Aaron Lennon - An Old Fashioned Winger, Left Behind By The Modern Game

When Mauricio Pochettino arrived in North London last summer, Aaron Lennon was part of a small handful of players that seemed destined to be a hit in the Argentine’s energetic, ‘pressing’ system.

Leeds born Lennon was once an exciting, tricky winger, who burst on to the scene in 2003. Despite his limitations, which mainly consist of an unwavering favouritism of his right foot and the corresponding side of the pitch, he had the talent to suggest he’d one day be at the top of the game. 12 years on, he is training with the Spurs youth team.

Every commentator would raise their voice in expectation at the sight of Lennon receiving the ball. He was the young, exciting player of the mid-noughties. With his trademark haircut, eyebrows and bling-bling earrings, he had the look of a modern footballer.  

Once defenders began to work out his game, he was often shifted to the left – a side he clearly struggled on. He was by no means incapable of ‘doing a job’ on the opposite wing, but the switch would always render him less effective to the offensive effort.

The introduction of ‘inverted wingers’

In the last few years, the concept of ‘inverted wingers’ has begun to implement itself on the English game; leaving old-fashioned wingers like Aaron, at a loss to where they stand. The concept in itself is a logical move, shifting full backs onto their weaker foot and often testing the keeper from range.

But this period of footballing evolution indicated that the traditional English game was being left behind, and with it, any players unable to adapt to the game’s change in emphasis.

Lennon is far from the only player who’s one-dimension-itis has been somewhat highlighted by the game’s movements, in fact it has even seen traditional ‘goal poachers’ also being threatened with immediate extinction.

Being one-footed or one-dimensional will obviously leave a player with limited options, but it is not the be-all and end-all. Prestigious names such as Gareth Bale and Arjen Robben have proved this.

Loyalty

Lennon is also one of the few players in the modern game to remain loyal to their club. And although loyalty is obviously not a physical footballing trait, it remains an admirable quality in this day and age.

It could be argued that some players perceived ‘loyalty’ is purely mistaken for their lack of potential value in the transfer market. Put simply: other clubs aren’t interested.

But this is an unfair judgement, in Aaron’s case, at least. Not once has he made a fuss about his contract, wages or wanting to move elsewhere. This point is backed up by his reluctance to move on. On being presented as an Everton player, all be it only on loan, his facial features emitted a blank, apathetic expression.

Of course, Lennon isn’t exactly a seasoned pro when it comes to moving clubs – having not had to face the prospect since his move to North London as a teenager.

At Everton, Lennon was a revelation. He was let loose on his much-loved right wing and soon began to terrorise defences. His colleagues on Merseyside even openly admitted that they were envious of his work-rate, and he was having a hugely positive impact on the rest of the team.

You could hardly blame him for having a point to prove.

He ended his loan spell by tweeting his gratitude to the Everton fans, and emphasised how much he enjoyed his time at Goodison Park. And as a Spurs fan, it was great to see him playing regularly and enjoying his Football again.

Back at Spurs, it was widely accepted that the club’s current longest-serving player would make his move to Merseyside permanent – which, at the time of writing, is yet to happen.

An alternative to Kyle Walker?

In (what currently looks like) the unlikely event that Lennon was to stay at spurs, could he potentially be used as a right back?

It has long been noted that he has a respectable willingness to come back and help out in that department, and with question marks over Kyle Walker’s defensive ability, it isn’t against the realms of possibility that Lennon could still feature in the team.

The idea seems ridiculous, given Lennon’s clear attacking prowess, but with the width in Pochettino’s preferred system coming primarily from the full backs, this idea suddenly becomes feasible.

It also seems somewhat ironic how a lot of the problems in the current spurs side, stem solely from the lack of width and pace. Although Lamela, Eriksen and Chadli are certainly quick players, none have the blistering pace required to strike fear into the heart of opponents.

In fact, Andros Townsend is the only player in the squad – in a purely attacking sense – to possess anywhere near the kind of pace that the current squad sorely lacks.

The only other one has been left to sulk in the youth team. This may be seem a fair conclusion for a player who allegedly refused to swap wings in order to cooperate with the manager’s system, but Lennon is a player who knows his strengths.

Those strengths have the potential to at least momentarily provide a solution to one of the major on-field weaknesses which are causing points to be lost far too easily at the moment, for Mr. Pochettino.

There’s no doubt his best days are behind him, but as proved in Merseyside, he still has a lot to offer.

The Curious Case Of Tottenham Hotspur

Today, for the umpteenth time in my life, I found myself walking home at 5pm, seriously questioning my own loyalties towards Spurs. I didn’t see the game today, but judging from the Twitter commentary from SpursOfficial, and later on MOTD, they were on course for a reasonably straightforward home victory.

As is much the Spurs way, our visitors from Stoke-on-Trent were given a lifeline near the end, and took it with both hands, the game ending a point apiece. F*ck’s sake, Spurs.

At half-time I was already preparing my post-game opinion: We always put on promising displays early in the season, and I doubted it would be much beyond November before we regained our long-term knack of conceding an early goal, which inevitably turns out to be the winner.

These kind of things are just part-and-parcel of being a Spurs fan. We accept it.

