Harry Redknapp was lucky enough to work with some incredible midfield players during his time at Tottenham Hotspur.
Luka Modric was one of Redknapp’s favourite players, and he would go on to become a Ballon d’Or winner at Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, Jermaine Jenas was an underrated midfielder during his day, while Tom Huddlestone was one of the Premier League’s best passers for a period.
Speaking to We Are Tottenham TV, Harry Redknapp has been comparing some of his former Spurs players to the current crop of Tottenham stars, and he made an interesting claim about Rafael van der Vaart and James Maddison.
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Harry Redknapp picks Rafael van der Vaart over James Maddison
Redknapp was asked to choose between Van der Vaart and Maddison.
The manager barely even hesitated when picking the £8m man, and it’s easy to understand why.
Indeed, while Maddison has received plenty of praise since signing for Tottenham, Van der Vaart was on another level in his pomp.
Indeed, the stats show that Van der Vaart was just that bit better than Maddison in his prime.
| Rafael van der Vaart at Tottenham | James Maddison at Tottenham | |
|---|---|---|
| 77 | Games | 68 |
| 28 | Goals | 15 |
| 18 | Assists | 16 |
| 0.36 | Goals per game | 0.22 |
| 0.23 | Assists per game | 0.24 |
Van der Vaart was incredible for Tottenham, and he’s not the only former Spurs player Redknapp hailed here.
Harry Redknapp’s combined Tottenham XI
Redknapp was asked to build an entire combined XI of players of players from his team compared to the current crop of Spurs players.
Of course, with Tottenham currently sitting 15th in the table, it was difficult for Redknapp to include any of Spurs’ current players.
In fact, Redknapp didn’t include a single current Tottenham player in his combined XI.
Dejan Kulusevski has been Tottenham’s best player this season, but even he didn’t earn a place in this XI.
Meanwhile, Jermain Defoe was preferred over Dominic Solanke up front.
Defoe was a top-class striker during his pomp, while Solanke hasn’t quite managed to get going this season for Tottenham.
Redknapp’s team were perennial challengers in the European positions, while Postecoglou’s side are closer to the relegation zone than they are the Champions League right now.
It’s hard to argue against Redknapp’s combined XI after such a poor season from Spurs.
