Tottenham are the worst they’ve been for a long time.
Spurs currently sit 15th in the Premier League table with just a handful of games to go, and, at current pace, they’re set for their worst league finish in over 30 years.
Speaking to ESPN, Jermain Defoe has been comparing the Tottenham team of his era to the current crop of Spurs stars.
Of course, Tottenham do currently have some very talented players.
Dejan Kulusevski is Tottenham’s best player, while Micky Van de Ven has earned praise everytime he’s played for Spurs.
Defoe compared a number of players from his generation to the current crop, and he made an interesting claim about James Maddison.
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Jermain Defoe picks Nico Kranjcar over James Maddison
Defoe was asked to pick between Niko Kranjcar and James Maddison when building his combined XI of Tottenham players from 2010 and 2025 respectively.
According to the former striker, he’d rather have Kranjcar in his team, labelling the Croatian midfielder as a ‘joke’.
Maddison has earned praise for his performances this season, and, generally, the England international has been one of the bright sparks in this Spurs side.
However, Defoe still prefers Kranjcar.
Tottenham paid just £3m to sign Kranjcar from Portsmouth back in 2009.
Niko Kranjcar compared to James Maddison
Defoe picked Kranjcar over Maddison, but we can’t help but think that there’s some element of bias involved here.
Kranjcar was never really a star player for Tottenham, he was competing against the likes of Rafael van der Vaart, Luka Modric, Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas and Wilson Palacios – who was very underrated, for a spot in the midfield.
Kranjcar’s career stats don’t even stack up against Maddison’s.
| Niko Kranjcar career stats | James Maddison career stats | |
|---|---|---|
| 314 | Games | 384 |
| 43 | Goals | 94 |
| 38 | Assists | 81 |
| 0.14 | Goals per game | 0.24 |
| 0.12 | Assists per game | 0.21 |
Of course, at this current juncture, it’s easy to romanticise the good old days at Tottenham and play down the abilities of some of the current crop.
However, individually, Maddison is a better player than Kranjcar was, but, this current Spurs side, as a whole, are underperforming.
Who knows? Perhaps Maddison would be more highly regarded in a Harry Redknapp team.
Redknapp has said he’d return to Tottenham, and with Ange Postecoglou’s side currently imploding, perhaps getting Redknapp back isn’t the worst idea in the world.
