Goodbye Zoko
Wednesday, July 8, 2009 at 2:39PM 134 appearances.
No goals.
Locomotive runs from midfield.
Plenty of dancing.
Plenty of smiles.
Great engine.
No brain.
Comolli classic.
Goodbye and good luck to Didier Zokora.
He was meant to be some form of Carrick replacement. A defensive midfielder to fill the void. Comolli positively beamed when we signed him. He looked the part. Athletic, strong. But tragically Zoko's first touch and lack of depth to his passing quickly let to the conclusion that he was £8M better spent on someone else (which we did anyway with Kaboul).
In two games Palacios showed us what we had hoped to get from the Ivorian. Composure. Intent. Intelligence.
But he wasn't all bad. He did give us much in the way of effort. And he was superb when covering as a right-back, proving the lack of footballing brain he possessed as he was able to perform the job admirably there. Mainly because the job as a right-back is more straight forward then it is in centre-midfield.
He never scored. He never came close. Well maybe once. And there was that run and shot against Chelsea in the Carling Cup final that had everyone screaming/jumping/crying when it ballooned into the sky. But all was well in the end, as he jigged along to the music along with thousands of Spurs fans. He knew how to lap it up.
£8.65M apparently the fee. Not too shabby business that. Although we might have forked out a bit to them for the Ramos compensation. But at least the window has began for us.
One out. Bent next?
As for our departing friend. Average footballer. Great guy. I bet he scores on his debut for Sevilla.
Have a good one out in La Liga Zoko. You mad bastard.
Reader Comments (23)
134 appearance. No goals.
STAGGERING.
No more 'do do do' s.
I can't wait for the follow-up blog article welcoming Nigel Reo-Coker.
Well Zokora was simply a ledgeon but he can't shoot .. I would of rather seen Jenas f**k off ...
Ashely Young Instead Of Downing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cant shoot, cant pass and cant tackle without giving away free kicks, a very decent fee , not a bad bit of bussiness.
Whatever you think of him as a player, he was a triffic, positive influence in the dressing room and will be missed.
Yeah thaks Zoko, for gifting possession to the opposition in dangerous positions having worked so hard to get it in the first place, and for running fifteen yards to make a five yard pass rather than make the twenty yard pass in the first place.
As spooky says 'good luck, you mad bastard'
And good luck to Sevilla, if you are 'building a team around Zokora'. As such I have some advice for the powers that be there:
I'd start with a decent central defence and a good shot stopping keeper who can deal with the inevitable quick counter attacks and strikes from just infront of the back line.
Actually then perhaps a midfielder who will win the ball, and distribute with precision, and will run box-to-box making intelligent runs to go alongside Zokora.
Oh yeah and after that's asorted maybe a couple of good raiding wingbacks and some wide players, and then a couple of strikers who will actually make a shot on target and score a few goals (as you won't be getting many from midfield).
And finally, and most importantly a central midfielder to substitute Zokora when you realise what you've done!
Zokora, nice enough guy, but more 'dizzy than rascal' and definitely bonkers!
Mystery ITK.
Spit it out.
used to play over here in Belgium and didn't fancy his skill but always good for a laugh and indeed crazy as hell , might do well in spain ...
Can anybody explain to me what is wrong with JJ ? maybe because i rarely have the occasion to see the games @WHL that i m missing something but on telle he does a fairly decent job ... ? mmm i bet i will get cursed for this ...
I liked the Zok, he was game. That RB performance against man ure when he made old £80 million look two-bob. I'll miss the dashing charges up the middle ending in a hoof, the pigeons of Seville must be bricking it.
@ Jake - is a ledgeon a legendary pigeon?
Belgian Spur, I didn't know JJ fixed TV's as well, might be he's worth a few more pounds after all!
If you re-arrange the following 'deceives flatters to' you'll get one answer follow it up by rearanging 'end product no but industry'. Would make a decent subutteo player mind you.
Any player who loved Spurs was loved by me. Zakora may have lacked in some departments, but he made up for it with enthusiasm and energy. Good luck to him.
Wish the man all the best, if the guy actually had a footballing brain to accompany the athleticism and effort he could have been world class!!! Thanks for all you have done and if the rest of the team put in half the effort and hard work he did we could well have a good season!! COYS
Good luck to the lad really, played with a smile on his face which could be extremely frustrating. Still he's gone now. Lets just hope it's quality coming in as we shed these squad players
Zokora and Freund - You have to love them both - Both nutters, both great team players, both passionate, both could not shoot. We have Palacios now who can do everything and should be thankful!
Tricky, you are a bad person but damned amusing
Teams wanted Zok, some even want Bent, no one wants Jenas
I'm not so pleased as our only cover now represents Huddlestone (lovely), O'Hara (great commitment, and not bad scoring record but just an English Zokora), Bostock (unknown quantity) and Parrett (even more unknown). He was hated as much as Freund was when we had him which means he'll probably become a ledgend now he's gone.
I will miss Zoks.
Spooky is dead on, he is absolutely a mad bastard.
Will always remember him going nuts after the Berbatov penalty in the CC Final.
Corrupted Mind, I imagine/hope/pray that we will be signing a better replacement. After all £8m is a brilliant piece of business for someone who can't play football and we can get someone decent for that sort of money. Right? Please?
Why can't any of ye spell ledgend/ledgeon? It's L-E-G-E-N-D.
I wanna believe the Tugay and Downing to Villa rumors. It'd have to mean that Ashley Young would be easier to pry away.
I'm beginning to think Sevilla's pursuit of Zokora had a lot to do with a fear that has been installed in Spanish clubs due to the Ronaldo 2 Madrid deal. They probably looked at old clips and saw Zokora cover Ronaldo during that one match where he shined and they thought, "he's our answer; we must have him"! Loved Zok's can-do attitude but if the 8.65 million fee rumors are true, then a great bit of business done by Levy!
COYS!!!!!!!!!