Did the Signing of Van der Vaart Make Sense?
Don’t say this to Harry’s face, but the “Wheeler and Dealer” springs yet another surprise, much to the delight of the Spurs faithful. On deadline day, despite Redknapp’s claims to the contrary, he ended up completing a magnificent piece of business. Or did he? Given the system often used by Redknapp and the plethora of midfielders (especially Central Midfielders) already at his disposal, was the signing of Rafael Van der Vaart really necessary?
Let’s look at the facts- Prior to Van der Vaart’s arrival, Spurs had TEN senior midfielders in their squad. Those in bold type play centrally- Lennon, Bentley, Dos Santos, Bale, Jenas, Huddlestone, Palacios, Modric, Kranjcar and O’Hara. Added to this tally, there is young Danny Rose and Sandro, taking the amount of midfielders at White Hart Lane to twelve. Now, Van der Vaart makes thirteen. How can all of these midfielders possibly fit into Redknapp’s plans? True, with the Champions League in addition to regular Cup games on the club’s calendar this season, there are more games to play and being able to rotate players will surely come in handy as the season gets weary. But is it possible that given the twelve midfielders already on Spurs’ books that perhaps Van der Vaart wasn’t needed? How is this thirteenth midfielder going to fit into the squad?
There have been suggestions floating around that perhaps Redknapp may have to change his trademark 4-4-2 into a revolutionary 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1. While that seems likely, there is a problem. There are four strikers on Spurs’ books and since only one can start in either system, morale issues are a certainty to develop or get worse for that matter, looking at Robbie Keane for example. He has seen his playing time diminished over the last year or so. As a result, his future has been up in the air and even though the transfer window has slammed shut, no respite from constant speculation seems forthcoming. You’d also recall that Roman Pavlyuchenko wasn’t always a “happy camper” either.
Morale issues among midfielders should be expected as well. The likes of Jermain Jenas, Niko Kranjcar and Jamie O’Hara aren’t exactly regular starters and one can’t expect that situation to get better given Van der Vaart’s signing. Even Danny Rose and new recruit, Sandro, can find themselves out in the cold.
Surely then, the 4-2-3-1 and 4-1-4-1 systems are by no means complete solutions. Any way you look at it, Harry Redknapp’s deadline day signing will give him a huge headache. Whether it’s a good one or bad, we’ll see as the season rolls on.
Topics: English Premier League, Football Transfers, Harry Redknapp, Tottenham
Football News 24/7
Agreed…i think Harry still have a small time mentality for a manager…he would always just get any player that is good to better the club without even thinking if it is necessary…Spurs already have a good set of midfielders but he just had to try grab em;same thing he’d do with J.Cole,Hleb and whoever else is available…
September 3rd, 2010 @ 09:09This is a wonderful signing since it is clear from our desire to purchase Bellamy/Cole we were looking for a more offensive mid-fielder and Van the man fits into this. We have more options & if we play teams like Wigan we are going to need more players with guile/nous and experience- Van fits the bill.
September 3rd, 2010 @ 09:09The van will be a good signing for Europe but i don’t think it was our priority and to miss was to good to let go at 8 million
September 3rd, 2010 @ 09:11I honestly dont care if a couple of our players get upset because they are not getting the playing time and attention they require.
We the supporters pay our money, they do the job they are paid hansomly to do on the pitch, and Harry does the job he is paid to do.
All I care about is that the Spurs supporters are happy at the end of the season. If a coulple of our midfields go home and cry into their swimming pool at night and we retain fourth place i do not care.
YIDS
September 3rd, 2010 @ 09:12me think there is enough game to rotate the squad and system and make everyone happy and achieving our goals. Let’s bring Bremen and Ar2ena1.
September 3rd, 2010 @ 09:16Your asking if it makes sence to buy a world class playmaker who can score goals from the midfield? Of course it does, granted id have rather got a striker, but after strngthening all other positions, what we needed was exectly a goalscoring midfielder and thats what we got. You cant even get the html correct. poor article
September 3rd, 2010 @ 09:21havent you got anything better to do than find something to whine about FFS give it a break
September 3rd, 2010 @ 09:37fact–jenus, bentley ohara, santos, rose are not good enough at any time and santos we have not seen yet. Bale will be an attacking full back in Harrys plans!! kranjar is a good sub.
September 3rd, 2010 @ 09:51so we have modric, huddlestone,lennon,palacios,van der vaart and with santos 6 really good midfielders!! thats okay—the rest should have been sold but there values are a lot less than what levy would take.
In a 5-man midfeld, I would expect: Bale (LM), VdV (AM), Modric (CM), one of: Huddlestone, Palacios or Sandro (CM) and Lennon (RM).
September 3rd, 2010 @ 09:57this article is rubish! corse he was worth signing hes a world class player and well used to playing in the champions league! i was thrilled that we actually managed to pulll of the deal to get him and for 8 million! he fits in the midfield because o,hara and jenas will be sold theyre not good nuff to be in the first team , even can see bently going who to be honest i wouldnt be dissapointed about after never living up to his price tag!
September 3rd, 2010 @ 10:15‘It’s not the good players that are a luxury’
September 3rd, 2010 @ 10:23Danny Blanchflower or Bill Nick or some such idiot.
