In the case of dear Ramon and many others, “cult hero” can be a nice way to label a player more accurately described as “useless”. I never quite understood the Steffen Freund one. Sure, he ran around a lot and gee’d up the crowd like a novelty German wrestler. But I couldn’t get past the fact that he couldn’t tackle or pass and took the ironic crowd calls to “shooooot” as a genuine request to blaze the ball over the bar. During Wilson Palacios’s darker moments I force myself to recall those times.
Thinking about those names reminds us how lucky we are now. I can remember a god-awful relegation battle home win over Bolton in 1998 where my mate Chris and I were genuinely excited about witnessing Moussa Saib’s debut. Nowadays, Niko Kranjcar can barely make our bench. But, for me, one player who remains faithful to the club’s proud cult hero legacy is Vedran Corluka.
Charlie Boy has been speaking in the press recently about the battle to regain his starting right back spot from galvanised Scots flier Alan Hutton. His absence – and Hutton’s half-decent (let’s not kid ourselves: it’s been nothing more than that) form – will have forced Redknapp to seriously consider whether Corluka really deserves his spot. Because few current players split opinion like Vedran.
For some, he’s a lumbering weak link. A shirt-tugging penalty waiting to happen. Overweight, lackadaisical and not good enough for a Champions League side. For others, Corluka is a sturdy, consistent presence and surprisingly useful in possession. A streetwise defender not afraid to play dirty to get the job done. Truth is, he’s probably a bit of both. That Werder Bremen game formalised many of our fears: if a team isolates their trickiest player (rat-faced nuisance Marko Marin in this case) against him, there’s every chance Vedran will spend 90 minutes hacking at thin air. But Corluka isn’t likely to face opponents of Marin’s ability every week and he usually finds a way to strong-arm these pesky miniature skillsters into ineffectualness.
There’s every chance Vedran will be restored to the starting XI once back at full fitness, particularly if Hutton comes home with this new groin injury. However, many feel a fully-fit Younes Kaboul might pose his greatest threat. Offering a blend of Corluka’s bulk and and Hutton’s offensive galloping (with a unhealthy pinch of his own still-naïve defensive decision-making thrown in), our boomerang Frenchman could just mature into our very own budget Cafu. Leaving Charlie nothing but an assured place in my own pantheon of Spurs Cult Heroes.
Nice post. I'm from the Pro Corluka school - I think we've chopped and changed our full backs to such an extent over the last few years that it's become difficult to predict one staying for longer than a season.
ReplyDeleteThink of the right backs we've had in the last five or so years: Noe Pamarot, Paul Stalteri, Stephen Kelly, Pascal Chimbonda and now Hutton, Corluka and Kaboul. It's almost a different man for every year.
Corluka, whilst admittedly some way off the finished article, represents stability and consistency. His initial inclusion in the back four in the 08/09 season brought us a new record for fewest goals conceded at White Hart Lane. He was part of the top four side of last year. Yes, he's made annoying mistakes and has the pace of a snail on sedatives. But can we honestly say that Hutton and Kaboul won't make the same errors? And Assou Ekotto on the other side of the park is no less fallible when it comes to making the occasional 'Bramble'.
I like Hutton and Kaboul in their own ways but, right now, I'd much rather have Charlie. His connection with Lennon on the right is worth it's weight in gold.
As per my previous comment, I'm definitely backing Kaboul to step into the breach and be the 'man in possession'.
ReplyDeleteI really like Charlie (Corluka, in this instance, not Parrish. Though he's OK too), but his decision making and lack of pace are real concerns (ditto for BAE re: decisions).
If he can cut those out, he really can be our own Red Nev. Solid, unspectacular, but, importantly, a Spur.
I think all of those being named as our potential first choice RBs have their strengths and weaknesses: Hutton has pace and is dynamic (especially recently) but has yet to convince he's up to the defending side of the job; I'm not sure if Kaboul is destined for the role, either - wasn't he at one point also destined to become our ball-playing DM? And while Charlie's lack of pace was seriously shown up by that bloody German, in his time at the Lane up to now, it's not been that manifest an issue. (Sure, it has happened, but not all that often.)
ReplyDeleteI might argue about him being a 'cult' hero, though. He's played consistently and is definitely a decent footballer, so I think he may have justified being a hero - as a part of the 'new, improved' Spurs - without the cult attached.
I'm anti-Corluka.
ReplyDeleteDid he win a competition to be a professional footballer?
Hutton can run a bit more and Corluka has a defter pass from time to time, but both are lacking.
ReplyDeleteTo echo Austin's point, I was always surprised Charlie wasn't targeted more by teams with a bit of pace on the wing.