko, and Dos Santos were the goal scorers on the afternoon for Spurs. The Mexican international Dos Santos would have scored the first goal as well if the greedy Defoe would not have stole the glory by applying a touch in front of an empty net at the goal line (seen above). From the match reports it sounds like Niko Kranjcar played very well which is important because I believe at some point in the season his service will be needed.

On Sunday Tottenham’s good fortunes continued when they were drawn away to Championship side Watford in the fourth round of the FA Cup. That along with Manchester United defeating Manchester City and then being drawn away to Liverpool in the next round could help Spurs have a potentially comfortable path as they advance in the competition. This is  another busy week for Tottenham with two home matches on the docket. Everton will be visiting the Lane on Wednesday for the all important game in hand and then Wolves make a visit on Saturday. If Tottenham can earn all six points like many expect the Lilywhites could be level or ahead on points of Manchester United who currently sit second in the table at weeks end. Be sure to check back with Hotspur HQ tomorrow for a preview of the Everton match!

Tottenham starts their participation in this year’s version of the FA Cup with a home fixture against League 2 side Cheltenham on Saturday. Harry Redknapp is expected to rest all of our key players coming off a grueling holiday schedule. Center-back Michael Dawson and winger Aaron Lennon will be welcomed back to the side coming off injury and the rest of Redknapp’s selections should consist of first team players who have not seen a great deal of playing time this year. I expect the selections for tomorrow to look something like this:

Conventional wisdom says Spurs should waltz right through into the next round but this match will take a professional effort. Cheltenham are unbeaten in their last nine matches with seven wins and two draws and currently sit second in the League 2 table. I have no doubts that Tottenham will win but this has the potential to be a tough match given the fact most of those in the starting XI have not received much playing time so fra this season and have dodgy match fitness. It is hard to take the pitch flip a switch and play at a high level when a player has spent most of their time riding pine. This is especially true against a well organized team full of confidence such as Cheltenham. Tottenham’s superior talent should eventually take over though but it would not surprise me if Spurs had to turn to their bench in the second half (putting on someone of the likes of Modric or Bale) to ensure a victory much lake last year’s third round game at home versus Charlton.

Prediction: Tottenham 2 – Cheltenham 0

Rotation, it’s important for tires, baseball pitching staffs and this lovely little blue planet we call Earth. Sadly, it is not important or even in the vocabulary of Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp. What’s the point of boasting about our “deep” squad if you don’t ever use any players outside of the regular starting XI barring injury? I don’t have to explain to you why rotation is important. It is a fact that tired players don’t play as well and are more susceptible to injury than those who are fresh and rested. During these congested holiday fixtures Spurs made very few alterations to their line-up game to game while other clubs routinely made 3 or 4 per changes to keep legs and minds fresh. Yes, Tottenham did better than most clubs over these four matches going unbeaten collecting 8 points but at what cost? The squad looked tired against Swansea and West Brom and now Gallas and Sandro are injured after having played in all four matches. Below is a table presenting the number of league starts key Spurs players have made this year with their projected number of starts for this season followed up by their career high number of league starts.

Seven of the eight players on this list are in line to make or tie their marks for career high starts this season. The only player projected to be below his career high is Gareth Bale who will post a career high in Premier League starts once he passes 29 starts. Harry Redknapp has us going down an unsustainable path that will see our key players tired and injured in the latter stages of the season as he is asking way too much from all of them. It’s fine to ask one or two players to play more minutes than they ever have in a season but asking seven is way too much. If Harry does not utilize his bench more often Spurs may end up broken down and tired in the critical final months of the season. I’m not asking for three or four changes per game to be made from here on out that would be plain crazy. One or two smart changes each week are needed though in order to allow Spurs to be fresh and competitive as we traverse through the second half of this season in search of a top four finish.

Spurs grinded out another win on a cold and mostly quiet night at White Hart Lane on Tuesday night. The lads looked slow and unfocused during the first half but still controlled the majority of possession while West Brom offered very little in attacking threat. Their objective was to get it to 0-0 or just 1-0 late in the match and then give it a go. It looked like a 0-0 draw was in the cards but in football it only takes one or two good passes for a goal to go into the back of the net. Just that happened with Van der Vart and Bale feeding Jermain Defoe on the game’s lone goal with two quick passes. Overall the line-up looked tired which stresses the importance of a little rotation over the next month which is something I will cover in great detail tomorrow so check back then. Now on to the ratings!

