Best crap players and worst good players

[Rout-Ledge]

Taraabt has to be up there for worst good players. There’s still time for Tanguy to turn it around.

Best crap players? Agree with those saying Dawson. He wasn’t a good footballing centre back (see King, Vertonghen, Alderweireld etc) but he was committed. He was never a truly great defender though, and he never got near the England team.

 

[al_pacino]

Best crap players? Agree with those saying Dawson. He wasn’t a good footballing centre back (see King, Vertonghen, Alderweireld etc) but he was committed. He was never a truly great defender though, and he never got near the England team.

Apart from the England caps he did get and the (unplaying)place in a world cup squad?

He's one of a long line of defense first defenders but obviously not in the same class as the other players you named.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

Apart from the England caps he did get and the (unplaying)place in a world cup squad?

He's one of a long line of defense first defenders but obviously not in the same class as the other players you named.

I guess my point is that he’s highly regarded because of his attitude and personality rather than his ability. As you said, he’s not in the same class as our best defenders of the last decade or so. He was a perfectly decent player, but his reputation at Spurs is better than decent (for understandable reasons).

I looked up his England caps - 4. Probably about right. God only knows how Eric Dier has 45 (!!) England caps…he is worse than Dawson.

 

[Barmby Army]

Sissoko is 100% the best 'bad' player we ever had. He gave you the work rate and engine of two players, except they were both crap.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Sissoko is 100% the best 'bad' player we ever had. He gave you the work rate and engine of two players, except they were both crap.

I think bar a great spell in 2019, his work rate was a bit of a myth.

 

[C0YS]

I guess my point is that he’s highly regarded because of his attitude and personality rather than his ability. As you said, he’s not in the same class as our best defenders of the last decade or so. He was a perfectly decent player, but his reputation at Spurs is better than decent (for understandable reasons).

I looked up his England caps - 4. Probably about right. God only knows how Eric Dier has 45 (!!) England caps…he is worse than Dawson.

To be fair Dier got them as a CM before his injury, when he was very good.

Dawson would also get a lot more caps in this England team. Keep in mind he was competing with Ferdinand, Terry, King, Carregher for a place in the England squad. He was never likely to get many caps. His injury in 2011 also came at a very bad time for him, and as is often the case with many players, he struggled to refind form.

Dawson was very good in a few seasons for us. 2009-2010 being his absolute best. For us he was a player who was a bit hit and miss, hed have a few good seasons than a few bad. Dawson was also a much better long distance distributor then some might remember.

 

[C0YS]

Also for best worst player I would say Michael Brown. Yes he was super limited, but there was a point he became a very useful and dependable hardworking player either from the bench or in rotation. Having said that, he was no way near the level we were trying to be at. So it made sense we replaced him with Danny Murphy. But out of those two? I'd take Brown every time, even if Murphy was clearly the better footballer out of the two.

For worst best player, I'm tempted to go for someone like huddlestone, because his passing genuinely could take the breath away when you watched in the stadium, but by in large he really wasnt a particularly effective player. But I wouldn't say he was the worst right, he was okay and in 2010 he was very good indeed.

Dos Santos deserves a mention incredibly talented, but never able to impose himself.

Ndombele is certainly up there, while Taarabt is harsh because he was still a kid, but career wise it absolutely holds true. But I actually think I'm going to pick David Bentley. A player who could do incredible things, fantastic technique, etc. But for us, he just wasnt very good at all. Often slow, often low on confidence often not really playing for the team. At Blackburn he really did appear like a special player, and us signing him was really a bit of a coup. But, yeah, it all went very wrong for him.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

For worst best player, I'm tempted to go for someone like huddlestone, because his passing genuinely could take the breath away when you watched in the stadium, but by in large he really wasnt a particularly effective player.

Huddlestone for worst best is a great shout. Amazing talent. Average career.

 

[Barmby Army]

Brown gets a pass from me for having the modesty to recognise, off the back of a season scoring 20-odd goals from centre mid in the Championship, that he wasn't technically good enough for the Premier League and rebadged himself as a dirty bastard.

 

[GutBucket]

So much wasted potential but he had his moments.

 

[AnotherSpursFan]

Best crap and worst good - Harry Kane

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I think bar a great spell in 2019, his work rate was a bit of a myth.

He put in some very big performances well before 2019, including in a key PL win against Man City where he was a machine for 90 minutes.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

He put in some very big performances well before 2019, including in a key PL win against Man City where he was a machine for 90 minutes.

Maybe it’s because of the last couple of sessions, but I thought he was phoning it in and hiding from the ball/ from taking responsibility for a significant chunk of time.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Maybe it’s because of the last couple of sessions, but I thought he was phoning it in and hiding from the ball/ from taking responsibility for a significant chunk of time.

I would say his best performances, which were typified by his workrate, came before (not during) 2019. Therefore, if you think he had a good spell in 2019, our dysfunctional midfield of the last 2+ years is probably what's overshadowing your recollection.

Despite popular belief, his defensive work and transition between defence and attack were pretty good in the past. Out of possession, he spent a lot of time covering for our full-backs and essentially slotting in as a third CB (i.e. the sort of thing only a CM with high workrate does). He put in some solid shifts out of position at full-back/wing-back too.
His technique and passing have always been frustrating to watch, but I think what some perceived as "hiding from the ball" was actually just a general lack of movement in an unbalanced CM that struggled to function as a unit in possession...an issue with our team collectively, rather than him individually. Sissoko + Winks with an underperforming Lo Celso/Ndombele/Dele ahead of them was night and day from Sissoko + Wanyama/Dembele with an in-form Eriksen ahead of them.

 

[bigfrooj]

There´s a really good documentary on Steffen Iversen from Norwegian television (NRK, the Norwegian BBC), where he talks very openly about his alcoholism issues.

His father (Odd Iversen) was an even better striker - one of the biggest football icons of all times in Norway, and hands down the best ever striker we (in Norway) ever had. At least before Haaland. He was brutal goal scoring machine. And an even more brutal drinker. Father and son, wonderful talents, "hard men strikers" that could score from anywhere, with both feet and head. But also both too hard on the bottle.

I remember I saw Steffen as a young kid, maybe 12-13 or so during a club tournament in Trondheim. He looked and played like an adult compared to everyone else - a stellar talent! And was already talked about as the "future of Norwegian football". As the son of our (until then) greatest striker, who was nick named "Ivers", Steffen was already tagged as "Little-Ivers". The pressure was enormous, and he came to fortunes at a very young age. That combined with his personality and fondness of partying and the nightlife in London didn´t actually help during his injury ridden career.

King of the obscene gesture! I really liked Iversen, he could have been so good. Just never quite reached that full potential.