Is he really a transfer necessity for Tottenham Hotspur?
West Ham’s relegation from the Premier League is going to bring about huge changes at Upton Park, wages will need to be slashed and some of the top players will leave the club. One player who is a nailed on certainty to leave West Ham is England International Scott Parker, who has a list of big Premier League clubs among his admirers. Harry Redknapp has made no secret of his intention to bring the Football Writers’ Player of the Year to White Hart Lane this summer, but do Tottenham actually need Parker?
My initial response to this question would be, no they don’t need him. When you look at the central midfielders Tottenham already have at their disposal in, Jermaine Jenas, Sandro, Tom Huddlestone, Luka Modric, Wilson Palacios and Niko Kranjcar, there is plenty of quality there. Then I thought there is a good chance the likes of Jenas and Kranjcar will be sold in the summer which would make the addition of Parker a logical step. Jenas and Kranjcar are players I would imagine Harry Redknapp would be happy to sacrifice, but one man he will fight tooth and nail to keep hold of, is Luka Modric. The Croat is rumoured to be a transfer target for Manchester United and Chelsea and the top two could pull out all the stops in their attempts to sign the playmaker.
Should the unthinkable happen and Spurs lose Modric, any move for Parker would surely become all the more rational, and may even see Parker become a top priority for Redknapp. It would be unlikely Spurs would have it all their own way in their pursuit of Parker though, as Arsenal and Liverpool are also reportedly interested in the player. The sale of Modric is all ifs and buts, so let’s assume he stays at White Hart Lane, would a Parker and Modric central midfield pairing be a good combination for Spurs? Parker has defensive qualities to his game that Modric doesn’t, although I wouldn’t typify Parker as a defensive midfielder as he loves to get forward as well. So would it work having two players of an attacking nature in the middle at the expense of, say Sandro, Palacios or Huddlestone?
It could be argued that, regardless of how any potential formations would work out, bringing Parker to the club would be a good move, solely because, having a player of his drive, determination and commitment in the ranks, adds quality and strength in depth. Having both Parker and Modric in the squad may mean at times resting one or the other in order to get the right balance, but having players of their calibre can only be a positive move to get Spurs back into the top four next season.
So would Scott Parker be a welcome addition at White Hart Lane this summer?
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Sandro makes there no longer a need for Parker. If we signed him, Hudd would be the one to lose out. Or you would see Modders turn on the left/right more often – just to accommodate them all. I would rather focus on getting some more pace and power going forward. None of the 4 strikers or Vdv have pace – barring Defoe. And none of them have any power. Plus besides, Lennon, Bale, we have no pacy options to back them up from the bench or cover.
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as a west ham fan in peace and one of the few who does not believe parker is God , or even more absurdly Prem League player of the year. He is no replacement for a creative midfielder- he’s not even a box to box player, he does not score or even assist very much – as fabio has proved though provided he does not stray much beyond the halfway line he’s brilliant at patrolling the centre circle and breaking up play and then laying off to teammates who don’t get nose bleeds everytime they approach the opponets penalty box – I know you are generally a flair club and that’s how harry likes to play but if your defence needs protection in front-he’s your man.
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TonyRich Reply:
May 24th, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Dude. That IS the point. He is not meant to be a creative player. We would not want him to replace Modric, but COMPLEMENT him. You DO NEED players like that. You could not play 2 Hitzelspergers in the middle. Players like Parker DO win games without scoring or creating goals. Having said that, we have no space for him.
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dave Reply:
May 25th, 2011 at 4:07 am
What about Sandro?
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I absolutely believe that Parker would be the most important transfer of Spurs this summer.
He could have a very significant impact on the team and boosts to the maximum the efforts of Spurs on reaching a top four place next season.
Parker is the kind of player that Spurs are desperate missing in their squad: an experienced and commanding midfielder with a strong personality and, above all, a winner’s character.
He is a tremendous box to box midfielder with a better shooting and scoring ability than Sandro and Modric as well an accurate passing ability.
But most important he has a leader’s character that neither Sandro or Modric have and he can have a more efficient impact on the game of Spurs.
With Parker in their squad, Spurs could compete seriously for a top four place next season.
As a dedicated fan of Spurs for more than fifty years and as an experience ex professional footballer and trainer I ask publicly Levy and Harry to buy Parker.
He would be the most significant transfer of Spurs last decades and together with some of the other current players he would lead Spurs to glory.
Imagine a midfield of Parker, Sandro, Modric, VDV!!
Please buy Parker now!!
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TonyRich Reply:
May 24th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
Cool, did not know that you were an ex-Pro. At any level that is cool.
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Spurs absolutely need players with a strong personality, a fighting spirit
and a winner’s character who can lead the squad.
I liked Parker on the games I’ve seen him.
Of course I respect the opinion of Kevin who has watched him in more games
than I did.
But I insist on him because of his mentality and personality.
I believe that his positive impact will increase at Spurs given also the higher
level of the other squad players.
You don’t have enough on technically very good players
who miss that winner’s drive.
I hope someone in the club will listen to that.
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IoanX: Parker is a winner? Really, what has he won? A midfield of VdV, Modric, Sandro and Parker? Again, really? So, to accomodate Parker you are moving Modric out to the left, and VdV to the right? Bale at LB?
I don’t want Parker, he is 30+ with a history of injuries, he will get games at the expense of Sandro and Thudd, and he has only produced as a big fish in a small pond.
If you want a more articulate argument against signing Parker check out Bernio’s piece on vital-football Tottenham.
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Need to beef up the defense and attack – midfield is the last thing we should be worried about and the only transfers I ever read about is Spurs trying to get another midfielder! Where are the reports for defenders and attackers????
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Parker would be the worst signing ever for Spurs as
1. Sandro and Huddlestone both play his position better and are younger.
2. We do not need any more midfielders
3. He will want £70k a week
4. Niko, Bentley and a dozen others are all being sold to decrease the squard size all whom of which are good players and younger.
5. All the transfer money we have needs to be put into getting a decent CF who will score goals as that is where we are the weekest.
just because he is a media darling and has won awards means nothing, fact is he is not needed.
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No!
Harry has enough “middle class” midfield players like Jenas, Huddlestone, Pienaar, Palacios…
He needs to focus on keeping the players he already has like Bassong and Kranjcar. Harry did not rotate his players and bought crap like Pienaar when Krancjar is a class above him and plays left midfield (Kranjcar has scored almost every time he plays and was responsible for getting Spurs into the CC last season)…there is also Dos Santos who is fast exciting Mexican who can play on right wing and should have been used to rotate with Lennon…it is clear to me that Harry has an English bias and should be England manager not Spurs manager…
Spurs can also use one extra striker and can use Defoe, Crouch, Pavliuchenko as meaningful substitutes and/or rotation players and sell Keane…
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Spurfan Reply:
May 26th, 2011 at 6:16 am
You have hit the nail on its head that harry should not have loan out Dos Santos, and should have played kranjcar more often, spurs would be playing champions league next season, harry took a long time to see sandro potential and harry should have loan out jenas, who was the main reason for spurs inconsistent performance in the premiere league this season.
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I would consider scott parker if we sold rafa jenas pienaar o`hara sarge bentley and dos santos but modric bale lennon sandro huddlestone must come first some decent forwards priority!
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No they don’t West Ham need him more than any club in the world
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