The Huddlestone Proxy
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 2:00PM He is perhaps the player that has elicited the ‘ahh I get it now’ response from the crowd (as the season itself unfolded) and from fans alike, and over the course of the season has grown in stature. But there are still question marks for some.
Spooky has previously mentioned the conundrum, in that whilst he appears to some to be immobile, lacks pace, is a luxury player, goes missing in big games, needs to play alongside a strong defensive player (basically Sergeant Wilson) to play to his own strengths or indeed lay off the Tommy K, he is not without his merits. And all of these have been common consensus opinions, since joining the club and a lot are, to be frank, not without merit (although the Daily Snail clearly haven’t heard of Photoshop).
Huddburger anyone?
As some of you here will know, for the last couple of years I have been banging the drum (to the extent that I have been accused of acting as his PR agent) that Huddlestone is the closest we have had to replacing Carrick, to the point where those that have not been converted to my way of thinking have been silently assassinated and I carry on in my crusade. And as much as I’d like to now sit back and say ‘I told you so’, that wouldn’t tell the whole story.
But taking a step back it is easy to see that Huddlestone is also an anomaly in the bigger picture. It would seem the media has consistently pushed for an altered view on the game in England and with so many opinions out there by ex-professionals it is easy to see how it happens.
We are told time and time again about how great the English Premier league is, how tough it is and how the pace of the game is so much more intense than our European counterparts. And so in this frenetically paced environment we see an increasing number of waif like players, athletes who can ‘kick a ball a bit’, as opposed to the more skilful ‘guile and craft’ type players whose numbers appear to dwindle year on year, a perfect example of which is the increasingly frustrated Berbatov (who’s love for squirrels may see him moving to the continent).
And yet I can still (just) remember my Saturday morning’s as a nipper being told to pass the ball because ‘the ball can move quicker than I ever could’, this was relentlessly drummed into me (not in a Roman Catholic priests way) and yet amongst the myriad of opinion from ex-players it never gets commented on. Instead we are simply told that it is ‘pace’ that is so dangerous to teams and that these days they are all highly toned ‘athletes’.
Well Hudd doesn’t really have pace, I’ll grant you that, but he does put in some good leg work (often not noted or indeed commented on). So does that make him a ‘luxury player’? What exactly is he? Is he an attacking central midfielder? As he’s not your ‘box to box’ engine that get’s tagged onto so many other central midfield players (notably Lump-o-lard, Gerrard and more recently Fletcher for United). So maybe he’s not the player you want at ‘the top of the diamond’ or pushing forward. However he does have one hell of a strike on him when he connects. Conversely, he seems not to score very many from the positions he gets in, he doesn’t drive into the box to get onto crosses, in fact if anything he sits off waiting for the counter attack (good in my opinion, others find it frustrating).
So is he a defensive midfielder? Well there are some who say he can’t tackle, that stats from the last season alone will contradict that one, but actually this is where one of the subtlety’s of his game comes in. If you position yourself correctly and make it difficult for an opponent to get round you, you can stop them advancing without actually making a tackle. Helps If there’s a lot of you to get round of course, but it slows the attack and will force the opponent to rethink his attack. Does this appear on the ‘stats’ that get poured over each week? After all clearly there someone somewhere sat at every game with an abacus marking down every half-tackle, half-chance, along with the incomplete passes? Again you only have to look towards the media for their views on all manner of stats and indeed opinions.
Well I have yet to see a specific column for ‘defending well without making a tackle’, but I have noted that Hudd has done this to great effect in some games (not all, and this is where the criticism is valid), most obviously in games where he shepherds the player into the brick wall that is Wilson.
But this whole ‘quarter back role’ that he’s been saddled with, does that make the best use of the fact that he can score a cracker right out of the top draw? And it relies on Wilson doing the tackling and passing to him to make the pass. Surely if you had the one player who could do both it would be more effective, wouldn’t it? And a quarterback dictates play, Hudd even at his best never really seems to ‘dominate’ oppositions, he just gets about his job without the shouting and ref surrounding that the aforementioned ‘box to box’ players all seem to have in common. He’s not a vindictive or terrier type player whose attitude commands the middle of the park like a (Roy) Keane or a Dennis Wise.
So he can’t beat his man for pace, he can’t really tackle (allegedly), he doesn’t have a ‘big lung bursting engine’ on him, and he doesn’t appear to outwardly have the big game attitude, so what is he? This ephemeral ‘luxury player’?
