Tottenham Hotspur Player Guide 2011-2012 Part 1: Defenders

For the last few weeks, Spurs fans have been on a Premier League roller coaster.

First of all, the transfer rumors surrounding White Hart Lane are enough to make anyone go insane. Secondly, the now infamous London Riots stampeded around North London, literally right next to White Hart Lane. Because of this, the League opener against Everton was postponed. 

Well I'm here to say "hang in there, Spurs fans!" As a little appetizer for the Lane faithful, I've put together a three part player guide to assess the tools Harry Redknapp has at his disposal.

Disclaimer: The players highlighted are the ones that are expected to perform well and appear in the starting XI on at least a semi-regular basis. Not every player on the Tottenham roster will be featured.

Heurelho Gomes

Since this is a Tottenham defense slideshow, why not start with the goalies? After all, they are the heart of the defense.

Name: Heurelho Gomes

Age: 30

Position: Goalkeeper

Strengths: Gomes has had plenty of experience in the first team, starting way back in Holland with PSV Eindhoven and now with Spurs. Along with his experience, Gomes has had a reputation of making some amazing "wonder saves" throughout his career.

Weaknesses: Consistency hasn't been his strong point in North London. All the credit that he deserves for his wonder saves, he equally deserves for his mind-numbing errors. He can block the hard ones—which is great—but he fails to consistently block the easy ones—which is not so great.

Carlo Cudicini

Name: Carlo Cudicini

Age: 38

Position: Goalkeeper

Strengths: Well, no one really knows. It's been so long since he's played regularly, who knows if he still owns gloves.

Weaknesses: Maybe I'm taking the easy way out here but Cudicini last had regular first team football in 2004.

He's made appearances since then and even turned some decent performances in Tottenham's inaugural Champions League season when Gomes was out. Perhaps that is his biggest weakness—no regular football since early in his Chelsea career.

Brad Friedel

Name: Brad Friedel

Age: 40

Position: Goalkeeper

Strengths: Tottenham has a remarkably experienced goalkeeper in Brad Friedel. With over 400 Premier League appearances and the ability to make outstanding saves consistently, the American will most likely be the top contender to start between the sticks.

Weaknesses: Age is probably Friedel's biggest weakness. He is 40 years old and only has two years of top flight football left in him at the most. At 40, his body will really feel every knock and bruise.

Alan Hutton

Name: Alan Hutton

Age: 27

Position: Right Back

Strengths: Having started his career in the Scottish Premier League with the Rangers, Hutton is no stranger to the physical aspect of football.

He is not afraid to make contact with the opposition on both ends of the pitch. Any clever attacker can usually be bumped off the ball or muscled out of the danger area.

Weaknesses: The physical style of play that he relies on so much is often used as a substitute for pace. Plainly put, Hutton is not the speediest of defenders. Also, when attacking, his final ball usually leaves something to be desired.

Younes Kaboul

Name: Younes Kaboul

Age: 25

Position: Center-Back

Strengths: Like Hutton, Kaboul is an aggressive, physical defender. Not particularly fast, but not particularly slow, Kaboul banks on the fact that he can beat any attacker in a test of strength.

Weaknesses: Again, like Hutton, lack of pace is an issue for Kaboul. As a center-back, pace is not the most important trait, but still necessary for a top flight footballer. 

William Gallas

Name: William Gallas

Age: 34

Position: Center-Back

Strengths: Gallas has the reputation of being a fantastic defender. His vision and goal line last-stands are phenomenal and would be a welcome addition to any top flight team.

He is as close as a player can get to being a full package defender in the Premier League at this time.

Weaknesses: That thing that rests on his neck, just above his shoulders is probably his biggest weakness. Gallas has his moments and the rest of the world has to sit back and wonder why.

From his behavior at the 2010 World Cup to his on and off-pitch antics, Gallas is definitely a bit of a head case.

Sebastien Bassong

Name: Sebastien Bassong

Age: 25

Position: Center-Back

Strengths: For a defender, Bassong certainly manages to score at the right times. In both offense and defense, he can rise above the opposition and win headers.

Also, he is versatile and can play in most defensive positions.

Weaknesses: Although he is versatile and can score, no single aspect of his game is particularly outstanding and is often left on the bench due to his relative mediocrity.

Michael Dawson

Name: Michael Dawson

Age: 28

Position: Center-Back

Strengths: Dawson is an exceptional personality on the pitch. He is a great leader in even the toughest, most dire situations.

His enormous heart and his never-say-die attitude brings so much to the Spurs locker room.

Weaknesses: Despite his big heart and determination, Dawson is not particularly known for his talent. He is sometimes lacking speed or vision and is forced to over-rely on his heart and determination.

Vedran Corluka

Name: Vedran Corluka

Age: 25

Position: Right-Back

Strengths: Corluka keeps mistakes to a minimum and rarely lets attackers get away with any advantage. Corluka's effort and consistency are the main reasons he has appeared so often in Spurs' starting XI.

Weaknesses: Pace. Pace. Pace. This seems to be a common theme in Tottenham's back line.

Corluka is prone to getting beaten by quicker attackers and offers little to the counter-attack other than the occasional cross.

Ledley King

Name: Ledley King

Age: 30

Position: Center-Back

Strengths: Ledley King is perhaps THE ultimate Premier League center-back. He has pace, height, work ethic, vision, the ability to win headers, heart and strength.

Any top team in the world would love to have King in their lineup.

Weaknesses: Being injury-prone is the only thing keeping King from greatness. If he could last more than a couple games without picking up a long-term knock, he could become a legend. 

Kyle Walker

Name: Kyle Walker

Age: 21

Position: Right-Back

Strengths: Walker seems to be the making of a great right-back at the Lane. He has pace and a good touch as well as a decent final ball in the attacking third. 

Weaknesses: Youth is Walker's biggest weakness. He is inexperienced when it comes to vision and game sense.

Some recent loan spells have done well to address this issue but, as for now, Walker is still too inexperienced for a regular starting XI spot.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto

Name: Benoit Assou-Ekotto

Age: 26

Position: Left-Back

Strengths: I've said it before and I'll say it again—consistency. This man is like a grandfather clock—he just keeps ticking away. He also has fairly good pace and is not a bad crosser of the ball.

Weaknesses: It's tough to find any major weaknesses but one that sticks out in my mind is his lack of emotion.

Apparently he is a fun locker room personality but seeing him on the pitch makes me want to go check his pulse to make sure he's still alive. Any professional athlete should have some drive and a little fire to push him to succeed. Assou-Ekotto lacks any visible evidence of this.