Who are our back 4?

[basskadet]

Gomes has made some absolute howlers so far but there may be more to this problem than just the goalkeeper. You have to admit that some of our defending has not been the greatest this season, despite having soming excellent defenders within our squad. There seems to be a frequent lack of understanding & communication between Gomes and his back 4. The one place where you really want some sort of consistency is in your defence & this is, unfortunately, the one area we are guaranteed to not provide it. Could the cost of Ledley's long-term injury on the team be far greater than we tend to assume?

Taking this a step further I looked back at each of our starting line-ups so far this season. We have only had the same back 4 begin consecutive league games just one time this season, and that was within the last 3 that we've played (Liverpool & Man. City). How can we expect to build a working relationship between the goalie & his defenders when we chop & change so often?

In contrast Chelsea have had the same back 4 in 6 consecutive games this season and did not change it at all for their first 4 matches. Manchester United also have started with same back 4 in 6 consecutive games and did not change it until their fourth game.

I think I could name both United & Chelsea's first choice defence without even thinking about it & United's Brown/Ferdinand/Vidic/Evra line-up has started 5 times with Neville/Ferdinand/Vidic/Evra starting another 4. Chelsea's Bosingwa/Carvalho/Terry/Cole has 7 starts out of 13 games this season. Any changes they make are usually down to an injury to their first choice.

However, I would have a little trouble naming a first choice backline for Spurs, especially without being able to depend on King's regularity.

I'm sure this lack of stability at the back must be detrimental to the teams performance. While you would expect every player to be able to come i a do a satisfactory job, so much about defending relies on communication. A good defence has almost a sixth sense that comes from working together day in, day out & I am just concerned that we will never be able to achieve that sort of understanding as long as we continue to swap things around.

Having said that I am confident that Harry is more aware of this issue than his predecessor. Juande seemed determined to save Ledley for UEFA cup games which meant that he was rarely available for the league. As a result he never really appeared to know what his strongest lineup was. There seems to be much more consistency since Harry's been in charge & we are seeing much less exotic back 4s starting in the league, which can only be a good thing!

[Seajay]

I agree that a consistent back four is vital. This means that if you cannot play regularly you cannot be a part of a regular back four. So we come back to the Ledley problem. I think Harry has showed that Juande was wrong in asserting that Ledley could only play once every ten days but we need him to play every game. If he can't do this he can't be in a consistent back four - FACT. I really hope Ledley can play regularly, he is a legend and a real yid, but if he can't then he has to become back up to whoever can play regularly. I know we are much more solid at the back when Ledley plays but it that means that we are mince at the back when he doesn't play then it is a trade off too far.

[basskadet]

agree with you Seajay. So, with that in mind, who should be our first choice back 4?

I bet we get conflicting answers to that question. Like I said in the initial thread, you ask utd fans or Chelski fans & they would probably be more or less unanimous in their answer. While you could argue competition for places is a good thing, it surely should not be at the expense of stability.

[Seajay]

I would go Hutton at RB. Woodgate and Corluka in the centre and Gunter at left back. This would allow Bale to move to left MF where he belongs.

[Gareth]

Hutton --- Woodgate (C) --- Corluka --- Gunter


The reason why I think Woodgate should be captain only whenever King isn't playing in defence is because he has so much experience and commands/advises his team mates what to do. I don't think Jenas is a leader of a sort.

[safcrhys]

Great thread btw mate.

anyway, if I were a Spurs fan I would go for:

Hutton....Woodgate....Corluka....Bale

[P UNIT 1980]

Every one agrees with most positions apart from Bale.

Agreed that Huts os the real deal even though he has had a few mares over the last couple of weeks.
Agreed that Wooders is the stallwart of our defence and should be honoured with the captains armband as he is a natural leader and an evervecent presence at the back for us. Far more inspirational that JJ.
Agreed that Charlie should partner Wooders full time although he does lack the yard of pace that we were warned of by our croat friends. King does have a bit more pace than Charlie and I would one billion percent prefer him back there full time as he is real class and all round YID. But his injuries are not allowing him to be as good as he actually is.
Left back, this is where the problems for me are. We hae Bale who is an excelent player but is under performing almost consistntly as a left back. He has looked reasonable further up the field but he has been signed as a left back and needs to pull his thumb out of his arse. Gunther is raw tallent and has bags and bags of potential but lacks the experience at the top level, but has stepped up to the plate when called upon. I personaly untill we get a very good L winger would stick Bale at L wing and Gunther at L back (burning BAE at the stake as he is useless).

My two pennies worth.

[thfcshady27]

totally agreed mate but does anyone else think charlie has the same intelligent football head that teddy had? he isnt the quickest but he seems to have that extra yard of pace in his head! he seems to improve every game now and for me it would be woody and charlie every game using ledders as a back up wen needed!

[bazzabelfast]

i have said it before and ill say it again ledley king is a luxury tottenham can ill afford .

to be in his position as captain and controlling the backline you gotta be on the field every game . rio ferdinand , john terry , jamie carragher , was gonna say william gallas there ill not bother !!!

but i think you know were im going with this .

woodgate for captain and ledley to stay with the club in a coaching role !!!

hutton ----------- woodgate---------corluka---------bale

we need stability in defense .

[Gareth]

Every one agrees with most positions apart from Bale.

Agreed that Huts os the real deal even though he has had a few mares over the last couple of weeks.
Agreed that Wooders is the stallwart of our defence and should be honoured with the captains armband as he is a natural leader and an evervecent presence at the back for us. Far more inspirational that JJ.
Agreed that Charlie should partner Wooders full time although he does lack the yard of pace that we were warned of by our croat friends. King does have a bit more pace than Charlie and I would one billion percent prefer him back there full time as he is real class and all round YID. But his injuries are not allowing him to be as good as he actually is.
Left back, this is where the problems for me are. We hae Bale who is an excelent player but is under performing almost consistntly as a left back. He has looked reasonable further up the field but he has been signed as a left back and needs to pull his thumb out of his arse. Gunther is raw tallent and has bags and bags of potential but lacks the experience at the top level, but has stepped up to the plate when called upon. I personaly untill we get a very good L winger would stick Bale at L wing and Gunther at L back (burning BAE at the stake as he is useless).

My two pennies worth.

For once in my life I agree with what you have said... I would only play King in Premier League games because we need someone with his experience and pace to help us get up that jolly table!