Article by Steven PainterSince Roy Keane and Claude Makelele, famously became silent hero's of championship winning sides, the necessity of the holding midfielder has become an absolute must for any side competing for a top four place. Spurs, whether wisely or not, have, this season, found themselves in possession of perhaps three of the best holding midfielders in the Premier league.
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Moussa Dembele, Sandro, and Etienne Capoue are fighting tooth and boot, to set their studs into grass and cement their place in front of the back four. They are all equally capable of filling, arguably the most important slot on the pitch but this is a one man niche as the record books tell us. No-one threatened to take the place of Roy Keane as he led Man Utd to the treble, and the mico-running-machine of Claude Makelele wouldn’t have been dropped unless he’d lost an arm. There can be only one. The question being, which? Dembele, is maybe the best on the ball, but some would say that he lacks the guts and glory of a true holding man. Sandro, although full of guts and vicious in the tackle and beard, can show weakness and over-zealous when in possession. We’re yet to see enough of Etienne Capoue to rule him out, but chances will be few and far between with the Brazilian and Belgian watching on from their tracksuits. This is an absolute corner stone of where Spurs go from here, as, from the stalwart holding man can flourish the front-line. The next question from here is who do you play alongside the final choice at number five? With Paulinho rapidly emerging as a lily-white favourite and Christian Eriksen looking sharper than Japanese blade, chemistry will be key. This is a slice of what Spurs fans need to consider when banging the top four drum. Teams need time. Until that holding role is set in stone all the Lilys, from boardroom to tier, will need to pull their fingers off the trigger and give the team time to gel. Top four is not priority but holding fire until the holding man sets, is.
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no way is Dembele is a holding midfielder. and unfortunately it seems like Sherwood does not rate Capoue. So quite simply if Sandro is fit, no one comes close. I just hope that Sherwood plays him.
ReplyDeleteI think with some grooming and disciline Dembele would make a solid holding player with good distribution, but you have to doubt the man's grit. I'd like to see Capoue given a shot, along with Harry Kane. That boy looks tidy.
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