I fully agree that the amount of midfielders is a problem. BUT – if we buy a player which improves our first eleven – then we should go for it. Jenas, O Hara and so furth – are not any better because we have a lot of them lot.
My point – it was a clever move for us to bring in VdV. Both mentally – and to show ambition. Of course W bremen will be more concerned about VdV than O Hara or Jenas….lets face it.
The “wrong” in this situation was to keep Jenas and the other squadplayers at the club. Not to buy VdV
COYS
September 3rd, 2010 @ 10:43Bentley would’ve been sold if we’d got VDV in sooner, O’Hara would’ve been sold if he wasn’t crippled at the mo. JJ isn’t first team, apart from real bad injuries or Carling Cup and we couldn’t find a buyer. Rose will be loaned to Champ team next week.
Everyone else will be rotated and VDV will be one of the first names on the team sheet (especially big games) as he is class. He also plays either just off the front man which we’ve not got an abundance of players who do that (especially to his pedigree) and he plays LM, so will be rotated with Bale, and Modric.
As for forwards, there’s so many games, and Harry will still uses 442 against lesser teams.
September 3rd, 2010 @ 10:59Wow! Another quite rubbish article. And I also want to give you a friendly advise; check your html coding before you launch it
September 3rd, 2010 @ 11:06Your point suggesting that we already had 12 midfielders before VDV’s arrival is true, but hardly a concern.
We are trying to strengthen our team. And you surely appreciate that VDV could become a very big boost in our midfield which so far this year has been having problems creating chances.
So what about the other players like Jenas, O’Hara etc? Well, if they don’t impress Harry or are not good enough to be selected, then they don’t deserve being in the squad… It’s as simple as that!!
It’s not an moral issue. it’s common sense!
Yes, maybe we do have a couple of midfielders too many and hopefully the “dead meat” will be sold soon. These are professional footballers we are talking about. If I don’t do my job properly in the long run, I will get fired. Why some people have this sympathy for professional footballers that are not playing regularly is beyond me. It’s not like they are suffering economically and have to go to the dole office next morning…
BTW, I have never had a good headache..
COYS!
You mention we hve 12 midfielders but VDV is better than all of them. Are you saying it was not necessary for Spurs to strengthen the first team?
September 3rd, 2010 @ 11:13another rubbish article. the 12 mf included the likes of Jenas, O’Hara, Bentley – who are either injured or not good enough. Rose is still one for the future and will get loaned. VDV is superior quality to most of our midfielders and is better at linking with the striker(s) and chipping in with his share of goals. as we have seen – without Modric we lose our attacking threat from midfield. Lennon, Bale out wide, Modric, Hudd/Palacios/Sandro, and VDV. Krancjar, Giovanni are great options to come on when needed to change the game.
September 3rd, 2010 @ 15:00I think you’re right. If only we could rewind the clock to 4 OClock on Tuesday and reverse the decision. What’s the point of having the beating creative heart of the World Cup Finalists in your squad if Jenas is going to get moody. When is O’Hara ever going to get a game?
Harry just gave a typical Pavlovian response to the trigger of having the bargain of the decade dangled under his nose – what was he thinking?
You’re an idiot.
September 3rd, 2010 @ 15:31Thanks for all the comments. Apologies about the HTML- I’m not sure what happened there. I’ve read all the comments and I must point out that a number of you have taken this article out of context. The signing of of a player of Van der Vaart’s calibre is always a good coup.
However, while I pointed out the amount of midfielders already at Redknapp’s disposal, I’d like to point your attention to the morale issues I raised. It does matter to an extent if a player gets “moody” as some of you put it, because then that player can become a destructive force within the dressing room or otherwise and that surely will have an impact in some way on the team as a unit. By impact, I mean that such a player or players can unsettle the team, which in turn would affect performances on matchday. Players were already a bit unsettled- I brought up Pavlyuchenko as an example and I brought up the speculation surrounding Keane. I didn’t mention it, but Bentley reportedly had a falling out with Redknapp at some point as well. As Van der Vart has arrived, I wrote this article as I expect other players to get unsettled.
So, in a nutshell, the signing of Van der Vaart was good, but my concern was about the timing and the possible problems that can arise within the team. Perhaps some midfielders should have been sold first.
September 4th, 2010 @ 06:29I think we needed a signing like VdV. Not because the lack of midfielders but the fact that we lacked a midfielder of VdV’s class! Simple as that. He has experience from high level football such as Champions League, World Cup, European Cup, La Liga and Bundesliga. He can very well be ‘our’ Lampard, scoring a handfull og goals in league and cup. That comes in handy now that we didn’t land any of our prior striker targets.
I think Levy needs to add some goodwill next season though so we can sign a world class striker. But for now i think we can compete at high level on every pitch we play. I say to bolster the defence was main priority this season. Then there was the striker on top. But with enough creative forces to hammer just about any defence we meet, we should get through in a lot of games. How far we can go, i dont know, but copy last season is realistic, though hard. VdV will surely add some good quality and new things in the attacking buildup. He can find those tight spots and open them like a can of beans and unleash fury up front. I look forward to see him in action!
September 4th, 2010 @ 07:37good write.. i think RVDB is screwed.
September 6th, 2010 @ 06:40he should have signed with another club or Bentley or Jenas should be sold before this buy.