Jenas and Bentley Attempt to Save their Tottenham’ Careers in America

The refusal of Luka Modric to accompany Tottenham on the pre-season tour of America and the absence of Scott Parker and Rafael Van der Vaart through injury for their match against Liverpool has presented David Bentley and Jermaine Jenas with an opportunity to resurrect their Spurs’ careers. They are two players who have been long-term members of the squad but who have contributed little in the  past couple of seasons through injury, loss of form and falling out of favour with Harry Redknapp. The arrival of Andre Villas-Boas as Redknapp’s replacement means that like all players in the squad, it is a new start for them and a fresh opportunity to impress the Head Coach.

Jermaine Jenas

Jermaine Jenas has been at Tottenham since 2005 and has made over 150 Premier League appearances. He was a member of the 2008 Carling Cup winning team which defeated Chelsea at Wembley. For his first four seasons he was a regular member of the team but since 2009 his appearances have been sporadic and last year he went out on loan to Aston Villa but sustained an injury which prematurely ended his season. A player who contributed twenty Premier League goals in those first seasons, he has scored only one since. Jenas is a skilful midfield player who always seems capable of giving more that he does, often settling for a square pass. He is also capable of running and taking on defenders but hasn’t show enough of that in his recent play. He frequently misses out with injuries and last season’s loan to Aston Villa never really started as he was injured when he went to Villa Park and having recovered suffered another injury which kept him out for the rest of the season. He played in a behind closed doors match against Brentford earlier this month and tweeted that ‘he had played his first 45 minutes since December’.

He has since played in all of Tottenham’s pre-season matches, playing for 83 minutes in the latest against Liverpool on Saturday as he builds up towards full fitness. Jenas is 29 years of age and has considerable Premier League experience and 21 England appearances but in Saturday’s match, paired with Jake Livermore in a central midfield holding role, he was largely anonymous – the only time that I was aware of his presence on the pitch was as Skrtel ran past him in the second half to have a shot on goal.

While being given this opportunity, I would be surprised if Jenas is included in Tottenham’s twenty five man Premier League squad, come the beginning of September. If he were to retain such a role, it would be a detrimental step for some of the younger players who staked a claimed through their Europa League experiences last season.

David Bentley

David Bentley’s last meaningful contribution to Tottenham was late in season 2009-10 as Spurs qualified for the Champions League. Since then he has made only two League appearances and has had periods on loan at Birmingham City and with West Ham United. The Birmingham loan was not overly successful being described as ‘he flattered to deceive’ while an early injury put him out for most of last season although he was included in Tottenham’s twenty five man squad for the second half of the season but was not called upon. Bentley signed for Tottenham from Blackburn Rovers for £15 million, in the summer of 2008, hailed as the next David Beckham. Life at Tottenham was difficult as Juande Ramos’ side struggled and he was replaced by Redknapp the following October. Bentley will be remembered for his goal against Arsenal in Redknapp’s first full match in charge when he gave Spurs the lead with a high dipping volley from forty yards in a 4 – 4 draw. Since the end of that season he has been a peripheral part of the scene at Spurs, always being included on media and supporters’ lists of players expected to leave during any recent transfer window.

Bentley has made seven England appearances and there were high expectations for him but his career has stalled at White Hart Lane. He played the final twenty seven minutes of the match against Liverpool having had the last quarter of an hour against LA Galaxy. It was a surprise to many that he was included in the tour party and he hasn’t contributed much in those short appearances to suggest that he’s going to be any more successful at Tottenham this year. The best solution for Bentley who will be 28 years old next month is probably to seek a fresh start at another Premier League or Championship club.

Three other players who are in a similar situation are Tom Huddlestone, Sebastien Bassong and Heurelho Gomes. Of those three Huddlestone probably has the best chance of making an impression on the new coach. As he continues to recover fitness following last season’s injury, he demonstrated in his short appearance against Liverpool that he still possesses the ability to play a perfect, measured pass, something which is beneficial when trying to break quickly from defence with two pacy wingers willing to lead the attack.

Over the past eighteen months, Sebastien Bassong’s play displayed a major loss of confidence. He has currently been given the opportunity to play at left back where he could provide cover for Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Against Liverpool there was little evidence of any improvement in his levels of assurance and like Bentley and Jenas would probably be better off with a fresh start at a new club.

Carlo Cudicini and Brad Friedel have played in the opening two matches of Spurs Tour in America. Heurelho Gomes will be hoping for an opportunity to impress against the New York Red Bulls on Tuesday. Harry Redknapp lost patience with Gomes in May, 2011 and replaced him with Brad Friedel. Gomes was limited to four appearances last season – three in the Europa League and one in the Carling Cup match against Stoke City.

Recently, Gomes was highly critical of the way Redknapp treated him and is hoping to impress the new coach.

"““Redknapp barely talked to me. I was playing really well when he hired Friedel. So I was really surprised and decided to ask him about that. Redknapp asked me to be calm, because I was his goalkeeper and he trusted me, as he told me. But that didn’t happen.”"

To date, his opportunities have been restricted and with Tottenham openly looking to sign a new goalkeeper, one wonders what future there is for Gomes at Tottenham.

Will any of those experienced squad players be given an opportunity by Andre Villas-Boas to resurrect their Tottenham careers?