Afternoon Lads and Lasses. After having watched the game last night (albeit against lower opposition), was anyone else blown away with the play between these two at times? All summer Chelsea have been chasing Modric disgustingly and whilst we all have pretty bad feeling towards the potential move, would it really be such a bad thing? You could see throughout the game VDV was not afraid to drop deep and influence play from inside our own half whilst also possessing the ability to pop up in the final third. The reason for this in my opinion was his relationship with Kranjcar. They both seemed to know when the other was heading forward and would drop back and weren;t afraid when counter attacking to both go forward knowing they have the quality to keep the ball and not make a mistake that could leave us vulnerable. We seemed to play such fluid, entertaining, exciting and effective football that i see no reason why this couldn't be used in the league with VDV and Kranjcar crossing over positions. Contrary to people's beliefs VDV is not a striker and Kranjcar is not a winger. Of course I could just be overhyping a performance against weak opposition but these two impressed me that I can't see any harm in trying it again.
Krancjar is an awesome player. I have no idea why saggy chops would want to get rid when you have the likes of Jenas and Huddlestone who are ****ing awful in comparison
I've suggested in the past that we could accommodate van der Vaart, Kranjcar and Modric, but it would require a little bit of fiddling. Shift Bale to left-back, stick Modric back on the left wing and pair van der Vaart or possibly even Kranjcar with a holding player in the middle, with the other played up behind the striker. Not sure if it would work, but I'd love to see them try it.
I agree with the OP. Any two from Modric, Van der Vaart and Kranjcar could combine well in these sort of roles. Against better teams I think we need two more defensive midfielders as well though. I would defintely be sorry to see Nico go.
I have to say the prospect of that is quite something. I know a lot of Spurs fans think LW is Bale's best position but i always thought his standout performances (Bar Inter milan 1 & 2) were at left back bombing forward on the overlap where he's harder to track. The problem there is dropping Benny, who's been one of our most consistent performers. It's a pretty nice dilemma to have
The problem with Bale at LB is there is no-one to cover his forward runs. I like the BAE/Bale combo a lot. My best answer is to go with a sort of 4 3 3 with Sandro, Huddlestone and Modric as the midfield and Bale, Van der Vaart and the new striker as the front three. As Nico could cover either Modric or Van der Vaart when injured/rested - I might be inclined to rotate them actually. Bale could pop up anywhere in this line up which would make him very dangerous. Lennon would be Bale's back-up or an impact sub.
I like the sound of that. Although Lennon is a very good player, i'm inclined to think dropping him might enable us to take the next step forwards
I've been thinking what Gio's thinking. 25-30 million from a Modric sale to improve the team that played last night looks like a great idea--IF it wasn't a flash in the pan against weak opposition. Does anyone remember a stat I read last season, about Spurs doing very well with Krancjar at center mid? Playing the exact same team against Man U would probably clear some things up--and it would only be fair, as pretty much everyone looked excellent.
lennon can play left as well as right wing,when he and Bale swap wings that gives the other team something to think about
When he first managed to get a place in Redknapp's side, he was used at left-back with Modric playing in front of him in a 4-4-2. If we stuck with the 4-4-1-1 and went back to that partnership, I can't see why he'd be any less protected. I like Assou-Ekotto a lot, but it might be a useful option to consider, especially if Cameroon qualify for the African Nations, which is in January, I believe.
I believe that this is precisely why Harry went for Pienaar. He'd been doing the same thing for Baines at Everton. The thinking was, I believe, Modric in the middle. Bale LB. Pienaar LW. Only Bale as now gone and owned the LW position and BAE works well as a LB with Bale further up.
