21 Jun 2011 12:40:00
EPL, Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur, Luka Modric
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ANALYSIS
By Jamie Dunn & Steven Saunders
Luka Modric has become the most coveted player in London thanks to Chelsea‘s interest in taking him from Tottenham across to the west of the city.
The Stamford Bridge club’s £22 million bid was described as everything from cheeky to insulting, and the manner in which it became public brought an infuriated response from Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
Nevertheless, it caught Modric’s attention enough for him to make his first statement about his future – and it was not what the Spurs fans were hoping to hear.
Now, as Goal.com revealed on Tuesday, Tottenham are preparing to make the Croatian the club’s highest earner with a £75,000 a week deal to keep him at White Hart Lane for at least one more season.
So what is it about Modric that has got so many so interested?
The statistics are both revealing and surprising. For someone as influential as Modric, it is staggering that he has contributed just five Premier League assists since the start of the 2009-10 season. That’s one LESS than Alberto Aquilani, the Liverpool misfit who didn’t even play a single minute of Premier League football last term.
In all competitions, Cesc Fabregas managed 10 more assists from 13 fewer games than Modric. And yet Arsenal are said to want £45m for their wantaway captain – Spurs have assured clubs not to bother bidding for Modric with anything less than £50m.
Modric’s strike-rate is similarly flawed. He managed just 37 shots last season in the Premier League, scoring just three goals, at a conversion rate of just 8 per cent. This compares poorly to potential future team-mate Frank Lampard (10 goals from 55 attempts, a success rate of 18%) as well as current north London rival Samir Nasri (10 goals from 52 attempts, a success rate of 19%).
| IN NUMBERS | Luka Modric |
 2001 – Total number of passes attempted by Modric in the Premier League last season, fourth overall 85 – Percentage of passes completed in the league last season. Only Jack Wilshere (86%) and Michael Essien (87%) completed a higher percentage 84 – Number of times Modric touched the ball against Inter in November, second only to Wesley Sneijder, who touched it 86 times 64 – Key passes made by Modric in the league last year, 10th overall. Florent Malouda led the way with 113 2.5 – Interceptions made per Premier League game last season. Only Nigel de Jong (2.7) and Alex Song (2.6) managed more for a top six club |
Modric’s value comes not from his deadliness in front of goal or by laying goals on a plate for team-mates. Often, he will be the pass BEFORE the pass that sets up a goal, but more importantly he is the pacemaker at the heart of his side’s play.
Against Manchester United in January, Modric alone made 74 passes – midfield opponents Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick managed 82 COMBINED in the same game. The Croatian completed 85% of his passes in the Premier League last term – more than Fabregas and Lampard.
But there is an unquantifiable quality to Modric, a majesty to the way in which he selflessly plays for the benefit of his team with vision, touch and awareness.
Manager Harry Redknapp, admittedly prone to enthusing about even mediocre players, frequently describes Modric as incredible and untouchable. “You think teams have got good players until you see them play against him Modric, and you realise he’s on another level,” said the Tottenham boss.
Modric’s national team coach is no less effusive in his praise. “Only Kaka is better than Modric,” says Slaven Bilic. “He’s unstoppable, hard even to foul.”
If both Redknapp and Bilic can be waved away as partisan for a player so crucial to their own teams, how about considering the view of Inter veteran Javier Zanetti? “We faced Modric twice in the Champions League and I think he’s a great player,” says the decorated 37-year-old.
Goal.com writers themselves could not help but enthuse about Modric throughout last season. “Brilliant feet and vision… a masterful midfield display,” was the verdict of his performance against Inter at White Hart Lane in November. Against Werder Bremen later that month: “Intelligent… a fantastic display”.
And in the final game of the season against Liverpool at Anfield, when he converted a penalty to score Spurs’ final goal of the campaign, Modric was described thus: “Wonderful to watch from the off… flawless from the Croatian”.
It is that beauty that has everyone lusting after Luka, and which promises to leave at least one set of supporters in London heartbroken at the end of the summer.
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