GOAL rules the roost over Spurs' best players during a pivotal, if mostly pot-less, point in their history from the start of the new millennium
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There always seems to be negativity when it comes to the discourse surrounding Tottenham Hotspur. Every loss and misstep has to be 'Spursy', every year tacked onto their trophy drought is an unmitigated failure.
How about we lower our arms for one day and appreciate the good they have done in the modern era, eh? A first-ever Champions League final, consistently punching above their financial weight, a billion-pound stadium move across about 30 centimetres to the south and a boat-load or two of top-class players to have come through the doors is nothing to be sniffed at.
We at GOAL have run through the archives and ranked Tottenham's 25 best players of the 21st century through its first quarter…
Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images Sport25Lucas Moura
What better place to start than with the man who gave Tottenham fans of all ages one of their most beloved moments following the club… and then little else. On his day, Lucas Moura was, well, a player who could score a hat-trick in a Champions League semi-final. His day didn't come about too often, as it so happened.
In the moment against Ajax on that fateful May 2019 night, it was obvious that would be his peak as a player, but the drop-off which followed was disappointing. Still, there went a forward who will forever be synonymous with version of Spurs.
AdvertisementAFP24Peter Crouch
Next up on our list is a journeyman cult hero who frustrated and delighted in more equal measure. Having joined the Tottenham academy as a schoolboy and left as a young adult in 2000, it took Peter Crouch nine years to find his way back to White Hart Lane.
Signed under Harry Redknapp – – Crouch became the man for the big occasion rather than a consistent source of goals, as best demonstrated by his respective returns of four goals in 34 Premier League appearances and seven in 10 Champions League matches during 2010-11.
His obvious height advantage made him the perfect partner for the likes of Jermain Defoe and Rafael van der Vaart (and sometimes begrudgingly, Roman Pavlyuchenko), though his less-than-prolific heading ability angered the fans sitting in the stands.
AFP23Micky van de Ven
There aren't too many of Tottenham's new generation who have cracked our list, but Micky van de Ven is one exception. It's astounding that Spurs were the only club in for the Dutchman upon his 2023 departure from Wolfsburg, and that he wasn't even the north Londoners' first-choice that window, with Bayer Leverkusen's Edmond Tapsoba seemingly higher on their shortlist.
Van de Ven is now, by both stats and the eye test, the quickest player in the Premier League and a supremely unique weapon at Tottenham's disposal. His one-man recoveries while playing in a high line marry up nicely with his ability to carry the ball all the way up the pitch like a handsome, runaway freight train.
There are realistically only two factors that should stop Van de Ven becoming one of the greatest defenders of his generation – injuries, and any long-term commitment to Spurs even if their projects don't pan out as planned.
Getty Images Sport22Michael Carrick
In hindsight, it is ludicrous that Tottenham were able to pinch Michael Carrick from West Ham so easily back in 2004 after the Hammers failed to secure immediate promotion back to the Premier League. A boardroom battle between then-head coach Jacques Santini and sporting director Frank Arnesen meant Carrick didn't break into the team until the autumn, but it then soon became clear the midfielder was destined for greater things.
For two years, Spurs fans were able to enjoy Carrick pulling the strings in midfield, and he was a huge reason why they were first able to compete for a place in the top four after Martin Jol's appointment as manager.
