The perfect heir to King’s throne at Tottenham?
In the last few months, Harry Redknapp has bemoaned having to work on a small wage budget. He has said that limited money for player’s wages has prevented him from signing top players. Looking through the Tottenham squad, there are a few injury-prone players that rarely feature in the side, on high wages. Releasing Woodgate and King could free up some money, but do Tottenham have enough defenders to do this?
They would be left with central defenders Gallas, Dawson, Kaboul and Bassong. Of these, I see Kaboul as the man to take Tottenham to the top in the future.
There is a touch of the Gareth Bale to Younes Kaboul’s story. Kaboul came to Tottenham from Auxerre in 2007. He was young but showed he had raw ability. Due to the injuries of Dawson and King he started playing regularly in the first team. Just like Bale, Kaboul was not quite ready for this exposure, and made mistakes which affected his confidence. In doing so, Kaboul created many doubters in his potential. However, after a few seasons out of the limelight, Kaboul seems to have matured. He looks assured and confident and has played well this season.
Kaboul has been absent with a hip injury since January, but should be back to full fitness in the next few weeks. To some extent, the jury is still out on Kaboul, but personally I think he will develop into a very good player. Watching him at White Hart Lane against Inter Milan earlier this season, I was hugely impressed with him. He is remarkably quick and agile for such a big defender and teamed up impressively with the experienced William Gallas. He is good in the air, being strong and tall. He also weighs in with his fair share of goals, including the winner against Arsenal in November, lovely.
In his early Tottenham career Kaboul was prone to lapses in concentration. His mistakes against West Ham and Birmingham cost Tottenham points in 2007. This lack of composure resurfaced earlier this year. He head-butted Newcastle’s Cheik Tiote and was sent off, luckily it did not cost Tottenham points that day. However, in general, he has shown signs of maturity in recent months, his time at Portsmouth with Tony Adams has clearly benefited him.
He is as strong as anyone in the league and is one of the quickest defenders. With attributes likes this, he can be a top class defender. He probably still needs to work on his technique, and on his positioning, but if he continues to improve like he has done in the last year I think Tottenham will have a serious defender on their hands.
For the time being, Gallas and Dawson are a good partnership. But there is no reason why Kaboul cannot overtake Dawson, who still makes silly errors, in the next few years.
Tottenham would lack experience without the likes of King and Woodgate, especially as Gallas will be 34 next year and might play less. So maybe this summer is too soon to offload both but I don’t think Woodgate has a future at White Hart Lane. As for Dawson, he will need to rise to the challenge of leading the defence in future years, while Bassong must continue to improve. But my guess is that Kaboul will be running the show for Tottenham before too long.
You can follow Joe on twitter @joeaustin8
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I agree fully.
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Kaboul will be quality but there is also caulker who will be amazing.
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Now I may get some laughs for this but I would like to see them try Kaboul as a striker. We need a big, strong striker who is fearless when going after the balls provided by Bale and Lennon. Kaboul is also good on the ball and has a strong shot.
It might be a crazy idea but it might save a lot of money.
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J Spurrrr Reply:
March 21st, 2011 at 11:48 pm
ive thought the exact same thing. it makes sense
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ben Reply:
March 22nd, 2011 at 12:02 pm
if it makes sense that players should play out of position becasue they could ‘do a job’,then our side would look like this
gomes
pienarr-huddlestone- sandro-bale
hutton-corluka-BAE-jamie redknapp
kranjcar-kaboul
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Could he be our version of blackburns samba?
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Kaboul was in excellent form,before his injury,and really looked the goods for us.One can only hope he continues with that form on his returm.But my main concern at the moment,is the number of chances our strikers are missing and it is getting frustrating-especially at home,when we dominate teams and cannot put them away.all credit to the irons for there workman like display.But on chances created,Tottenham should have won it by a number of goals.These type of results will probably come back to haunt us.Unfortunately.
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Jacqui Reply:
March 23rd, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Totallt agree with this comment. Strikers need to be doing their jobs.
Lets hope things start to improve from here on.
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I have said it before, and I’ll say it again. Whenever Kaboul gets a run in the team, he picks up an injury – a long-term one. I fear that his body cannot take it. After King and Woody, this would be the last thing we need. Dawson is as resilient as an ox, and is captain material – unlike Kaboul (and most of Spurs team actually…). It is my fear about Kaboul, so I personally see Kaboul’s future as utility man. He can play CB, filled in effectively at RB, can play midfield, and has an eye for goal – not just with his head – so he could be brought on at end of game to try an score up front. I have my doubts that he can do whole season like Dawson and Bassong did last season – which is what you need from your first choice centre backs.
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ben Reply:
March 22nd, 2011 at 11:55 am
What makes Daws captain material?
i know he loves to win a header and has that thing where he looks like he is always trying his hardest(in fairness he does),
but he still makes a lot of silly errors.
Fair point about Tottenham lacking natural leaders though. Gallas has been a great signing for that reason, as well as bringing experience.
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TonyRich Reply:
March 22nd, 2011 at 4:48 pm
Isn’t it obvious? 1) He does not shy away and takes responsibility. 2) You can depend on him to be able to play every game – even if they are frequent. King no. Rio no. Vdv no. etc… 3) Has played as Spurs captain more than anyone else in the squad – bar King. 4) Was captain for much of last season – and was excellent last season. 5) Mature. He patiently waited his turn whilst King and Woody were ahead of him. Did not moan or cry when dropped. 6) Prime age – Mid Twenties – not too young – not too young, so could be captain for years to come. 7) Now a veteran at the club – been at Spurs longer than most. Experienced the good and bad times. Played a lot with senior captain Ledley King (alongside him) – he must have picked captain “things” up, and learnt from the master.
Vocal. 9) Is a CB – the ideal position for a captain – sees whole pitch. and especially own penalty box.
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TonyRich Reply:
March 22nd, 2011 at 4:51 pm
I do agree that Dawson hasn’t been at his best this season tho…
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Baboul would make an excellent Right Back as he is able to effectively overlap the midfield and get to the byline. He is also strong and athletic enough to make the runs needed by modern full backs.
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I am surprised by the massive support to Kaboul. He has got some nice qualities, powerful and a real athlete. A nice personlity too, just as important. He is a weapon on both defensive and offensive set pieces. He can score goals, great asset.
BUT, as a central defender he always get involved in the goals we let in. Is he unlucky, missing experience or just not good enough. I think you will be very very surprised if you look at the statistic with Kaboul in the team and not in the team. The same we can say with Bassong, invlolved in the goals. Sometimes because of bad passing (both) or most causes, by ballwatching. I have studied these two players for a long time and they are not up to it, before they can improve on this. When one of them are playing we seem to let in those kind of goals. It is sad, because they are both players you want to succeed!
Kaboul shine a lot in many games, he is very visible. Great goal against Arse, legend! But if he could learn to do the job when off the ball he could be the man! I was very suprised when Harry used him as a right-back, but I have to say by today, he is better playing there because it easier for him to read the game in that position. Good luck Kaboul
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TonyRich Reply:
March 23rd, 2011 at 10:15 am
Kaboul still does suffer from the odd lapse. However, the stats do not support your claim. This season: With Kaboul: 14 games – 25 pts, 18 goals conceded. Without: 16 games – 14 pts, 16 goals conceded. On average – slightly more points won despite slightly more goals conceded WITH Kaboul. However I did not take into account the time he was sent off – as he does not deserve the win points and cleen sheet. So it is quite equal anyway – with or without him.
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We have been discussing the need for a new striker since January. You can’t just talk about strikers, it gets very boring
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