Gallas 7: I thought he looked much better yesterday than he has in the last few matches. Cool, calm, and collected while covering well for others. Went off with a calf injury in the 68th minute. Given his calf problems this year I hope he isn’t out for too long.

BAE 7: may not be the most skilled or athletic player but he understands positioning well and put up a solid stat line of 2 tackles, 3 interceptions, and 5 clearances. Looked to have a bit more energy than his last few outings.

Van der Vaart 7.5: Another fine game for the deep dropping VdV. His passing was sublime and he put in another great defensive effort (with just one major slip-up) tracking back as needed.

Sandro 6: Was caught in possession a few times before going off with a leg injury.

Modric 6.5: Had his biggest impact in the first half keeping possession and moving the ball forward. In the second half I thought he was less involved and had little impact.

Bale 7.5: A very strong game even though there were periods with some drop off. He was fouled on 4 occasions drawing several yellow cards on those charged with marking him. Provided the assist on the Defoe goal.

Defoe 7 (MOTM): Worked hard and dropped into the right spaces. His shooting touch was off though but he did scor the games only goal on a great finish in traffic and based on that he gets my MOTM vote…sorry!

Adebayor 6: The offsides are really becoming a problem. How hard is it to stay BEHIND the defender? I think he is taking too much advice from JD!

Subs-

Livermore 6: Works hard but doesn’t really offer much and isn’t the level of player we need on the bench given our ambition. Gave blood for his effort though gashing his mouth on the back of Kaboul’s head.

Bassong 6: Nothing to crow or complain about coming on for the injured Gallas.

Kranjcar 5: Did not do all that well and people were jumping on his case but to be honest he is not fit and was being played way out of position. Niko is by no means a defensive minded center mid and Harry probably should have shifted Bale to the center while bringing in the more defensively skilled Rose to play on the left.

The game acted out much like I thought it would closely resembling the Norwich match earlier in the week. Spurs got off to a slow start and were disjointed as the two sides looked to figure each other out. Van der Vaart put in a goal late in the first half and I thought the second half would be off to the races just like it was on Tuesday. Tottenham couldn’t find that spark though and were surprisingly dominated in the midfield especially in the second half. This lack of possession allowed the Swans to build up play and put home a late goal to draw level off the foot of Scott Sinclair. It was a bad last day of 2011 at the office but the lads still came home with one point. Now on to the ratings!

Gallas 6: The Frenchman did make a few key tackles and interceptions while passing the ball very well but for some reason he isn’t passing my eye test right now. As I have said before he looks a step slow and indecisive at times.

BAE 6.5: Watching the match I thought he played poor but his statistics say otherwise with five tackles, five interceptions, and a 90% passing rate to his credit. It obviously tired though as could be seen with his effort on the Swansea goal.

Sandro 7: The Brazilian had another good game sitting in front of the back four. Can be easily dispossessed of the ball at times but he’s still growing and learning with a massive amount of potential he can reach.

Van der Vaart 7.5 (MOTM): Was the best player in a Spurs shirt yesterday with a goal, some fine passing and a very solid defensive effort. Should not have been subbed out for Defoe, Parker should have been the one to be swapped out.

Parker 6.5: Parker was not bad at all but you can tell he is not playing at the same high level that he was earlier in the season. He is no spring chicken and Harry needs to give him a rest from time to time to keep Scotty fresh so he can have the same high impact in the second half of the season.

 Modric 7: Played his usual workman like high passing percentage game but failed to make any key passes in the final third. Cleared a ball off the line defensively.

Bale 6: After a brace earlier in the week Bale was merely average on Saturday and if he wants to be a world class player he needs to be more consistent. Some of this could be due to injury (his ankle looked to be bothering him) or the tactics of letting him roam but before he is allowed to do so Redknapp should insist that he establish himself as a threat on the left flank first.

Adebayor 6.5: Worked hard most of the match but sometimes I don’t see the level of effort that is required up top. Did do some good work on the left side though as Bale drifted into the middle.

Subs-

Defoe 6: After coming on in the 71st minute only had 11 touches of the ball and had very little impact on the game.

Livermore 6: Jake came on just after JD and worked hard but truthfully isn’t a good enough player to merit playing time at this level yet. I look forward to the possible return of Huddlestone in February.