I am a big fan of the Anglo-German player; his tenacity, eagerness, hard working style has been predominant in his first half season in English football. However, it was the under 21 European Championship match between Russia and Germany that he showed me what I already believed he was capable of.
He played in the slot behind the striker, but made himself available all over the pitch. He had essence of both Van der Vaart and Modric in his play. When close to the Russian box, he used little flicks and tricks in an attempt to get pasted a resilient defence; as VdV used too, but it was his range of passing that was of the highest quality, like Luka in his pomp.
He was the key in unlocking an impressive and tactically sound Russian lock, with clever passes to open the play up, sliding runners beyond their opposing number and playing sublime balls over the top. He capped off a first class performance with a Gareth Bale type goal, cutting in from the left wing, dribbling past a few players before rifling his shot into the far corner; giving the goalie no chance. He was not a player who deserved to loose that match.
Having watched a fair bit of this under 21 tournament, as you do to assess potential signings, I must admit that I felt a sense of pride and excitement watching Holtby play that well, only one other player in the tournament so far can be compared to Lewis's superb individual performance, and that is Spain's Isco, who was phenomenal to watch the other night.
Lewis Holtby displayed all the qualities and skills that we are lacking at Tottenham Hotspur right now. A player to unlock defences, control the tempo, and out pass the opposition, but Holtby also has endless energy and commitment. A three man midfield of Sandro, Dembele and Holtby has everything you want from a midfield; physicality, strength, composure, precision and balance.
This midfield combination allows each of the players to compliment each other; Sandro is simply a force of nature, he is like a tornado - fast, strong and powerful, with the ability to tackle the ball away from any player. Dembele is the complete box to box midfielder, he is fast and strong, he can tackle and dribble, and he has an eye for goal. Holtby then completes this trio with his passing range, attacking vision and reading of the game. All three players have great stamina and desire.
I realise I am probably over reacting based on one performance, but you cannot deny that Lewis has shown some excellent qualities in a Spurs shirt so far, and I for one hope that he continues to grow, because he could be the answer to our midfield woes of years gone by.
@ADMoule
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No, I think you're spot on. I've been thinking the same about Holtby; if we spend pre-season building a team around those three in midfield, we'll be ready to take the league by storm.
ReplyDeleteTotal agreement.....but one problem. Bale. Where would he fit in with holtby playing off the striker? Back out wide? With another wide player on the other side and a lone striker? Maybe....but he may aee that as a backward step.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see Tom Carroll get a decent amount of game time next season ...
ReplyDeleteI was also very impressed with Holtby, and think he should play a bigger role for us next season. The goal was good, and winning a penalty shows he can get himself into dangerous positions in the box, which i dont think we did very well this season. Also, I believe it was Netherlands, not Russia? :)
ReplyDeleteI love the bloke, whenever he comes off the bench he's like a pitbull let off its leash. Having bale back out wide isn't a problem, cause he still has alot of freedom and can drift in when needed. Need a decent understanding though between holtby and the players around him, purely because his little touches of class aren't always used to their full potential, but that will come with more game time. Need a striker that can build a decent rapport with him. Not defoe, he's too greedy (not a problem cause his greediness usually lead to decent solo goals) If Ade could work more with him it could lead to good things (thinking ades assist for sigs against chelsea)and whatever you wanna say about Ade he started to clear out his demons at the latter end of the season, but still thinking Damiao is the missing link......
ReplyDeleteThe Daily mail are stating that Zidane is quoted as saying it will take a world record transfer fee to get bale 85m.........Dan levy time!!!!!! he will turn that into 75m and benzema ;-)
ReplyDeleteI think you mean his performance against the Netherlands. I do agree with Holtby and Dembele in midfield though, they are both quality players that like to play with a lot of freedom and Sandro just in the CDM role behind them will allow that. As for Bale having to be moved back out to LM, I think he has a massive impact out there and I dont think his improvements this year have been solely due to his change in position, he will still have a massive affect next season. Also Holtby and Dembele are both good at going forward and have experience at playing down the wings so they could switch positions with Bale freely throughout the game if they were to work on it. This would allow Bale time in that space behind the striker but also mean they were mixing it up enough not to become predictable :)
ReplyDeleteWith Sandro-Dembele-Holtby in the 4-3-3 setup, Bale will play the inverted winger on the right with Sigurdsson/Lennon on the other flank. Still missing are our 3 centre forwards. Carroll will backup Holtby with Dempsey for Dembele. Townsend will likely stand in for Bale. As for Sandro, maybe Kaboul?
ReplyDelete