Tottenham Hotspur – ‘Team Of The Decade’

Football FanCast columnist Roy James produces his Tottenham team of the decade.

I was flicking through the Times the other day and I saw Gab Marcotti produce his Premier League team of the decade which made for an interesting read. It got me thinking as to who would make my Tottenham team of the decade and how well they’d actually perform if we could magically knit them all together.

Here goes…

Gk – Paul Robinson

Easy choice and why Heurelho Gomes is vastly improving with every given week, the Brazilian still has some way to replicate the first two seasons we enjoyed under Robbo. Robinson during this period was absolutely immense and a real rock between the sticks.

LB – Christian Ziege

Quality left backs are few and far between and in my mind nobody was better for us than the German. Granted he hasn’t had much competition for this slot, with perhaps Ekotto the only one that can come close but the Cameroonian is not able to deliver the quality set-pieces, or whip in the same inviting crosses that Ziege produced during the Hoddle years. Excellent player and sorely missed.

CB – Ledley King

No need to explain why Ledley is included. Tremendous player, the best centre half I have seen in all my years at Tottenham and just a shame that injury has deprived us of this amazing talent on a regular basis.

CB – Noureddine Naybet

If only the Moroccan joined the football club years earlier as it would have been an absolute pleasure to see this player in his prime. There is no doubt in my mind that it was him who brought the best out of Ledley King and it is such a shame he had such a short stint at the Lane.

RB – Stephen Carr

Never quite understand why Carr gets stick on his return games against Tottenham, as this guy gave everything for the football club during his time here. There were few better right backs in the country when Carr was at Tottenham and his departure (despite bitter) left a massive hole which in truth has never been properly filled since.

LW – David Ginola

A bit of a no brainer I think you’ll agree and arguably the most gifted player to don a Spurs shirt since Hoddle and Gascoigne. There was nothing he couldn’t do with the ball at his feet and although he was frustrating at times, in that he always looked to score the picture goal, he always kept us entertained and on our feet whenever he was in possession.

CM – Wilson Palacios

Says a lot about how little talent we possessed in centre midfield that the Honduran makes my team of the decade having only been at the club for less than a year. I suppose when your competition for the holding role reads such names like Freund, Toda or Didier Zokora, there was never much to fear.

CM – Michael Carrick

Sheer class and a player that has yet to be fully replaced at White Hart Lane. Incredibly gifted, great passer of the ball and it is such a shame that he isn’t pulling the strings in this current team at present. My only criticism of Carrick was that he didn’t use to score enough goals, however he more than made up for it with countless assists.

RW – Aaron Lennon

Lennon was chosen in the large part to a lack of other obvious options to choose from. Saying that though Aaron has really come into his own in the past 18months and his game has come on greatly and is slowly becoming the complete winger.

ST – Jermain Defoe

No real surprise why Jermain has been chosen, given what he has brought to the football club and since his return from Pompey he has taken his game to a different stratosphere altogether. While I’m sure there a lot of supporters that may think that with Berbatov upfront that Keane would be the ideal partner, however it is worth pointing out that his ratio of goals per game alongside Dimitar is actually better than the one the Bulgarian shared with Keane.

ST- Dimitar Berbatov

Unpopular choice perhaps, but I cannot keep this striker out of my team. Despite his sulks, for two seasons he was absolutely incredible for us and whether it goals or assists the Bulgarian always delivered for Tottenham and his loss to the football club, in my view, is still greatly missed.

SUBS:

Gomes
Woodgate
Anderton
Poyet
Sheringham
Keane

That’s my Tottenham team of the past decade, do you agree, or have there been any glaring omissions?

NEW Soccer AM IIII DVD OUT NOW – Order your copy now

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NEW Soccer AM IIII DVD OUT NOW – Order your copy now