Wolves v Spurs – Preview

The boredom of the International break has finally finished, and the topic of Frank Lampard’s England career can be brushed under the carpet until his next inept performance for his national side. We travel to Wolves this weekend as the Premier League returns in earnest.

Our game against Wolves will easily be classed as our most winnable fixture of the campaign so far. This is no slight on Wolves, but a reflection of the tough opening games we have faced against the two Manchester clubs.

Rafael Van Der Vaart will be missing for a good few weeks yet. As he recovers from injury, and his absence affords Redknapp the opportunity to try playing two up front, if he so wishes. Baring a late development, it is almost guaranteed that Adebayor will make his debut against the midlands side. The only question will be whether he is partnered up front by another striker or if he just replaces Jermaine Defoe as our new sole forward. Both Kranjcar and Modric could aptly play the ‘VDV role’ off the striker, but it would be interesting to see if Defoe and Adebayor could succeed as a partnership like the Defoe/Crouch one tried before.

One thing Redknapp can be certain of is that Wolves will give his side a tough game. They seem to raise their game against so called bigger sides, and although we are hardly representative of a bigger side (currently bottom of the league) they will consider us to be and therefore will be ‘right up for it’ as the saying goes. Selection permitting they will also have Jamie O Hara in their ranks who recently left Spurs in the summer and will have a point to prove to Redknapp.

Wolves do get the ball down and play football a lot more than they are given credit for and along with their threat from set pieces they are a potent force, particularly at home. The one thing they do lack though is pace, and if we line up with Defoe, Lennon and Bale, that is something we could have as an advantage. Redknapp usually sends his sides out to attack and win games, but in light of recent heavy defeats it will be interesting to see if he has decided to real it in a bit and play a more cautious approach.

Scott Parker will surely be making his debut on Saturday and this is the sort of game that Redknapp had in mind when he signed the diminutive England International. His determination and commitment in the middle of the park was exactly the sort of attribute missing from our opening two games. His inclusion in the line up will surely guarantee that there is more resilience to our play in this game. Redknapp will have to make sure that Parker shows those qualities in abundance, and not only that, but the likes of Bale, Lennon and Modric all follow suit.

The Spurs boss has used the ongoing Modric transfer saga to explain away our poor start to the season. The disruption to the pre season and opening games was there for all to see, as the focus on the pitch seemed to be lacking from not just Modric, but others as well. With the transfer window now firmly shut, and Modric looking very happy away with Croatia in midweek, that excuse will have to be shelved before 3pm on Saturday.

If the commitment is there and the desire is there, then it will go some way to appeasing some already concerned Spurs fans. But if the result does not follow on Saturday, Harry might find himself thinking up a new excuse to explain our league position.