Huddlestone

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durbanspur said:
kranjcar used to be our miracle working midfielder till modric came along.
everybody is slowly just moving down the pecking order as they get older or better and
younger players are brought in


How long have you been watching Spurs?
 
There's another Hudd thread that covered a lot of this already.

Personally if we make CL the rotation that brings and with injuries that happen through the season, I think a fully fit Hudd would be an important member of the squad.

There's an if he can get his fitness/stamina up. He's a big guy and an ongoing ankle injury could finish him at the very top level.
Will have played 16 league games out of a possible 76 by the end of this season which is not a good sign. But he wouldn't be a first choice in the 11 which could help his recovery if he's not being rushed back.
 
He won't be first choice but he can still be a very valuable member of our squad. I wouldn't write off his Spurs career yet.
 
ok so everything seems lost in translation from my side. let me try be more succinct.
wasnt making any caveats, as you call them.

IMO regardless of your position in the midfield you are a midfielder,
hence my inclusion of the wings and vdv when i stuck hudders in at eight choice midfielder.
first choice midfield is lennon, parker, modric, bale. (vdv although i consider him a striker)
doesnt matter what choice you choose them in thats 1-4/5.

pick any one of those to get subbed and sandro is next in line.
either as a straight replacement for a cm or as a cm and the rest get shuffled.
after that kranjcar, same scenario.
hudders is a cm and only a cm. kranjcar gets dumped into either a cm or right/left position
in our lesser games (europa etc when the other players get a run around), so he can be utilized
in 1 of those positions if we need him to, and harry would not have a problem doing it.
my reasoning for livermore ahead of hudders is he has played phenomenally when given half a chance.
and he has way more pace than hudders to get back if somebody gets past him.
yes livermore still has a long way to go, but i think he is better based purely on what little i have seen of him.

Dannyboy said:
Huddlestone and Sandro are the only occupants for the central midfield role after Modric and Parker. Niko playing centre midfield is not an option if Huddlestone is fit.
and livermore, who i would put ahead of hudders.
and kranjcar has also been utilized in that position on occasion.

durbanspur said:
kranjcar used to be our miracle working midfielder till modric came along.
everybody is slowly just moving down the pecking order as they get older or better and
younger players are brought in
no idea what happened here, must have deleted half the post as i was altering it due to other posts.
it should read...

kranjcar was supposed to be our miracle working midfielder but that never materialised
because bale came to the party just like JJ was top dog till modric came along.
the whole point is to continually make the team better thats why everybody is slowly moving
down the pecking order as they get older or better and younger players are brought in.
 
Thelonious said:
He won't be first choice but he can still be a very valuable member of our squad. I wouldn't write off his Spurs career yet.

Yeah that would be my thoughts on a fully fit Tommy, his contract is up to 2015 so he has time on his side to get his fitness back.
My only concern is that this injury dates back 2 years to 2010, and when he has come back it has flared up again. (That's if its the same ankle each time, which I'm not sure about??)
 
durbanspur said:
ok so everything seems lost in translation from my side. let me try be more succinct.
wasnt making any caveats, as you call them.

IMO regardless of your position in the midfield you are a midfielder,
hence my inclusion of the wings and vdv when i stuck hudders in at eight choice midfielder.
first choice midfield is lennon, parker, modric, bale. (vdv although i consider him a striker)
doesnt matter what choice you choose them in thats 1-4/5.

pick any one of those to get subbed and sandro is next in line.
either as a straight replacement for a cm or as a cm and the rest get shuffled.
after that kranjcar, same scenario.
hudders is a cm and only a cm. kranjcar gets dumped into either a cm or right/left position
in our lesser games (europa etc when the other players get a run around), so he can be utilized
in 1 of those positions if we need him to, and harry would not have a problem doing it.
my reasoning for livermore ahead of hudders is he has played phenomenally when given half a chance.
and he has way more pace than hudders to get back if somebody gets past him.
yes livermore still has a long way to go, but i think he is better based purely on what little i have seen of him.

Dannyboy said:
Huddlestone and Sandro are the only occupants for the central midfield role after Modric and Parker. Niko playing centre midfield is not an option if Huddlestone is fit.
and livermore, who i would put ahead of hudders.
and kranjcar has also been utilized in that position on occasion.

durbanspur said:
kranjcar used to be our miracle working midfielder till modric came along.
everybody is slowly just moving down the pecking order as they get older or better and
younger players are brought in
no idea what happened here, must have deleted half the post as i was altering it due to other posts.
it should read...

kranjcar was supposed to be our miracle working midfielder but that never materialised
because bale came to the party just like JJ was top dog till modric came along.
the whole point is to continually make the team better thats why everybody is slowly moving
down the pecking order as they get older or better and younger players are brought in.

