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The best Spurs team of all time - central midfield

Who are the best central midfielders to play for Spurs

  • Total voters
    58
  • Poll closed .
milo

milo

Jack L. Jones
A quick recap of what we're doing

Right. The best Spurs team of all time.

We'll have a different thread for each position over the coming weeks. The thread will be open for a while for nominations and the most frequently mentioned players will be going into a poll on the same thread.

The team will line up 4-2-3-1. Modern style.

Anyone who comes into the thread, doesn't read what we're doing and posts their full best team of all time, gets laughed at.
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Sixth and seventh positio up for grabs - central midfield or defensive/holding midfielder if you prefer.

We'll take this position as a pair and each have two votes when the poll is added.

Have a chat and come up with but nominations, make a case for who you think is best. A poll will be added when it looks like we have a few players to pick between.
 
Going for players I've seen play (since 1996), I'd pick Michael Carrick and Luka Modrić. Scott Parker would probably be my third choice.
 
I think we'll have to break with tradition and go for an unconventional 4-38-2 formation.

Mackay, obviously, but where to play GHod? The deep lying quarterback position could be a good call, though he could play further forward. For a while, when the team was short of striking options, he played up front and he was, IIRC, first choice as replacement goalie in the days when there was only one sub allowed on the bench.

I can see Ardiles, John White and Modric maybe getting overlooked, because they were more about making the team tick than filling up the highlight reels.

Even I was too young to see Blanchflower, and I do not think he will make the final XI, but he was ranked as the greatest player in Spurs history by The Times in 2009 and, of course, he is the author of the "game is about glory" quote. He was Footballer of the Year twice, so he must have been pretty handy.

Jeez, I've just remembered Martin Peters, who would obviously play further up in the three behind the forward. To think such a good player might not even make the nominations, never mind the first XI, underlines how spoiled we have been for great midfielders.
 
Blanchflower and Mackay. I have a hunch they could work well together. And it will allow Hoddle to play further forward, either in the centre or on the right as he often did.

@Roland Beurre. A good point about Ardiles, White and Modric being possibly overlooked. Modric left too early and we didn't really do that much with him in the team. It would be sad to see Ardiles left out, as he is one of my favourites, but he has to keep out Blanchflower or compete for a place in the quarterback line, where competition will be stiff. White tragically was killed so didn't play as long as he should have, when all accounts suggest he would have been a certainty for this team, but he would be playing further forward and we can discuss him later.
 
Fan since late 80s, so for me i'd have to go for Dozzell and Clemence. :eek:

Or, Gazza and Parker.

Actually, thinking through the years, i've not been very lucky with watching Spurs CM's in my lifetime. The 90s-00s was complete dross with the likes of Tainio, Clemence, Neilsen, Zokora, Sherwood, Redknapp.
I envy those who were lucky enough to watch Hoddle, Ossie and Villa.
 
Ade's folks are ok really said:
Fan since late 80s, so for me i'd have to go for Dozzell and Clemence. :eek:

Or, Gazza and Parker.

Actually, thinking through the years, i've not been very lucky with watching Spurs CM's in my lifetime. The 90s-00s was complete dross with the likes of Tainio, Clemence, Neilsen, Zokora, Sherwood, Redknapp.
I envy those who were lucky enough to watch Hoddle, Ossie and Villa.
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Tanio Teemu was good value. He was a trier who put everything he had into his game. I have seen worse.
 
haha, i'm inclined to agree, but doesn't that pretty much sum up our CM's around that time? We had a lot of "triers" but none of any notable class. I liked Tainio, also Allan Neilsen. Sandro was a trier and loveable. Jenas was a trier and had his moments. Freund too. All of them decent but none of them superior enough to put us on the map, esp when compared to the likes of Keane, Scholes, Vieira, Petit, Makelele, Essien, Lampard, Gerrard, Alonso in Centre Mid.
 
Ade's folks are ok really said:
haha, i'm inclined to agree, but doesn't that pretty much sum up our CM's around that time? We had a lot of "triers" but none of any notable class. I liked Tainio, also Allan Neilsen. Sandro was a trier and loveable. Jenas was a trier and had his moments. Freund too. All of them decent but none of them superior enough to put us on the map, esp when compared to the likes of Keane, Scholes, Vieira, Petit, Makelele, Essien, Lampard, Gerrard, Alonso in Centre Mid.
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All true, but dross isn't fair on all on that list.
 
Hoddle and Gazza would be the stand out CM's for me, in the modern game you would need a winner but that said in todays formation I would happily go

Modric, Hoddle and Gazza to replace Dembele, Lamela and Eriksen, who else I would have as a "dier" I am unsure.
 
I haven't seen enough Spurs games prior to 2000 to really offer an opinion, but I haven't seen our midfield look anything close to world class without Modric in it. I have seen a fair amount of 80's footage though and Hoddle was on a different level so I'd throw those two in to a 3 man midfield.
 
Grays_1890 said:
Hoddle and Gazza would be the stand out CM's for me, in the modern game you would need a winner but that said in todays formation I would happily go

Modric, Hoddle and Gazza to replace Dembele, Lamela and Eriksen, who else I would have as a "dier" I am unsure.
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We're picking the two at the base of midfield here.

If Gazza had played in a team playing 4-2-3-1 (or the modern game) I am sure that he would be deployed further forward.
 
Central midfield was always going to be one of the most difficult areas to select players for. In terms of 'greatness' I tend to think of the players that were alone worth buying a match ticket for. In my time these would be Hoddle, Gazza, Ardiles, Modric and Micky Hazard. But this approach would exclude the consistent and ball winning midfielders, one of which would inevitably be needed in a midfield 2, so we should also consider Mackay, who surely must be fitted in somewhere, and also Alan Mullery.

Hoddle is an absolute must, unless he is played further forward, with Mackay alongside in my opinion
 
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