Or maybe he’s just a straight forward central midfielder, no ‘makalele’ or ‘quarterback’ tags. Just a simple player, where all he has to do in the middle is receives the ball and makes a pass. Well yes, but then anyone can do that, right? Wrong!!!! I refer back to one of the most frustrating and loveable players to have watched in recent times, Didier Zokora, who would run 30 yards to make a 5 yard pass, rather than simple make the 35 yard pass in first place. Was it because he couldn’t complete a pass over 5 yards, or that he was simply a headless chicken? I don’t know, I loved his heart and attitude, but it was never really matched by his play as it slowed down our attacks and allowed the organised teams to get back into their ‘two blocks of four’ an expression Messrs Hanson and Dixon seem to have patented.
So Hudd can make a pass, course he can. But that’s not the simplistic beauty of his play, no it’s always been far more subtle than that. He has two of the ‘gifts’ that others are not graced with, the ability to place the ball on a silver platter in any position on the pitch and more importantly the vision to see the movement by his team mates. Combined these give speed of thought and execution of a pass that turns defence into attack, and can split the most resilient of defences, or catch out players who have pushed out of position. For me, if the ability to create a goal from a single pass is a luxury, then in my humble opinion it’s a luxury every team could do with.
So I will now say that Huddlestone is the best midfield player we have had since Carrick, for me even better than Wilson (a sacrilege for some for me to even suggest that) and has the potential to be greater still. Sure with age and experience comes the ‘dominating’ aspect of the game, but he can tackle, and does, he puts in some of the hard yards and he ‘sees’ the game when he is on song.
He is versatile as well, he can sit back and make his passes allowing a more ‘craft and guile’ (Modders) or even our own ‘pace merchants’ (Lennon and Bale) to benefit from his ability. Or he can push on and dictate play higher up the pitch (alongside Wilson), as he seldom loses possession and so he allows a higher line of attack and defence. He brings the Balance to both our attacking and defensive play the likes of which we have not seen for some time.
For me he was my player of the season, admittedly this is mostly because I am biased towards wanting him to do well, but also because he has come on so much that we really missed him when he was out more than any other single player (I’m discounting the King as he was always likely to be out regularly).
Sure he’s not the exciting Welsh winger or goal poaching Russian that we love to love, and he’s not the ‘headline grabber’, nor will he get the crowd out of their seats. But, in terms of his overall ability, the effect he has on the game and just as importantly our balance and style of play, it looks like we’ve finally got a young English central midfielder around whom we can base a free flowing game of passing and movement – well passing anyway.
Hey, he might yet make the cut for the final 23 this summer. And I for one am hoping so for England’s sake, Rooney thrives on service and is often acknowledge for his ‘off the ball’ movement, just imagine what he could do with the sort of service that Hudd could give him from deep positions (now’s there a quote for some of you). Lennon (and Tottenham) has already benefitted this season, maybe England can too.
And to all those that wanted him sold 18 months ago I can only say ‘ner, ner, na, ner, ner’! Childish I know, but hey..........
.......Go forth and consider the above.
Reader Comments (50)
agree
I didn't call for Huddlestone to be transferred because I loved it when he had a shot.
However, this season, he hasn't scored as many and he can appear like a passenger due to a lack of pace.
Palacios also needs a bit of tweaking atm.
In other news, King's getting a little better!
COYS!
Was really worried about Thudd before HR's arrival, but Harry's definitely worked the magic with him. If he has a fault it's mobility, and thats where Palacios should come in, but Wilson's form has been pretty poor of late. Scott Parker would in my opinion be a perfect foil for Thudd, and I think we could tempt West Ham with a few of ours moving East in return. West Ham would definitely be interested in Jenas, O'Hara and Hutton, and it would be good business for everyone concerned. After all it is the way of things. we get their best and they get our crap, its the unwritten football law!
So you're a fan of Chubblestone then?
Dont think we can say he is an attacking midfielder, 2 goals and 1 assist all season is shocking. Also, this idea most Spurs fans have that he has a great shot baffles me as he has had more shots than most and they end up in row Z at best. Good player but wouldn'r get into any other top 4 team, carried by Modic and killed Wilson as he had to do all his running
Wow. Yes Thudd imh has improved his play, but now simply fits well into what is at times a rather well oiled clockwork mechanism. All this, 'he's better than this' or 'he's better than that' is bye the bye as far as I'm concerned. Football is a team game, and the roles for each individual along with the personnel and the formations will vary according to the opposition. In the same way a striker cannot flourish without suitable supply, Thudd would not have had such an impressive season had the team not knit so well together. Jumpers for goalposts? When it works, it's just like being in the park with some mates. Appreciating an individuals contribution is one thing, but when you start using the words like 'better' and 'best', you're not acknowledging enough the importance of synergy.
