Steven Caulker made his fourth appearance of the season as Spurs beat Manchester United on Saturday evening and the centre half is starting to build an impressive reputation in the Premier League.
Steven was a vital part of Swansea’s success last season and it always seemed likely that Tottenham would give him an opportunity on his return. He looks calm, assured and a dominating presence at the back and his efforts on Saturday earned praise from his fellow centre half, William Gallas.
“I’m sure for the future he will be one of the best in England and I hope for him, if he works hard, that he will be one of the best,” said Gallas. “He did well in the match at United and what I like from him is that he likes to listen.
“He does his job well and he is focused. He is not afraid to play football or to go forward and that is fantastic for him.”
Caulker should retain his place for the trip to Panathinaikos this week but when all centre halves and defenders are fit, has AVB seen enough to give the young defender a run in this side?
Ledley has been a Legend for over 12yrs,will it be Stevie C.& Jan the Man,Youness no problem,play him at C/F,they did it with Malcolm Mcdonald,Mid/field or R/B,whats up Kyle ? Great to have options !! Football from the back,still want World Class forward,not nearly or has been`s,but The Bees Knees !!
Been watching Steve for a little while now .. and with Jan next too him ( when Bennys back) I think we could have a settled back line for a few seasons to come !!
Caulker still has a lot to do to prove he is ready replace Kaboul, Gallas or Vertonghen in the first team, once everybody’s fit.
I watched the lad play a few times and I still maintain that the best display I have seen from him came in the League Cup match against Arsenal, when he made his Spurs debut.
Partnering Bassong in the middle of the defence, what impressed me most about Caulker was his ability on the ball, his pace and his reading of the game. Despite Spurs eventually losing 4-1 (in extra time), Steven’s performance was encouraging, a point I made clear to a friend who I happened to be watching the game with.
Since then, I’ve probably seen Caulker play 8-10 times (including during the Olympics and the last 3/4 games for Spurs) and while there is no doubt he is a defender with all the tools to potentially become a top-player, at this moment in time, he is STILL very much a work in progress.
At the moment, despite his physical attributes (i.e. pace and size), he seems to me a little bit to easy to beat in one-on-one situations against small, quick-footed players.
Another area for improvement for me is his awareness of of players around him (i.e. attackers in space), and his ability to track runners.
This was highlighted on the weekend where Kagawa was stood in space, between Caulker and Wallker, and the neither of the two seemed aware of this threat until it was ultimately too late. You could argue that Kagawa was actually Walkers man to pick-up, but with Steven within jumping distance to the Japanese international, you would of hoped that he would of spotted the danger and reacted accordingly.
Let me be clear, I believe Caulker COULD one day go on to become a stalwart of the Tottenham defence, but before he does there is plenty of chinks to be ironed out before we start comparing him to club legend Ledley King (as I have heard a few people mention already). Hopefully, he can continue to get a few games under his belt, until the likes of Naughton, Kaboul and BAE return from injury, to aid his development.
Yes I agree with the Kagawa goal but if Walker was standing in line with Caulker then Kagawa would have been flagged off side….
That was Walkers mistake
Caulker has the positional sense that Walker lacks but both will be the best in England before long.
Look how desperate England are at the moment for centre backs, most are close to retiring or arent 100% convincing (Lescott, Jagielka)
Looking around theres no competition for Caulker except the United boys Smalling and Jones
Caulker is a class apart, you can tell he is exceptional as he has the Ledley King way about him, i.e he looks extremely comfortable with the ball and never actually has to make a tackle.
He just reads the game and has excellent positional sense.
In his first few games for us he has dealt with Klose, Rooney and Van Persie brilliantly, none of the 3 scored and they are easily 3 of the best strikers in the world.
He is 20 years old as well
The one thing that sets him apart is he is absolutely dominant in the air, he wins almost every header, I saw him do it to Clint Hill from corners last week and this week he did it against Ferdinand.
Since he has been on the pitch we havent conceded from any set pieces, when he hasnt been on the pitch we conceded from a set play or directly after a set play in our 3 games against QPR, Norwich and West Brom
Rooney is nowhere near one of the best strikers in the world
Agreed!!!
Caulker has all the attributes of a legend and great defender for Spurs. Also great in set pieces when goin forward at corners. A ball-winner and match winner.
I repeat, rotate and put DAWS back in the Spurs defence.
We saw the bombardment Spurs went through, recent Spurs vs MU match, in 2nd halve. Daws should have been brought in to repell the attacks, which he had done in the past. He is tall, aggressive, and puts his body in the line of fire. DAWS is a ball-winner. No disrespect to Gallas, who is 33 age, and slowing down. Rotate both, enough matches for all, Europa and local.
Like the great MU’s and Liverpool’s of past who have ball winners and match winners, now Spurs have Bale, Lennon, Dembelle, Vertonghen, Kaboul, Sandro and DAWS. From defence, we have big, strong, skillful Dembelle to master the midfield, and pop in more goals from wing masters in Bale and Lennon ( like Lampard of young ). Best wingers in the land, therefore ” Attacking midfielders to feed on the opportunities of wingers to smash in the goals Eg the 3rd Spurs goal from Dempsey via Bale. Lennon’s strength to take on 4 to 5 players, and making the final pass to attacking midfielders, like Dembelle. Ball winner Sandro in midfield, to break up attacking moves from MU recent game, backs up, link well with Dembelle. ( Sandro and DAWS are the bull dogs for Spurs – never say die attitude ) WELL DONE LADS, from Spurs fan, Victor, Malaysia.
Spurs younger players are coming through, K. Walker, Caulker, Naughton….you are future Spurs greats.