Sandro Raniere is one of now five central midfielders at Tottenham. They consist of the monstrous Brazilian, Moussa Dembele, Etienne Capoue, Paulinho and most recently the new teenage sensation Nabil Bentaleb. Sandro was bought by current QPR boss Harry Redknapp from Brazilian club Internacional for a sum of £8 million. Redknapp bought him on word that he was a good player, having seen nothing of him prior to the deal being signed. No scouts, no videos, no nothing! Just on word!
He joined in the summer of 2010 when Tottenham had just entered the Champions League. He had a slow start to English football after Redknapp couldn’t seem to pick him ahead of Luka Modric, Wilson Palacios or Niko Kranjcar and, arguably at the time, most Spurs fans would have agreed with that choice and accepted that decision – especially after the debut he had against Arsenal in the League Cup. He was hot and cold, making great challenges in the middle of the park at times and then making clumsy and reckless ones too.
Not too many were impressed with him. I recall a game against Fulham at Craven Cottage when Spurs won 2-1 from goals by now Hull midfielder Tom Huddlestone and Russian forward Roman Pavlyuchenko. Sandro started the game in the middle with Huddlestone but he looked rampant! He just couldn’t stop sliding in and causing a havoc, an absolute shambles. He was booked and debatably could have been sent off with two yellows in the first 45 minutes. Redknapp subbed him for Aaron Lennon at the start of the second half which was a very smart decision considering it was 1-1 at the time and they wanted to avoid the risk of playing with 10 men away from home.
Sandro was rarely used for Spurs until he was needed for the Champions League round-of-16 tie against Italian giants, AC Milan. Tottenham needed him in the middle to shore things up considering they had just Wilson Palacios, and a partnership of Modric and Palacios would have been slaughtered by the aggressive connection of former Sion and Palermo coach Gennaro Gattuso with the always tough Mathieu Flamini. Sandro and Palacios would have been a real challenge for the AC Milan midfield. The game was won by Spurs in Milan on the strength of a breakaway by Aaron Lennon playing Peter Crouch in for a simple tap-in. Sandro had a magnificent game for Tottenham and really stood out. He made countless challenges which were timed to perfection and he out-muscled Flamini, Gattuso and Seedorf a number of times. That game was easily his best and he really kicked on from there.
Redknapp would pick him regularly from then on, slowly replacing Wilson Palacios from the starting 11 and forming a big man-little man combo in the middle with Real Madrid and Croatian international Luka Modric. The more games he played, the more confident he became, even after the sacking of Harry Redknapp. Andre Villas-Boas had him in his starting 11 most games and believed he was a vital asset to the team.
Last summer was the one which Sandro really needed to prove himself, however. In the previous season, he injured himself reaching for a ball to hook into the box. He suffered a serious knee injury which kept him out for the rest of the season. He acknowledged after having fully recovered that the injury made him feel like retiring.
This current season is important for him as Tottenham brought in two new central midfielders in Paulinho and Capoue. He has more competition now and considering how long he was out, he had a lot to do to get back. And as with many players, this is the season to impress considering the upcoming World Cup. Sandro has 19 caps to his name, but of course he wants nothing more than to start for Felipe Scolari’s team in their home nation. He has stiff competition with the likes of Fernandinho, Luiz Gustavo, Paulinho and Ramires.
Sandro has been better than ever since he’s returned from injury and has kept different players out of the side while gaining much needed confidence. He is currently injured, however is an almost certain starter when back fit, giving new coach Tim Sherwood a decision about who to start. I believe Sandro is the best of out the central midfielders.
Bentaleb has only been brought in recently but we can see that he is a player who sticks in the middle and intercepts, then distributes the ball to others around him. Dembele is very strong and can hold the ball close by very well. He is all left foot however, and doesn’t always offer a lot forward. Capoue is a player who sticks his leg in a lot and is a bit more physical than Bentaleb. Paulinho is a box-to-box midfielder who can defend and break forward quickly too. But Sandro flings himself everywhere, intercepts constantly and releases the ball quickly, which suits Tottenham’s style well. He is stronger than the rest and doesn’t mind a real crack at goal. He has only scored three goals for Spurs but all of them have been absolute belters!
He is only 24, the second youngest out of the five, and still has some time to improve but he is doing very well at the moment. He is a standout player for Tottenham who should really believe that Sandro is the top dog at White Hart Lane – and maybe even North London too.
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