I've always been an admirer of Thudd, but I do think he took a major step forward in the second half of the season. Until then, I would have thought that Wilson/Thudd or Wilson/Modric were the viable midfield pairings but that's now been turned on its head by the beauty of the Thudd/Modric combination in the centre of the park. It was a wonderful moment when it clicked between them, resulting in some football of the highest quality. (I think Modric and Gudjohnsen share with Thudd the special positional sense that limits the opponent's option.) Wilson does of course still have a role to play in the side, but the potential of Modric and Thudd together is breathtaking.
Ossie, that's a hard angle to take but it's not without truth. Thudd's lucky Arry believes in him, although this will only improve him if he works at taking his chance. He's not wasted all his chances like JJ has to date so he's got a bit of time, but with our ambitions, we'll have to be ruthless if he doesn't deliver and someone else can.
Spot on... agree with all you have said and if it wasnt for Dawson would have been my player of he season too. And when was that pic taken??? Surely not recently..
Hey I like Thud always have and he's just going to get better and better. Closest thing we have had to Hod since well GHod.
Said it before, but I like him because when he gets the ball, I relax. In a way I worry about him making the world cup squad and losing confidence when we get thwapped.
And he does need to score more goals to become world class.
I'd just like to say congrats to spooky! Thats one more spur in the world!
You simply do not sell a player like Huddlestone. He is going to be one of the best in the Premier League within a few years. How west spam wish they had kept players like lampard. Lampard took so much abuse as he was developing, look at him now. There is no-one who passes as good as Huddlestone and once he adjusts his radar he will be banging the goals in. I think he is as talented as you can get and he is getting better each season.
Your liking for the player has clouded your opinion. Still does not deliver consistently enough and at 23 he should have developed a lot quicker.
Yes Trembly, it is harsh, but we as a club should expect nothing but the highest standards, that is the only way we are going to progress. 4th place is amazing, but should only be seen as the start of our return to the big time. I will not be happy until we are genuinely challenging for the title and lifting trophies every year. Looking forward to a golden era (or should that be lillywhite era!)
disagree with yid, he 23 which mean he well on his way to being a world beater. i dont know if i agree with spooky's player of the season assessment, simply because for long stretches we succeeded because of great defense, with daws and gomes more deserving of player of the season type plaudits. however, his passing has been one of the most stunning and eye catching moments throughout the season. i mean how many times did the ball all of the sudden get pinged 40 meters across the field, and everyone is thinking WTF, then it was on a fucking bullseye on lennon's or bale's chest... thing of beauty
about the whole pace thing... did no one else notice his tracking back specifically in the city game. he showed some real pace. adrenaline pumping for sure but pace non the less. hopefully he will continue to tone out, as he started under ramos. he gots bags of potential
Isn't it great when we can discuss, who out of a large contingent should have been the Player of the Year, as its tighter than a nuns wotsname?. An earlier post said its a team game, and I couldn't agree more, as there were so many outstanding performances last term, by so many players, makes you proud doesn't it?
i am still sure that he pays you to be his personal PR agent Tricky , but i had to review my opinion of him ... he became a bigger player (no pun intended) than i thought possible ...
I think the thudd should take a few Scholes videos and watch them on how to run a game.Delete the tackle bits from it and just watch how simple he makes it and model himself on him.They have something in common in that both players have a weakness.Scholes can't tackle but he just always seems to be there and was able to run a game without seeming to do a lot.The thudd can't run and his tackles are not always great,he can't jump to save himself but for all these things he has got better this season but has a lot to learn and do before he can be called player of the season.A thirty yard pass is great but if you don't do the other simple things it means nothing.Get stuck in mix it up ,keep the passes simple mostly and mark your man and i feel he will get better but this is a real test coming up with the chance to make the CL proper and thats when the quality starts to show.I think Wilson and Modric have both had to do hard work to thep Tom but at times they too have looked below par maybe this has had something to do with Toms work rate maybe just the season but its time now to mnove on up and with a bit more effort we can pass arsins boys and push on but will Tom get his chance ,that i feel is down to him and has he got it in him to go to the next level.
