Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

The Best of Spurs’ Impact Substitutes: Levy Era

There have been many brilliant impact subs from Son to Defoe and to Kranjcar during the Levy era. But, who is the most important sub of the three?

The Best of Spurs’ Impact Substitutes: Levy Era

There have been many brilliant impact subs during the Levy era. Most recently, Heung-Min Son has notched crucial goals from the bench. A few years previous to Son’s rise, the likes of Jermain Defoe and Niko Kranjcar made significant contributions off the bench. Who is the most important of them all?

Heung-Min Son

The most important impact sub is Son. Not only has he salvaged points with his goals, but he is part of a squad that could well challenge for the title this season. Whilst the other candidates have their own impressive ability, Son has the chance to use his on the highest stage to win glory for the club.

Despite a pretty disappointing overall match, Tottenham somehow rescued a point away at Manchester City. Coming off the bench, Son received a neat flick from Harry Kane, before carefully tucking the ball home in the bottom left corner. Substitutes don’t just replace the injured or the tired. Ideally, they should boost the team with their ability. Son definitely does this, with his pace, dribbling and finishing prowess.

Although, his biggest attribute goes unnoticed by most fans. It is his optimism and hard working mentality that puts him into goal scoring positions. As he recently revealed to Spurs TV after the 4-3 thriller against Wycombe, “It was a special game. We never gave up. I had that feeling that we wouldn’t lose even 3-2 down. We kept believing.” It is this mentality to impress from the bench or as a rotation player that creates a quality squad. Each player, first team or rotating, is as hungry as the next to get match time and to excel on the pitch. They believe, like Son, that every match is winnable.

Jermain Defoe

In 182 Premier League appearances, Defoe made 94 of them coming off the bench. Even for England he has been a substitute more times then he has started (34 versus 21). This seems to place a doubt over his ability, or moreover his consistency over a full match. To some extent, this is true, as Defoe does have some weaknesses. He is small, yet robust, but can often get bullied off the ball. Furthermore, his direct style of attack creates many chances but often neglects his team-mates. Therefore, he seems to be an ideal substitute rather than a starter, especially later on in his career. This is because such directness is needed to change matches. In addition, his small size can alter the match dynamics and ensure more balls are played into his feet, rather than centre-backs launching balls forward.
His quality in and around the box is undebatable. As an impact substitute, he has the pace and clinical finishing required to change matches. There is no surprise, then, that he has scored the most goals from the bench in the Premier League. Furthermore, he has over 150 Premier League goals in total, becoming the tenth highest Premier League goalscorer. This simply exemplifies his importance to his clubs in providing the goals to win matches.

Niko Kranjčar

Another player from Harry Redknapp’s reign, Kranjčar was a special player. At Tottenham, he made the majority of his appearances from the bench (30 out of 41). His biggest flaw was, and still is, his injury-prone nature. Throughout his career, he has been blighted by persistent injuries. It is perhaps less surprising that he has made so many substitute appearances for Spurs. Perhaps if he had remained fit, he could have played an even larger role at the club.
Kranjčar had the ability to unlock defences with his passing and dribbling. He also had some decent shooting ability, with 11 goals overall for the club. He often made runs into the box before unleashing some rocketing shots. Take his top right corner belter against Wolves in November 2010 for example. It is difficult to keep tabs on a player like him because of his positioning on the edge of the area. Defenders are already preoccupied with marking strikers, and his runs add confusion to already packed boxes.

Verdict

Overall, each of the three players had their own unique abilities which they used to boost their team off the bench. However, in terms of importance to their side, Heung-Min Son is looking to be vital this season for Spurs. Unfortunately, neither Kranjčar nor Defoe was involved in squads challenging for the title. But, if they were, they would undoubtedly add to their team’s chances. Kranjčar with his classy midfield displays and Defoe with his expert finishing. Having quality players like these three on the bench really strengthens a squad.

 

 

 

Main Photo

Declan Wiseman, Editor

Declan Wiseman, Editor

Declan has over 10 years of sports and commercial writing experience. Graduating with a Masters in Journalism (Sports) from the University of Sunderland, he now enjoys his role editing and writing football content for Last Word on Sports.

Share:

More Posts