Sure, it frustrates us every season, but to quote Dan Louw, creater of the brilliant youtube series ‘Away Day’:

“Every year we get dressed up, throw the cash around, pull with ease and then blow our wad before she’s even got her socks off. And do you know what? We sort of enjoy it. Because what is life other than just a long series of beautiful disappointments? And they don’t come much more beautiful and disappointing than Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.”

In fact, some of the best nights of my life came last season at Spurs. My housemate and I would arrive in Tottenham in plenty of time, have a few beers, stop off for a cheeky whisky and take our seats at The Lane.

No matter the result, even the more frustrating games, we had a great time watching the mighty Spurs. And that’s what football is all about, right?

Would things be any better had Redknapp remained in charge? Well, the short answer is No. The guy found himself flirting with the FA and took his eye off the job, resulting in what looked like a comfortable third place finish and a route back into Europe, turning into a fourth place finish with our bitter rivals from down the road pipping us at the post yet again.

Yeah, maybe eventually missing out on Europe wasn’t entirely down to him, but it was as good as, and his sacking was deserved.

More to the point, Redknapp has proved that he can only manage the team that is in front of him. Yeah, maybe he would’ve kept Van der Vaart, and maybe even Bale the following summer, but following the sale of star-man Luka Modric, would there be enough left in the team to regain a top four spot?

It was AVB that propelled Bale’s career by moving him further forward to fill the void from our lack of forwards, which wouldn’t have been such an issue had Rafa remained on the books.

Redknapp then moved on to QPR and soon found himself in the Championship.

Despite AVB’s stubbornness to adapt his system to the players available, there are still many of us who think Levy may as well have given him the full season, especially if all he had lined-up was a horrifically unqualified nobody (in management terms, at least) attempting to blag it at the top level.

Had we seen a few months more of the redhead from Portugal, things may be different now; but we’ll never know.

What we do know, however, is that we currently have a young, promising manager in charge of a young, promising team.

It seemed only typical of Spurs to finally get their hands on a goal-scorer with a sublime record at his previous club, and end up selling him on a couple of years later for a huge financial loss.

Maybe it wasn’t entirely his fault that he couldn’t reproduce the sort of form that we expected, but it was still, in the end, somewhat unsurprising that we’d signed yet another player that failed to live up to the hype.

The fact is that nobody supports Spurs for the glory. Nobody. And if they did, they will have bolted years ago.

Another fact is that many of us may never again in our lifetime see a Spurs side anywhere near the quality of the one that reached the Champions League Quarter Final in 2011, or the one that finished fourth in 2012. Many of us may also never see a Spurs side that finishes above Arsenal.

And, of course, there’ll be many more days like today – frustration, heartbreak – questioning why we bother.

But as soon as we’re back in our seats, the hairs on the back of our necks standing tall to the sound of “Oh when the Spurs….” We think, maybe it’ll be different this time.

Yet, part of us knows that we wouldn’t have it any other way.

To quote Ledley King: “This is my club. My one and only club.”

Here’s to some more beautiful disappointments…

COYS

Fortune Favours Fulham As Blues Unable to Prevent Cup Exit

Fulham were the visitors to Adams Park on Tuesday evening, meaning a tough test for the unbeaten Chairboys after a flying start to the domestic campaign on Saturday.

The away side began with intent and looked keen to gain an early advantage. However, our boys held their own, stuck to their positions and forced the Londoners into hopeful shots from range.

It was as much good fortune as it was the Gaffer’s game-plan that the score remained goalless at the break, with Fulham unable to capitalize on the few occasions that they found their way past the Great Wall of Wycombe at the back.

Credit to full backs Sido Jombati and skipper-on-the-night Joe Jacobson for some superb interceptions and last-ditch tackles to stifle the away side’s creativity in the final third.

Blues had chances, but only on a couple of occasions did they force the opposing keeper, Bettinelli, to work for his wages.

The second half began with Wycombe pinning the away side to their own half, and beginning to look the most likely to make a breakthrough.

But midway through the half, a Fulham counter-attack ensued, with us short at the back, leaving Ben Pringle free to provide Alex Kacanikilic with a close range finish in front of the noisy travelling fans, to take the lead, and possibly the match.

The Blues knew they needed to raise their game; the home faithful turned up the volume and Adams Park was rocking.

On came Club Captain Paul Hayes in an attempt to inspire an equalizer, and even though his experience and class proved vital in successfully penetrating the stubborn Championship side’s back line, we simply couldn’t find the net.

Marcus Bean remained a warrior in midfield for the Blues throughout – his strength, skill and superb footwork left the visitor’s visibly frustrated. 

At no point did it seem against the realms of possibility that the Blues would find an equalizer, but it seemed the God’s of Football were favoring the Londoners tonight.

The game as a whole was played in fine spirit, the Bucks New Uni stand making themselves heard in the heavens for the entire 90 minutes.

Wycombe showed great respect for their ex-Premier League visitors, for whom it must now seem like a lifetime-ago that they made the Europa League final under now-England boss Roy Hodgson. But credit to them; their slick passing, flicks and tricks proved they haven’t fallen that far from grace and they would certainly prove tough opposition for our boys.

But in equal measure, we proved ourselves to be no walk in the park, despite the two-division gap that separates the sides, and in doing so, showed we were no flash-in-the-pan after last season’s heroics.

COYB