I've seen a lot of games on tv from this side of the globe and I'm not sure Thudd is my player of the season. Mine is Bale. Not because of longevity or consistency over the season but more for his brilliance and the "wow" factor.
However, getting back to Thudd, for all the negatives written about him, his vision, speed of thought and passing ability is amazing. His goal scoring will improve over time and at only 23, surrounded by other class players, his potential is limitless.
If we want to be a constant meber of the top 4 club we need to repalce Thud in a 4 man midfield. He would be excellent in a 5 man mid and I expect him to shine in ( asssuming we can get passed the qualifier) Eurpoe.
Hudd is a 4 man midfield
EWE rock !
Going against the trend on here, but I think he is slow of thought and movement. Other teams know that they can press him and easily win the ball, he is a liability when in our own Penalty area, often giving the ball away with a bad 5-yard pass and his shooting is terrible.
Also, a 50-yard missile fired at around 70mph to the throat of a wide man is not a good pass given the time it takes for the receiver to control the ball. A pass of similar distance into the path of a running attacker so that he does not have to check backwards is a great pass...I didn't see Hudd making many of the latter.
In age terms, look at Fabregas and you have to say by now, at 23, all the rough edges should be off and we shouldn't be talking about potential.
I think he will need to be one for the bench next season if we are to make progress.
Having said that, he will probably be picked for England and be player of the tournament....that's opinions in football folks!
STAT CORRECTION ALERT! 3 assists not 1. Not a shocking tally, but not amazing either admittedly - he was busy holding together our midfield. The stat that is most impressive is that we finshed 4th AND HUDD STARTED 33 of those 38 games. Please do not detract from that fact. In those 5 that he did not start - we lost 2, drew 1, won 2 - that's 1.4 points a game which is less than the 1.8 points per game than we get WITH HIM starting. Why the hell replace a man that is 23 and got called up for the England squad? He may well suit Champions League football down to the ground. We should replace NONE of that starting 11. We will need a pool of 16 good first team players to handle the frequent games anyway. Hudd also let Modric play.
The other thing to consider is how many ENGLISH central midfielders finished season in a team above him? Chelsea - Lamps, Man U - Scholes, Arsenal - are you kidding me? Below him: City - Barry (starter for England), Milner (possible starter for England), Liverpool - Gerrard. Being in central midfield means that there is no place to hide, but he MUST be doing something right to get 4th place and finish amongst these class English midfielders. One of the 3 players of the season: Gomes, Daws, Hudd (Lennon and Bale had good half seasons).
Great blog and spot on and
the only thing slow about Hudds is is side movements he can run in a straight line has he proved in a few game in other words he is not quick of the mark but surely this is why he develop other skills. Like quick thinking and speed with both feet are razor sharp if he was a striker i would worry about is speed but he can create more than most Mid fielders can with is passing skill . Take a look at is cameo role against Brazil you will see England had more chances in is six or seven mins he had the ball. i said weeks ago if he goes to the world cup and plays we will win the World Cup and i stand by my Comment Alll good teams have something special Gomes Ledley Lennon Hudds Bale Modric Crouch Defoe Dawson have a blend that makes a team Successful Hudds passing Dawson heading and covering Ledley Speed and positional sense Bale speed and movment Lennon same Modric the ability to receiving the ball in tight places Crouch size and very good on the ball Defoe when not carrying a hamstring strain explosive pace and a shot and can create is own chances . So you see we don't need pace all over the pitch because we have plenty in our squad Take Hudds out and the speed is no good with out the space to use it Hudds finds it and breaks stubborn five man Midfield down with a 50 yard cross field pass with pace and backspin so rejoice in the fastest feet i have seen since Hoddle. And very soon we will see a big improvement in his goal states. Once again well done my fellow Cockerel for Letting others now we have a great player in our mist and which Hopefully the World Cup and Europe will soon see for themselves
Hudd would def need to increase his assist and goal stats even if only by a little bit. In his defence, I wonder how many times he hit our wide players - Lennon, Bale, Modric, Krancjar - who then went on to assist and cause general havoc. I think he's had a superb season and will only get better, especially with his positional play.
Hudd really stepped up to the plate this season.
There was fuck all left by the time Wilson got there.
For anyone who says he's immobile and not a box to box player, watch the video of the goal he scored against Man City 2 years ago.
2 years ago? He has eaten since then!
