Former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp was told by one of his stars he had to be cleverer: and his response was quintessential Harry
(Image credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Former Tottenham Hotspur forward Peter Crouch has recalled an amusing story of how then manager Harry Redknapp responded when queried about the lack of tactical work being done at the time.
Redknapp had guided Tottenham to the Champions League for the 2010/11 season with a squad which included new signing Crouch, as well as the likes of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and, of course, Niko Kranjcar.
Redknapp then added Netherlands star Rafael van der Vaart to his squad for their first campaign in Europe’s elite competition, and speaking to FourFourTwo, Crouch recalled how Redknapp reacted when pushed to do more tactical work with the players.
Peter Crouch was one of Harry's heroes at Spurs (Image credit: Getty)
“Harry was looking on, going, ‘Look at this, we’re living the dream with these players’,” remembers Crouch. “I was part of the team, and even I was going, ‘F**king hell, yeah, we are!’ You were watching football being played correctly.”
“I remember Harry standing back a lot of the time and just saying, ‘Go out and play’. He didn’t really need to say anything else. I remember Robbie Keane saying to him, ‘We need to do more tactically’.
VIDEO: The Secret Tricks Team Are Using To Win Penalty Shootouts This Season
“He replied, ‘What do you want me to do? Tell Luka Modric where to stand? Van der Vaart how to play forward passes? Just go and enjoy it!’”
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
It would be a successful Champions League campaign too, topping a group above Inter Milan, then Crouch’s sole goal knocked out their rivals AC Milan in the second round, before the team crashed out to the mighty Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
Harry Redknapp's tenure at Spurs was one with plenty of stars (Image credit: Getty Images)
Despite the heroics of new signing Van der Vaart, who became the club’s top scorer in the Premier League that season with 13, they couldn’t repeat the feat of finishing in the top four.
Ironically it was Crouch’s own goal in a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City which proved terminal, a year on from scoring the winner in the same fixture at the right end to secure Tottenham’s place in the Champions League for the first time.
