Tottenham Hotspur Best XI of the Decade: Defensive / Two Way Midfield

Tottenham Hotspur is a club known for it’s tradition of attacking football. Contrary to popular belief, Tottenham did (and still do) have numerous players who could play on the defensive side of the ball as well as cover the entire park without much fuss. Without further ado, here are the nominees for the Defensive / two way midfield position in our Best XI of the decade are:

Gus Poyet - The popular Uruguayan was immense during his time at White Hart Lane. Despite nasty stories of his legs being ‘gone’ after we signed him from Chelsea, Poyet still managed to contribute a significant amount of goals during his time at Tottenham. He also helped deliver a trophy during a stint as an assistant coach to Juande Ramos.

Tim Sherwood - Our captain during the turbulent and ill-advised Glenn Hoddle era. Sherwood played and led without much fuss in the middle of the park for Tottenham. Sherwood was an underrated ball winner and neat passer of the ball also. He was a no frills central midfielder with a decent personality to boot.

Michael Carrick - It took a while for Carrick to settle at White Hart Lane, once he did, Carrick was able to dictate the rhythm of our play with his trademark incisive passing from deep. Carrick was a player we missed when he was absent from our side. His skill set isn’t appreciated within English football and that’s a damn shame. Carrick is a classy footballer.

Steffen Freund: The popular German was an intimidating presence in the Tottenham engine room. Freund was hard working, a willing runner and also broke up numerous attacks in front of our back four. Freund was also extremely popular at White Hart Lane during his time at the club. Freund was a rare footballer who always had time for his fans at White Hart Lane.

Honourable mentions: Didier Zokora, Sandro, Tom Huddlestone.

Voting is after the jump!