Nah, Love Fudd, done great this year, triffic.
hmm see this is a tricky one. i look at huddlestone and i know he has his merits, but then i also see that he can be a liability at times. for sumone his size to get outmuscled off the ball like he does is truly cringeworthy, but this is balanced by his shooting ( although 2 goals al season isnt too great a return). hes one of our slower players but then can pick out a pass that te scum from arsenal probably couldnt even draw or think of. all in all we have to give him time, but for chmpions league, does anyone think we might need to find a better midfielder of his type of play? il be interested to find what my fellow spuds feel about this
Could not disagree more with your assessment of Huddlestone. I hope to be proven wrong- obviously Capello must agree with you and he knows a thing or two about football- but for me the number of times he looses the ball- either by gifting it to the opposition or hoofing it to row N- is not good enough to be a midfielder for Tottenham Hostpur- not if we have big ambitions that is. I don’t imagine that any of the other top four teams would have him in their starting line up. I think he has lots of talent but is just not good enough for the top level. I don’t think we should sell him, I would be happy to have him as cover for someone who can retain possession better and unlock defenses more consistently.
Might work in his favour,
PatVanDenHauwe - you just said it. You said: 'I don’t imagine that any of the other top four teams would have him in their starting line up'. Hello? 4th place? He did play 33 games for a top four side. He won't suit Arsenal because of their quick energetic approach. Chelsea prefer power - as Deco hardly had a look in. Man U - like power and energy. So I agree that he wouldn't suit them - but it is has nothing to do with ability - just the type of player. Liverpool definately could do with him, but they are not a top four side...meow...
Congratulations on the girl Spooky! Cheers to another brilliant prose-spewing Spurs fan
Yes, congrats Spooky, great news! good luck mate, hope Mother and Baby are doing well.
You do realise she's going to expect Champion's League EVERY year now! It's all she'll know!
Timber you're spot on with your comment about him not getting many assists but making the pass for Lennon , Modders or Bale etc to cause havoc and make the assist. He's also plays with great discipline positionally. He's improved fitness wise too. My only gripe is I'd like to see more goals from him but Thud and Modders are my first choice CM pairing hands down. He's had a great season. I hope he goes to SA. Also the CL will suit him, I think we'll see what the lad can really do next season. Congrats Spooky.
General rant to the haters:
"Not good enough to play for Tottenham Hotspur"? Uh? The fact of the matter is that we've qualified for the Champs League for the first time ever in a season that Hudd has played 33 games out of 38 so he clearly is good enough. Unless of course you're referring to a Spurs that is a European footballing behemoth that should win everything every year but unfortunately only exists in your head. We've also been without Modric and Lennon for long periods, so they've hardly been carrying him. Maybe it's because of Hudd that we've coped so well without them?
I agree that if we are to improve even further we need even better players, that's mind-bleedingly obvious, but that applies to the whole squad not just Hudd. But please let's not expect to start sprinting to the league title just as we've taken out first tentative steps in the right direction, eh?
As for not scoring enough goals it's worth pointing out that we've had 19 different goal scorers this season so the onus is not on him to regularly find the back of the net. In fact the variety of goal scorers is down to Hudd being able to link up defence and attack, switching play by spraying the ball around accurately with either foot to the players who cause the damage. I expect him to score a few more next season though.
Exciting baby news, Spooky. Congratulations.
Huddlestone is quality, and if you disagree you are a grotesquely ugly freak.
To all those griping, bear this in mind - this is his first proper full season of 1st team PL football!!! Look at how much he has improved since the start of the season, quite a lot. I said a few months ago that Hudd would very soon surpass Palacious. He has developed the physical and athletic side of his game, and his passing is something that you simply cant learn. To those who say he's lazy, well I've got news for you - it's you who is lazy. Charachterizing a player based on stuff that was true about 18 months ago. Yeah Palaciois can run around like Zokora, well sorry but I'd rather have someone who can pass like Steve Nash and knows how to balance a midfield positionally. Did Carrick run around at 100 mph? No. Was he extremley effective? Yes. Take off the lard-smeared specs and get familiar. Who has been the 1 constant in our sucessful team this season? Palacios? Modric? Jenas? No, it's been Huddles the monkey. Just because you can't see how good he is doesn't mean he isn't good. It means you need your fucking eyes tested.
