The French Revolution

Article by Sean Walsh

It’s been a week that’s been good, bad and indifferent for Tottenham Hotspur, especially if you believe anything the media throws at you. Of course, you have to take their stories with a pinch of salt, but in the past 7 days, some things have been hard to ignore.

Let’s start with the good; anyone who watched the game vs. Crystal palace will realise we have a great young talent in man-of-the-match Nabil Bentaleb. After a very troubling 30 minutes for him, a seemingly goal-bound effort which in fact rebounded off the inside of Julian Speroni’s post kicks-started what turned out to be a thorough, professional performance. Like the rest of the team, Bentaleb took it up a few gears, and the boys were separated of the men- the 19 year old leading the elder’s charge.

Of course, 1 good game doesn’t define a player. Remember other young prospects? Jamie O’Hara, John Bostock, Lee Barnard, Chris Gunter, Phil Ifil, Jake Livermore…

I’m not saying the same will happen to Bentaleb, just a point that if you’re not consistent, you won’t make it. Bentaleb has talent, and it’s one we can’t let get away.

Time for some rather bad news- Reports suggest Etienne Capoue wants to leave, with Napoli one of his pursuers, and Porto’s Belgian midfielder Steven Defour is already being lined up as his replacement. Let’s face it, it’s a World Cup year and he’s not getting enough game time here to displace some talented French midfielders, you can’t blame him. Although Tim Sherwood has denied any rift with the midfielder, he has admitted he wants to streamline the squad, and that Franco Baldini is working on potential transfers- incomings and outgoings.

It’s a shame, really. In his first 15 minutes in lilywhite, he made more tackles and interceptions than any other team that weekend, which was followed by a top-drawer performance against Swansea, slotting comfortably beside Paulinho and Mousa Dembele, before an injury in the North London derby and the return of Sandro saw him fall down the pecking order.

If he goes, we’ll regret it. We need an actual holding midfielder in big games, not makeshift ones. If Sandro’s out, who will hold? Capoue is very capable of doing that job, but if his time in London is running out, so will our time before we’re out of the race for the top 4.

On a lighter note, it seems as if Hugo Lloris has finally had his head checked since it met Lukaku’s knee. The past couple of months has seen one of the world’s best goalkeepers make a string of errors, particularly because of his sweeper keeper style. Since Christmas, Hugo has improved his decision making vastly and his bad run form has come to an abrupt end.

Tim Sherwood also confirmed that Younes Kaboul is back in training, and is in contention to start against Manchester City. With his contract out in the summer, Kaboul will be desperate to prove his worth to Sherwood. A late push for a World Cup place could also be on the cards for Kaboul, but since being picked for France’s Euro 2012 squad, he’s been consistently side-lined, and injuries prevented him representing his country at a major tournament- a big blow for any player. With this is mind, don’t be surprised if Kaboul is giving 110% from now on. We know what he’s capable of, and his ability could very well be the difference between Champions League and Europa League next year, even if he’s headed elsewhere.

I recall reading in a matchday programme against Lyon last year an extract from a French journalist, who said that those the other side of the Channel considered Arsenal their favourite English club. Now, we have some quality players representing Les Bleus, and they could all prove decisive in the future of Tottenham Hotspur.

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