So what number is JJ in the Pecking order!?
 
durbanspur said:
kranjcar was supposed to be our miracle working midfielder but that never materialised
because bale came to the party just like JJ was top dog till modric came along.

Niko was signed as cover for Modric when he broke his leg and he never forced his way into the 1st team. I don't think he was ever seen as more than that by anybody.

Apart from maybe you :ade:
 
what_a_mess.jpg
 
I think a lot depends on who's in charge next season. 'Arry has waxed lyrical about how much he loves Tom and how he sees him as the QB of the team. Whether or not that is still the case given the Parker/Modric partnership remains to be seen.

But if 'Arry ships out then the new manager might think the same as a lot of Spurs fans; immobile and slow.

I've always been a big fan and would have him in the team ahead of Livermore and possibly Sandro, depending who's missing from the team. He'd be in team for me if Luka was missing, alongside Parker to add some creativity. Parker and Sandro doesn't excite me.
 
Just a thought, but if Huddlestone was 8th in the pecking order then he'd technically be second choice in the midfield if you were rotating every game. As it is, Lennon/Bale etc aren't competition because they play a totally different position.

Next year we'll be in 4 competitions. Parker is a good player at picking up the ball in front of the defence and passing to a more technical player to start an attacking move. Sandro does a similar role but is a bit more creative going forward than Parker. Personally i'd say they were both on a similar standing, where i'd play Parker against the passing, technical sides (Swansea, Woolwich etc.) and Sandro where you need a bit more toughness (Stoke or Wigan).

Huddlestone again plays a similar role but I can envisage him whacking 40-yard diagonal balls to perfect runs by Bale/Lennon on the wings. Those sorts of passes can turn a defensive interception into a scoring opportunity in a matter of seconds so i'd definitely not dismiss him.

Playing 2 games a week is the perfect opportunity for rotation, and it also gives the option to use 2 DM's and move Modric to the centre of the 3 AM's to give a bit more defensive sturdiness if we were playing the 4-2-3-1 which we've loosely been employing recently. If this were the case, Van der Vaart and Luka would be interchangeable (handy for Raf with his injuries) and would make 2 DM's a necessity with the 3rd being backup. Perfect situation, can't wait for him to return.
 
Tom Huddlestone is the only player we have that can approximate what Luka Modric does. T-Hudd is very unique in his own right. He is our third best central midfielder behind Modric & Parker. This is a strange discussion. We need Tom next season. He will start a lot of games due to injury, suspension and scheduling. Hopefully he can return to full fitness because he is an invaluable member of the squad.

Sandro is only a better ballwinner than Hudd. Kranjcar is a completely different player and is a defensive liability. Livermore has not played "phenomenally". He has played "adequately". All credit to the young man. His passing percentage has been high, he's played some solid defense and he hasn't made any costly mistakes - but let's be real he doesn't provided anything dynamic in attack.
 
WilsonJet said:
durbanspur durbanspur your last post began "let me be succinct" but was too long for me to read through - which is saying something cause I'm longwinded.

If Huddlestone can return to fitness he will be the first central midfielder off the bench and a likely starter in many games due to injury, suspension and scheduling. He is an invaluable member of the squad. The only midfielder who has greater vision, tactical awareness, technique and long passing ability than Tom Huddlestone is Luka Modric -- and not for nothing but T-Hudd is a superior defender and a more imposing physical presence than Modric. Sandro is not yet better than Huddlestone except for his tenacity and ability to win the ball, and Kranjcar is a different player altogether (would also rather have Huddlestone if I had to choose). You are vastly underrating the player.

Very much disagree with the bolded part. Hudd is great with the ball at his feet, but he's not great defensively really. He's far too slow and tends to make rash challenges in the middle of the park. I actually think Modric's defensive capabilities are severely under-rated (United's second goal on Sunday ignored..).

Hudd is brilliant when he's not the designated DM in the side. He did well for a couple of games with Modric at the end of the 4th place season, but I think he's shown he can't do it over a longer period. However, we've played that 4-2-3-1 formation a lot away this season, and imo that formation is perfect for Hudd. He could play alongside Parker as a 2, with Bale, VDV and Modric in front of him. Hudd doesn't need to be the designated DM, but he can be the deep lying play maker that he loves. I think that team would have a great balance away from home.
 
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