It's not Hudd's job to 'unlock' defenses, just the same as it wasn't Carrick's job. It's their job to give the ball to the unlockers. If the team is playing well and creating chances (which we have been all season), then please accept that Huddlestone has played a huge part in this, even if it's not him actually carving out the chances. He gives other players a platform to excel. Also, those who say he is 'weak' and gets brushed off the ball too much, seriously, what game have you been watching all season? Saying he's lazy and weak is one of those cliches that football fans like to come out with. Also comparing him to scholes is wrong. Scholes played in a 3 man midfield most of the season, and in the glory days playued in a 2 man midfield with Roy Keane. Pretty much anyone who did that would look amazing.
Huddlestone has pretty much done all we have asked for him. He isn't, and never will be, a heavy scorer. How many goals did Carrick score?? Very few. Huddlestone is better than Carrick, better than Palacious. His problem is that because he is so big, even when he is covering ground quick, it looks like he isn't running fast. And he doesn't score goals. And in the simple minded world of the English football fan, it's all about running fast and scoring goals. Even though no one has said it, I bet many of the Hudd haters are secretly thinking 'Jenas could do a better job - he's got a great engine, and remember that goal against Arsenal?'
Long live Tommy H. I said he would end up at a top 4 team sooner or later. Thank fuck it's us. He will an England regular, and don't be surprised if he makes the World Cup.
Father Crisman, you sir are a legend. Spot on
england wont win the world cup without players like tom because you need to play football at that level of competition.. and tom is a footballer...he is good enough for a top 4 team and yes he aint the finished article,,tom is playing well at spurs under redknapp..modric and tom in the centre of the park and winning games? in the premier league? who would have guessed it? remember berbatov at spurs? didnt do a lot of running around to get the ball and didnt track back much to get the ball..but blimey he had skill...and look at dimmy now at masn u? he is becoming crap coz they make him run around like a robot,all work ethic and no football...thank goodness redknapp likes his teams to play football... coys...
@father chrisman: you are awesome
hudd is the man and our team would be far worse without his talents. palacios' passing is meaningless and frantic as is jenas'. hudd knows his job is to get the ball to bale and lennon to scamper up the wing and he does it better than anybody on our team including modric. his work rate is incredible even if no one notices how good his positional play is and how much running he does. he even beat his man to get an open look at goal with stepovers in the beginning of the season for christs sake. yea he should win more headers but to criticize his strength is bs. if you were really watching you'd see that he is on a hair trigger for ref's whistles due to his size just like crouch.
what center midfield won against arsenal, chelsea, mancity, and gave us our 4th place finish?: modders and hudd. end of story.
I am glad that some of you recognise the fact that the game of football isn't just about pace , otherwise Walcott would be the best player that ever lived
{shudder}
Or Usain Bolt.......
What we really need is the bastard spawn of a Hudd/Wilson, science gone right, copulation. Imagine....the vision, passing and ball striking of Tom aliigned with the power, mobility, engine and tenacity of Wilson. Put that in alongside Luka and its happy days.
It really irks me the sick joke of giving someone like Palacios the passing skills of my dear deceased nana.
Father Chrisman,
Good to see that anyone who disagrees with you is "a grotesquely ugly freak" and "It means you need your fucking eyes tested."
Makes me proud to support the same team.
Hope your plastic surgeon and optician can save you.
Dave,
It is inevtiable that where a differing of opinion exists, people will take a different form to substantiate their arguement.
Fact is that you put yourself in a room with a couple of hundred other people you're bound to despise at least one of them. Could even be me (for some people it probably already is)
It is something I had noted after the fulham cup replay and commented on on a different blog, (http://www.thfclatest2-matchreports.com/cocks/?cat=75).
Thing is we don't have to get on, or agree. We just have to support the cause, even if we have different views on what is important and how to achive it.
As long as Spurs keep on winning that is! As soon as we start losing, all bets are off, and we can return to the good old days ;)
'grotesquely ugly freak' - Brass Eye reference, not actually my opinion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgKCas5xJ34&feature=PlayList&p=B3E3BDCB0E9E8412&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=14
0:30
Watching Huddlestone and Modric playing together is hand-in-the-pants sexy football. The assists statistic is also really misleading, because it only includes the penultimate player to touch the ball, but if the stat was recorded like in ice hockey (the last two players before the goal scorer) the stat would probably be much higher, at least around 10 which is pretty damn good.
It is my personal opinion that Palacios is the worst of the best in the Spurs midfield, but he's still light years ahead of Zok. Depending on who we pick up in silly season, Palacios could be spending some serious time on the bench. What good is a footballer who can't pass?