Last season was a mixed campaign for many Spurs players and Aaron Lennon was one of those who ended the year with his Spurs career seemingly at a crossroads.
The season was punctuated with brief highlights including his winner over Liverpool while the low points seemed to start with his late withdrawal from the side to face Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Reports of a ‘bust up’ and a breakdown in communications with the manager followed and stories started to emerge of a possible summer sale.
2011-12 started with injury problems but in the last few games, the fans have started to see glimpses of Lennon at his best once again. Important goals and assists have marked a return to form that has kept others on the bench and now, he seems to be one of the first names on the team sheet once again.
As for the manager, he heaped praise on both his wingers at the weekend but claimed that Lennon’s best position is on the left side,
“Aaron’s been in good form lately,” said Redknapp. “I think he’s better on the left than on the right, in all honesty.
“When he comes on the left, like he did at Fulham and against Bolton, he can score. He likes to duck inside on his right foot, or he can take it past you.
“I think he gets more opportunities to score goals when he plays on the left. On the other side he tends to go one way.
“When he gets on the left side, he squares people up and he can come inside around the box and he’s got that shot on all the time. I think he’s happier on the left.”
Does Harry make a valid point here and if so, how does he solve the issue?
Overall, the question is, has Aaron Lennon turned another corner in his Tottenham career or are we still unconvinced?
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
What I noticed in the games and earlier is that Lennon and Bale have started switching from time to time and also drifting in from the flanks more to throw the opposition defenders out of position.
They should not stay on one wing but switching regularly will cause more problems for the opposition
I like this approach. Bale is too dangerous on the left to swap him for Lennon just because Lennon’s good there too, but I love the switching play and it disorientates defenders.
Lennon mostly on the right is working fantastically as part of our team this season and there’s no need to change something that isn’t broken.
The main thing holding Lennon back from being a really good player is his lack of a football brain. His positional sense is poor, he often just hangs out on the line waiting for the ball to be played rather than demanding it or making runs in behind his defender. I worry that if he hasn’t learnt that by now he never will. His pace gets him in to good positions but without that he’d be non-league.
You’re thinking of Walcott
No. No I’m not.
I’m not so sure. Frequently when playing with corluka Lennon would initiate runs in behind when we were in possession at the top of the 18. He has done this often this season as well.
Not sure to be honest. Being able to play both wings is a plus, but even though Bale has played down the right, particularly for Wales, I think he is far more effective on the left. Therefore, it is probably best to keep Lennon on the right and switch occasionaly. Harry mentions cutting in and scoring, but he has also scored goals from the right. With Walker coming into the side Lennon naturally moves in a bit anyway as it pulls the defence all over the place knowing they have to worry about Walker bombing down the wing and Lennon coming from slighly deeper.
I agree. Keep Bale on the left, Lennon on the right and encourage occasional switching during play to confuse defenders.
Inverted wingers seem to be one of the current trends and I’ve always liked that Spurs play classic wingers.
I think the choice really depends on our long-term forward solution. A more dominant forward would thrive on all the crosses from 2 classic wingers; a tricky/pacy forward (Defoe) would probably work better with inverted wingers who would directly add to the attack.
In the end it would decide between a 4-3-3 and a 4-5-1 for us.
I never once lost faith i Lennon or Huddlestone or Defoe and i always said so . The problem with all three players was injuries Defoe came back too early Lennon had a groin problem caused by defenders tripping him up when he beat them from the tender age of 17 . This was bound to catch up on him and he has had two knee ops and the present groin problem that is still there in the background but he is managing it better. One of the reason for his surge in form is because he his switching sides and the damaged groin is on the opposite side. The reason i know this is because when i played this happened too me and i done the same thnig till my spine also got a disease and finished me off my bad groin has know bean replaced by plastic 25 years ago aged 35. So this is why i knew Lennon for now would return till some other desperate defender crunches his weaker if you watch him closely he winces in pain if he jolts it . So enjoy his blistering form because i do players like him come a long in small quantities we have three different varieties Walker Lennon and Bale and when these three are on the same wave length we will have the best awesome threesome in football. Huddlestoe i hope will come back 100 percent or i will be gutted because i cant wait too see him play with Parker Bale Lennon Ady Defoe to pick a pass too will be something too behold . When we attack with Modric and he has time and the room to move its brilliant. The problems are against teams full of energy like Fulham second half or the resurgent Stoke who have suddenly upped there work rate sparked by fear of the relegation battle he is not has affective and we struggle and we need loads of passes to find space. Big Tom can find this limited space in a flash of his big feet left foot or right and pick out Lennon Bale Defoe Ady with any length mouthwatering pass.
tl;dr
rubbish comment
I wonder if BMJ have epherine to our players when he was at Spurs Dav?
Its good to see that they are both developing different aspects to their game. It would be crimminal to let Lennon go, pace is a rare comodity. The best modern players can play a variety of roles.
With Lennon and Bale cutting inside it opens up the space wide for BAE and Walker who are no slouches. Bale scored two super goals for Wales cutting in from the right. Bale has 4 goals in 5 games and Lennon 2 in 3. (That’s normally a season for him) So keep it going
Lennon’s form would be far better if he was so drunk he can hardly stand down Faces most Saturdays giving it the “don’t you know who I am” with any pretty girl that turns him down!