JENAS - as 2nd striker ??

[Wanda Ramos]

I noticed in the last game, even tho he played upfield for just the final 30mins... Jenas made quite an impact.

I noted at least 4 chances he created or made space to try and convert... and managed to score a good poacher's goal with his left foot.

so far, we have Modric, Lennon, THudd, Bentley, Gio and even Bale playing as midfielders.... but none would appear as suited as aa 2nd striker.... Gio comes close, but he is quite short and not experienced or 'ugly' enough yet to cope in such a high-pressure position....

Jenas has the pace, and attacking instincts as well as sirprisingly good heading-ability (great headed-goal I remember he scored in the game when Robbo scored last yr)... he also has the energy-levels to help out in midfield by tracking back... JJ regularly scores 10-12 goals a season from a fairly deep midfield position, year after year... he aint like Lampard or even Gerrard who play mostly just behind Torres or Drogba...Jenas I think would be a good option to have, as a 2nd-striker behind either Bent, Pavly or even... dare I say it... Berbatov..

the next game against Chavski will be totally different to our 1st 2 games, in that Chavski will ataack and go for the win from the off.... the game is set up for us to play counter-attack... with speedsters ready to break into space behind the Chavs Back4.... heres the formation ...

.............................Gomes

Zokora........... King.......Woody.........Ekotto/Bale

.................Modric.............. ..THudd

........Lennon...........JENAS.............Dos Santos

.............................Bent

can you imagine the pace we have to play on ther break, with Lennon, Jenas, Gio and Bent ??..... could be very interesting indeed...

[Croatian14]

If i see Modric again on DM i will PUKE uke:uke:

[Wanda Ramos]

Modric plays that role for a team called Croatia.... have you heard of them ??

Modric is too lightweight in the Prem to play as a 2nd striker.... maybe in the Bosnian league he would hack it there..

[Eighteen82]

Lol... no-one suggested Modric play as the second striker, and he plays DM for Croatia at times, but not consistently. And no, he is not lightweight
And with Pav about to sign why on earth would putting Jenas there be a good idea? He should warm the bench for when/if Modric needs to come off.

[Wanda Ramos]

Modric has played as a holding midfielder in both Prem games and most of the pre-season games he featured in.... when did he play either as a wide-midfielder or a striker or 2nd-striker ??..

only against Norwich n Orient... where he played on leftside midfield... all the games against the bigger teams eg. Roma, Dortmund etc he played in central midfield..

[Eighteen82]

He hasn't played as a second striker, at all. I don't know what you're getting at with that.
He played across the midfield against Orient, but he plays his best a central midfield playmaker, which works better with a defensive midfielder along with him. The past two games, yes he has played as a DM but god knows why, thats not his NATURAL role.

[Wanda Ramos]

Modric doesnt have a 'minder' in midfield with him.... he plays in a holding central midfield role both for Croatia and now Spurs... Croatia have Kranchjar supporting the striker Olic..

but Modric did play as an attacking left-mid player for Croatia.... but we have Dos Santos, Bale and sometimes Lennon or now even Bentley who will start there before Modric..

Modric will now play in central midfield backing the play up... as he has been recently at Spurs.

and yes.... you can make the play from a deep-lying central midfield position... thats what THudd gives us too with his laser-guided passing..

[Eighteen82]

Kovac supports the midfield for Croatia, and yes, he needs a minder for us in midfield.
He is an ATTACKING playmaker. Defensive midfield is not his NATURAL role. Thats why the Hudd is ****, because he can't defend properly. A defensive midfielder can create things, but his main priortiy is to DEFEND. Modric is meant to ATTACK. We need a proper defensive midfielder to allow Modric to play in the hole behind the front men to pull the strings and create plays.

[Wanda Ramos]

we are going to use 2 holding-mids in a 4-2-3-1... if we play 4-4-2 then JJ will be used as the box-to-box player as he is more athletic than Modric.... also I dont remember Modric EVER being used as a box-to-box player..

so why cant a holding-midfielder be a play-maker ???.... he gets the ball from the back4, then chooses the play to make with either a long pass up wide or to the striker(s).... just like a quarterback would..

now THATS something Modric is well accustomed to doing..

[Eighteen82]

Ugh. I'm not saying he can't but as a defensive midfielder you're priority is to DEFEND. He doesn't defend as well as an established DM would. His best role is in the hole just behind the forward/s, acting as a playmaker. Now I don't know about you, but I would be very annoyed if we have just paid £16mill for Modric just to be a DM. He clearly favours a forward position. The sunderland game shows how good he is when he gets forward and starts playing in a position which better suits him.

Jenas defines the word inconsistent. I'd pick Modric over Jenas any day as my midfielder.

[Wanda Ramos]

if you wanna play Modric behind 2 strikers, then that means a diamond-formation in midfield.... cos you must have a proper holding-middie who will just sit in front of the back4, and also the 2 wider midfielders will have to tuck in otherwise you will have huge spaces in the middle of the pitch for the opponents..

a diamond formation is waaaay too attacking and we will get stuffed by quality teams... its not as if we have that great a record at defending.. the only way we will play a diamond is when we are behind with 30mins to go...

just like last Saturday against Blunderland after they went ahead.... with JJ as the other striker, Bentley and Gio tucked in at the sides and Hudd anchoring.... we looked good....

but we also conceded again.... to Sunderland.

[Wanda Ramos]

JJ is not inconsistent.... he plays the role that he is given by the coach.... mostly he is used as 1 of 2 to anchor the midfield, he does not have license to attack upfield as much as someone like Lampard or Gerrard who play mostly behind their respective main strikers..

WHEN Jenas is asked to play more attackingly.... he usually does with high success

[keggles2001]

i would rather have bentley in the team ahead of lennon he's an underperformer week in week out he needs a wake up call he has become to comfortable at the club with no one pushing or his place maybe things will change now and we will see the lennon we know is in there somewhere

[Wanda Ramos]

I dont think that Bentley has played better for Spurs in the last 2 games.... in fact 2 things :-

1) in the Boro game he barely did any tracking back to help our leftside when the other team broke.... Lennon tracks back alot on either side to help out defensively..

2) especialy in the last game, I feel that Bentley was more interested in getting on the scoresheet himself rather than on developing a meaningful partnership with Bent (as he was playing centrally, just behind Bent)... all he wanted to do was get a shot off... even when Bent was better positioned at least twice...

I'm quite disappointed in Bentleys performance and ATTITUDE so far..

[Hamenaglar]

He hasn't played as a second striker, at all. I don't know what you're getting at with that.
He played across the midfield against Orient, but he plays his best a central midfield playmaker, which works better with a defensive midfielder along with him. The past two games, yes he has played as a DM but god knows why, thats not his NATURAL role.

How come you think that you know modric's best position compared to the folks that watched him every week for the last couple years.