Harry fears England repeat
WERDER BREMEN vs TOTTENHAM
Sky Sports 4, ko 7.45pm
HARRY REDKNAPP admits his Tottenham side could fall into the same trap as England in the World Cup if they don’t get their tactics right in Bremen tonight.
The Spurs boss almost got his fingers burned when adopting a 4-4-2 formation against Young Boys in the first leg of their qualifier last month, culminating in the Swiss side taking a 3-0 lead in the opening half an hour.
Similarly, England were out-witted by Germany when they crashed to a 4-1 defeat in South Africa.
Now Redknapp, in his first season as a Champions League manager, is being forced to plan carefully.
The 63-year-old experimented with a lone striker and a five-man midfield at West Brom on Saturday and is set to follow suit tonight as Spurs look to get their Group A campaign off to a positive start at the Weserstadion.
“At times, especially in Europe, it’s difficult to go away from home and play 4-4-2,” he explained. “We did it last year in the Premier League. We went to Man City late in the season when we needed that vital result to get where we are today.
“But I think it is more difficult the way they [Bremen] play. If they overload midfield, you’ll get outnumbered. If you play 4-4-2, you’ve got a problem in the middle of the park.
“It’ll be very difficult; you’ll get overrun, a little bit like England did against Germany.”
Redknapp will, however, be without midfield dynamo Luka Modric tonight, despite the Croatian being cleared of any serious leg injury following a clash at West Brom.
“He travelled with us and we’re going to have a look at him,”?Redknapp added. “The news was good on the scan because there was nothing broken, but there’s still pain in his leg so we’re going to have to see how he is.
“I couldn’t take a chance on him unless he feels right. I can’t have him going out there, breaking down and getting injured for the long term.”