Modric: Great Times Profile Piece

The Guardian has a great piece on the No. 10 position and the declining importance of playmakers in European football. It features Riquelme as the prototypical traditional No. 10 and Modric as one of the new breed. Here's a snippet:

He's maybe not going to push players around, but with his quickness of feet, and his balance and his vision he'll cope. He's really special. He's a player who's really comfortable on the ball. People enjoy having him in the team. He's quick of thought. Good with both feet, can run all day long, and he plays football. He's got a great future."

Kaboul Complains - Provides Insight Into Ramos Management Style

Kaboul, who could not handle the pressure of central defense in the Premier League, has gone on the offensive against Ramos who refuses to play him. His main complaint? Ramos focuses too much on tactics and isn't the father figure that Jol used to be.

Seriously.

Here's the article reprinted from So Foot. Clearly Kaboul offers a lot of excuses, but he also some interesting insights into Ramos' managerial style.

"Martin Jol was a person," Kaboul told So Foot. "For us he was a father whereas Ramos is about tactics . . . .

"At training we do a lot of XI against zero and blackboard work to work on the ball.

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"Ramos brought that to us, but nothing else. The Carling Cup win saved our season. . . .

"They say we won it because Ramos arrived at the club, but it is nothing to do with him. We would have won it with Martin Jol."

I'm sure few would support this last point as Ramos has distinguished himself from Jol with the ability to change the outcome of games with smart substitutions and tactical adjustments. There is no doubt he has taken Spurs to a new level and the silverware proves it.

And the emphasis on tactics is a continental way of managing. I'm surprised the frenchman is not more familiar with this style.

The one thing Kaboul was not prepared to do was to accept any blame for the team's leaky defense.

"We have had a difficult season. We score many goals but for sure we concede too much. More than half of the goals were from free kicks. . . .

I was defensively okay and scored goals. Finally I never gave up so I do not regret anything. . . .

"I played all the first part of the championship and since the manager changed I do not play anymore. I have not been told why. He does not speak. With anybody. Communication does not exist with him.

It's safe to say that Kaboul is pretty serious about getting transfer-listed.

Ramos Wants Funds

In today's Guardian, Ramos sends the message to the Spurs board that he will need a serious influx of funds to get the players necessary to break into the top four.

With plenty of speculation about which players Ramos will bring to the club during the summer transfer period, a couple interesting points emerged from the Guardian article.

First, Ramos seems to challenge Levy and the board's emphasis in buying only young players in the transfer market:

"[The budget] is an internal situation we have to look at. The teams in the Champions League are there because they have the highest budgets and the best players.The best of the best are not the oldest, experienced or youngest. It is not about the players' ages if they are good enough."

And, somewhat worryingly, he seems not to have directly conveyed this to the Spurs directors:

The Tottenham manager has yet to meet his executive chairman, Daniel Levy, to discuss next season's budgets, but if his ambitious target is to be achieved, it will require finacial backing.

Tottenham's pursuit of rising young talent has left the team with a lot of potential after three years, but many players have yet to develop. Instead of hitting its stride with high impact transfers, the team seems always to be waiting for its young players to turn the corner in their development.

Moreover, without experienced veteran leadership, Spurs youngsters are less likely to adopt the work ethic and determination that is required of championship contenders.

Ramos' silverware addition to the Lane should hopefully give him some latitude with the board to pursue the type of transfers he is seeking. Spurs will need players who can make an immediate impact if they want to break into the top four.

Darren Bent: Highest Paid Spurs Player

The Daily Telegraph has posted a document, apparently photocopied, which lists the 40 highest paid players in the world. Curiously, the salaries are in pounds not euros. It is impossible to measure the authenticity of this document, but the Telegraph thought enough of it to print it on their pages.

There are a few surprises in there, but none more so for Spurs fans than Darren Bent's purported weekly salary of £94,669, substantially higher than any other Tottenham player. This figure appears well in excess of what West Ham reportedly offered Bent and considerably more than reported in the press. It would also be far beyond any publicly reported salaries for Berbatov, Keane or King.

If true, this document would signal the end of Spurs' infamously rigid wage structure. That could only portend well for Juande Ramos and any summer signings he has planned.

I wouldn't hold my breath, though. This is so out of character for Levy and the Spurs board it seems preposterous.

No one is untouchable at Spurs

Perhaps because he wants to keep the Tottenham players performing at their peak, or perhaps because its true, Spurs coach Juande Ramos has suggested that no single player on the squad is guaranteed their position. The Telegraph discusses the planned upheaval to take place in the summer. In the Daily Mail, Ramos explains his high expectations of player performance:

'What I am interested in is to see how my players respond to the other night in Europe and how they perform until our very last fixture,' he said. 'These matches are important. There are many games yet to play, enough for the players to show what qualities they've got and what kind of standards they can achieve.

This comes on the heels of rumors that Aaron Lennon's position is not safe at Spurs and that he may actually be transferred at the end of the season. Clearly Ramos wants to see development by Lennon whose crossing should show better improvement by this stage. With Inter Milan interested in moving for the young winger, this story cannot be immediately discounted.

Someone to Bale us out

If I learned anything from our disappointing performance today against PSV, its that we desperately need a healthy Gareth Bale in the lineup. Between Gilberto's horrendous errors and spot kick taking that would rival my own, it was obvious that the glaring deficiencies that plagued Spurs today could have most certainly been remedied by him. Bale seems to be a class act on and off the field and we shall keep our fingers crossed for his speedy return.

New Transfer News

The Daily Mail is reporting that Carlos Kameni talks with Spurs are at an advanced stage and a deal may be near completion. Kameni has already indicated to Espanyol that he will not re-sign and his escape clause gives Tottenham a chance to secure his transfer. Interesting point to note: Football-Lineups.com lists Kameni at only 6' 1/2" tall.

Sky Sports is reporting that Spurs are tracking Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero who is currently on loan at Getafe. For what it's worth, the news appears to be coming from Granero's agent. Apparently, player and agent are waiting to see if the 20-year-old will feature in Madrid's first team next year before making a decision to seek a transfer. Madrid value the player at 24 million Euros.