Harry Redknapp's side capture the imagination in centre of park, as Parker, Modric, Bale, Lennon and Van der Vaart out-play, out-think and out-class QPR
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Tottenham are embarking on the sort of run that more than suggests they’ll be in the fray at the business end of the year. Since the dual disappointment of losing out to both Manchester clubs in back-to-back Premier League games to start their season, Spurs have gone 11 games undefeated in all competitions.
During this spell, six wins and two draws in the Premier League have hauled Harry Redknapp’s side up to level on points with Chelsea, with a game in hand. And with their west London counterparts stuttering and Spurs arguably only just stumbling upon their strongest starting shape, it is fair to say that it is Tottenham who are in the ascendancy
The match against QPR was the second time Redknapp was able to field the midfield quintet of Luka Modric, Scott Parker, Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Rafael van der Vaart sitting deep. The five of them ran riot.
| SPURS' MIDFIELD MAESTROS | |
| AARON LENNON | |
| 8 | Intelligent running in off the line made Traore’s day an absolute nightmare. Probed well and was inquisitive all game, providing both assists for Bale's strikes. |
| SCOTT PARKER | |
| 9 | Set the tone for Spurs’ first half masterclass and rolled his sleeves up when the tide had threatened to turn. |
| RAFAEL VAN DER VAART | |
| 8.5 | Was in the thick of things from the off and was fully deserving of equally Spurs’ record for consecutive Premier League games scored in. |
| LUKA MODRIC | |
| 8 | Desperately unlucky not to score with an outrageous volley from a training ground corner. Coasted through the game, pulling strings all afternoon. |
| GARETH BALE | |
| 9 | Beautiful exchanges with Lennon on the edge of the box, followed by a curled finish into the top corner won the game. |
Gareth Bale's opener was an apt example of this hybridity. Brad Friedel’s long ball was won comfortably in the air by Emmanuel Adebayor. The knockdown was seized upon by Van der Vaart and after a few swift touches, via Lennon, Bale was rifling the ball into the back of the net.
For the second Van der Vaart collected Ledley King’s inadvertent pass, swivelled on the spot and dispatched into the net before anyone in orange quite knew what was happening. In between that and Bale’s decisive and intricate second, Spurs could and should have had a hatful.
It was evident that Neil Warnock set up shop to stifle Tottenham’s fluidity in the middle of the park. Yet in the first half, the gap in quality between both sets of midfield was as big as I have seen so far this season. It took the QPR boss’ surprising decision to bring on Jamie Mackie and Jay Bothroyd at half-time to alter the pattern of the game, yet even this shift proved just a temporary respite.
At the centre of the Spurs domination was the increasing effective looking duo Modric and Parker. The two are proving the perfect foil for each other at the heart of things, with a combination of graft and guile setting the tone for an industrious performance that utilised the strengths the home side had in abundance. Joey Barton identified Modric as the Premier League’s best midfielder after the game yet for me, it was Parker who stole the show, conducting the affair in the middle.
Every time either Bale or Lennon was given the opportunity to open their legs, you could quite literally almost hear Wigan being torn to shreds. Aside from having the pace to unsettle any defender, both wingers cut in from their respective flanks to devastating effect, lending Spurs the fluidity that made them look such an exciting prospect any time they were on the front foot.
The star man, at the moment, is Van der Vaart. Recalling his form from this exact same time period last year, the Dutchman has emphatically proved that his natural place in the Spurs side is in the hole, just off Adebayor’s spearhead of the quintet.
Having already tucked a few of the games against potential top four rivals under their belt, Redknapp’s side have a spate of fixtures in the run-in to Christmas that they will view as very winnable. On current from, you shouldn’t bet against them either.
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