Is it a good thing or bad thing for Spurs that there’s an international break this weekend? On the one hand, it buys Juande Ramos some time to analyse what has gone wrong at White Hart Lane thus far this campaign, and to start doing something about it. On the other hand, the press are having a field day writing about the plight of a so-called ‘big club’; nothing sells papers quite like a high-profile team being bottom of the table.
One crime that the Spaniard has supposedly committed is to play members of his squad in the wrong position (although it may help if he got what he wanted in the first place). According to The Times, David Bentley has pointed the finger at his manager after losing his place in the England squad for the matches against Kazakhstan and Belarus. The former Blackburn winger reckons Ramos’ decision to play him as right-back against Hull has done him no favours when it comes to the national team.
David Bentley believes he has lost his place in the England squad because he is being played out of position for his club. The right winger shook his head when Juande Ramos, the Tottenham Hotspur head coach, asked him to play at right back when he came on as a substitute during the 1-0 defeat by Hull City on Sunday and has been employed in several positions by the Spaniard this season.
In mitigation, Ramos’s decision to play Bentley out of position was down to Tottenham’s failings in the transfer market. Bentley started the season at left wing, where the club have no obvious candidate to play, and he was then played as a second striker behind Darren Bent, before Roman Pavlyuchenko was signed from Spartak Moscow in August. Bentley complained to Ramos, who started the winger in his preferred position in the next match against Wisla Krakow in the Uefa Cup two weeks ago.
We all know that David Bentley has a tendency to speak his mind, and perhaps he should be willing to play in whichever position is required of him. Do you think the Tottenham winger was right (if indeed this report is correct) to voice his disquiet when asked to play in alternative positions, or does this smack of a player having the wrong attitude?
Discuss the latest transfer gossip at the Brand New COS forum!