One of the most depressing aspects of Sunday’s home defeat was the sight of Rafael van der Vaart limping out of the match with a torn hamstring.
The second half of VDV’s first season at the Lane was punctuated by niggling injuries and that brought the issue of Tottenham’s formation into sharper focus. As for the player himself, he was looking forward to a campaign where injuries didn’t play so much of a part.
“I can remember when I came here, okay, I had pre-season at Madrid and I felt quite fit but here, the pace of the
game is more intense than in Spain and that’s why I had a few little injuries,” VDV said in pre-season.
“At the end I played a lot of games and I hope to do the same next season.”
Many of us remain huge fans of the Dutchman, but not necessarily of the 4-5-1 formation that seems to always be in place when he takes to the field. With Adebayor now at the club and possibly joined by one other striker before tomorrow night, it will be 4-4-2 for now at least and perhaps when VDV returns from his latest setback, he will have to fit into a team formation rather than have it fit around him.
It will be good for us to play a 4-4-2. It got us into the top four…
Rafa was by far the only player with a bit of fight I. Him and that seem interested. U could see his disappointment when he had to come off and kicked something in the tunnel. I feel that arry was to blame for the other day. A midfield of Nikolai and the modric could not cope with them. Livermore should have started. Nikolai was at fault for the first goal when he did t track the les lesbian properly
Im not being funny… but a 4-4-2 formation is exactly what we need.
stick Ade and JD up front and the will terrorise any defence. VDV has been pretty dissapointing for a while.
teams that cant cope with the class of larger teams usually play 4411 away from home, we are supposed to be a top team so why are we playing this anyway. losing VDV at these stage may be the best thing thats happened to us. Now we can use Adebayor and Defoe which is the best we have at the club. Crouch once again demonstated on weekend that Harry is the only reason he wears our shirt.
As for another signing would love to see this happen but I dont think Levy will back Redknapp with big bucks. we will prob end up with that gobby twat Bellamy. I have lost patience with it all. Harry out! only a twat would make the decisions he does. Krancs and Modders in CM against City says it all. Crouch cant score – shocked at the crap we’re being linked with. Parker (not bad) but Cole,Hargreaves, who next? Maldini and Romario? what a sorry state to find ourselves in…. 🙁
Think this might work out well without VDV for a while, playing 2 upfront is sooo much better than one, this is why we drew so many games last year as we only had the one striker and could not finish teams off….I am a fan of VDV but paying him makes us play the wrong formation.
You cannot say it is a wrong formation when we have not had the players to properly play that formation, we have not got the best strikers in the world and we have a very good midfield which is why we play through our midfield. Adebayor is a smart striker who would be able to work with van der Vaart which is why we brought him to the club. We should judge the formation properly when we have seen it with the right players playing in it. rather than judge it with Crouch in it!COYS!
Looks like we agree 🙂
4-4-2 might just help us get a bit of cohesion going because as the article said when VDV takes the field we do look bit toothless only because we don’t really have a stronger option as a loan striker but hopefully Adebayor should fill that role. Admittedly the last two league results have been poor but we have only played two games so all this panic talk is silly however I am beginning to agree with Harry Redknapp the Modric saga has gone on far too long we should have made it perfectly clear to Chelsea that the price is thirty million plus Sturridge and then they can either get on with the sale or move on to other options, personally I would sell at that price and buy the one or two players that we do need to help us push on because i may be in the minority but I don’t think Modric is worth that and if a team like Chelsea want to pay that much then let them have him. Once again we have left any business until the last minute so instead of being settled as a squad BEFORE the season starts we are scrambling around looking for bargains when everyone knows that last minute deals cost more given that there is little time for the selling team to find a replacement. It seems to me and everyone else that maybe Daniel shouldn’t be as involved in transfer dealings as he is. Lillywhitetilidie
4-4-2 would suit us, this could be a blessing in disguise. We need Sandro back in midfield asap and I would partner him with VDV when fit, with the two wingers. Let Modric go, he is too lightweight to play in a four man midfield with our two wingers.
442 is the right formation why cant vdv play were modric plays when the misrible twat be sold ade and jermain be a great partnership little and large we hit that top four im sure we still need a defender and a defensive midfielder
Heres a long shot, but has no one thought about a 3, 5, 2??? Just to see how we would fare??
Gomes/Friedel
Kaboul/Walker Dawson Assou Ekotto
Sandro Hudd/Livermore
Lennon Bale
Modric/ VDV
Adebayor
Defoe
Maybe Im wrong but at the minute I think that all options should be tried, to see what works right for us, because there is clearly something wrong. I also think that when Sandro is back to full fitness that between him and livermore, they could cover our back 3 quite decently. Thoughts???
In a 3-5-2 you’d have 3 CBs, 2 wingbacks, and 3 CMs. The team you’re showing is only 1 CB (2 with Kaboul over Walker) and a confusion of who is playing out wide.
We are short on top quality defenders so we shouldn’t use a system that requires more of them. We do have a bunch of top midfielders so I’d suggest the following:
4-3-3 with 2 CBs and Fullbacks with license to attack (which is what they do anyway), cover from 2 DM (2 of Hudd/Sandro/Livermore/Parker(?)) and 1 AM (Modric/VdV/Kranjcar). Up front with Adebayor in the middle and Lennon and Bale on the wings — both of these being fully attack minded so it’s not a liability if they fail to track back, only a bonus if they do.
The only problem with that is if Lennon and Bale can actually become quality wingers, not just outside midfielders. If this was FIFA — do it! In real life it’d be learning a new position and take time.
Honestly we’ll stick with a 4-4-2: similar to above with 2 CBs and attacking fullbacks. We need a DM every game not 2 numbers 10s in the middle of the field. Kranjcar/Modric/VdV are all good enough, but they don’t cover so we need a dedicated DM.
Ade and Defoe should be a good combination.
The weak link I see in the Spurs lineup now is Lennon. He has the skill but seems hesitant to fully attack. It’s nice that he tracks back more but I’d rather he was making threatening runs that kept the other teams fullbacks pinned and worried to come forward. Right now I’m not sure what he brings. VdV being overlapped by Walker would bring something different (than Bale on the left) to our attack. Hmmm…
just get rid of Crouch. He is rubbish, cant score, fouls loads and has been for ages…..and we revert to hitting it long to him. get lost Peter
VDV – does not have the stamina to play CM so this is not an option. Bale should be played CM and give Kranjcar, Giovanni, and Townsend a chance down the left
lol Bale should not be played at CM, you need to utilize his raw pace which is done best on the outside. Kranjy can’t cope with top teams but seems to play outstanding against smaller clubs. Dos Santos is pretty much gone and I’m expecting him to rip it up at wigan, and Towns doesn’t seem ready.
3-5-2 ‘s ridiculous lol i play 3-4-3 in fifa.. 4-4-2 is what got us into the CL, Defoe averaged .53 goals a game that season, Crouch .21, and Adebayor .54, so if Defoe and Ade can mesh it should be a good year. Modric played great with Thudd in 442 but at this point can suck on dees, cash in on that rat bastard. Kranjy could fill in but a replacement would be ideal although, I think we’ve procrastinated a bit too much, hopefully Harry pulls a couple deadline day transfers out of his ass .. FSUS!