There is an ever-increasing likelihood that the high point of Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer business will be the signing of Brad Friedel on a free transfer from Aston Villa. Should this be the case, how will Tottenham improve on last year’s position? With no drastic personnel changes, it comes down to Harry Redknapp’s tactics to keep Spurs in the running.
Anybody who followed Spurs over the course of last season knows that the team’s inability to convert chances was their fundamental failing. Short of bringing in a new striker, what must Harry change to get Spurs scoring again?
The answer may be to scrap the 4-5-1 formation of last season. Peter Crouch scored 4 times in 29 Premier League games whilst spearheading the Spurs line, and whilst people may point to his 9 assists, the return is nowhere near good enough.
In the 2009/10 season, Tottenham played with a 4-4-2 formation and finished 4th. After the arrival of Rafael Van der Vaart, Redknapp whacked all his best players into the starting line up and the result was the 4-5-1. Whilst this resulted in Tottenham playing good football and dominating possession against lesser teams, it did not improve the club’s fortunes. Tottenham scored 12 less goals in the league and conceded 5 more than in 2009/10. In order to bring the goals back a change in formation is needed but then the problem is, who do you drop? Evidently the Redknapp approach of just playing your best players didn’t work, a sacrifice must be made to accommodate a second striker. (Not necessarily alongside Crouch). Bale, Modric, Van der Vaart and Lennon will be fighting for 3 midfield places alongside a more defensively minded player, (Huddlestone or Sandro).
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It is at this point that everybody has a different opinion of what would make the best midfield. Van der Vaart could play in any position across the middle but would you replace the others? Are any of Tottenham’s strikers good enough to force this issue or was Redknapp right to just squeeze Van der Vaart in off the front man?
Personally, I would like to see a return to the 4-4-2 and I would like to see Defoe given a run in the team, he is a form striker and is by far the most single-minded player in the Tottenham squad. He wants goals and the team needs them. I may be tempted to put Van der Vaart on the right, with Lennon replacing him as a super sub unless VDV’s fitness has improved this year.
In any case, a midfield full of talent is a lovely problem to have, a lack of goals up front is not. What tactics would you play and where does Rafael van der Vaart fit into this team?
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