Spurs boss Tim Sherwood has chosen to play without a designated defensive midfielder of late and it’s paid off with victories in his last two top flight outings against Crystal Palace and Swansea – where the Lillywhites have scored five goals, while only conceding one.
Former Spurs and England striker Ferdinand insists it’s a policy he, Sherwood and fellow coach Chris Ramsey are all agreed on.
‘I know there’s a lot of talk about holding midfield players, and I’m always arguing with Tim and Chris about this and they agree,’ Ferdinand told the Tottenham Journal.
‘I don’t like holding midfield players, I like players to understand that if one goes forward, the other one tucks in for them. I don’t want someone who just sits in front of the back four and doesn’t go anywhere, but that’s just my own personal view.
‘I was saying to William Gallas when he was here, the worst thing that happened in this league was Claude Makelele.
‘When he came into this country he wasn’t a holding midfield player. He was a player who had the intelligence to say “Frank [Lampard], you can score more goals than me so if you go I’m going to tuck in here for you, and I’ll hold. You keep going forward”.
‘Then everyone went “right, we’ve got to have a holding midfield player” – and what we’ve done is produce a crop of players who don’t want to go over the halfway line, who don’t want to pass over the halfway line and are happy to just sit in front of the back four.’
Spurs play host to free-scoring Emirates Marketing Project tomorrow night and Ferdinand said: ‘Do Emirates Marketing Project play with one [ a holding midfielder]? They’ve still scored 100-odd goals.
‘People say Yaya Toure is a holding midfielder. No he isn’t, he’s getting forward and getting goals – but if someone else goes he’ll stay in there.
‘Fernandinho’s scoring goals. Why? Because he’s a holding player? No. They’ve just got an understanding, “If he goes, he’ll hold, and if I go he’ll hold”.’
