Tim Sherwood: 'That was the problem that Tottenham had last season – we missed the clever ball-playing midfielder'

Published: 14 June, 2014
By GEOFFREY PALMER

FORMER Spurs boss Tim Sherwood has revealed how he did not think Brazilian ace Paulinho could drive Tottenham forward. Home fans at White Hart Lane have delighted in having a first team starter for the Brazilian national team in their own line-up. The player cost £17 million from Corinthians last summer and was one of a host of new faces who Spurs hoped would kick start a more forceful push for Champions League for qualification.

But Sherwood, who managed Tottenham for the second half of the season following the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas before losing the position himself, said today: "Paulinho can get box to box but he can't make a clever forward pass – as I found at Spurs."

He was using a column in the Independent to analyse Brazil's lukewarm performance in the opening match of the World Cup against Croatia – a 3-1 victory which effetively turned in the host nation's favour on a disputed penalty. 

"My belief is that a team requires a ball playing midfielder," said Sherwood, who is expected to fill the managerial vacancy at West Brom. "I felt the issue was that Brazil, in Luiz Gustavo and Paulinho, do not have a player who is comfortable passing the ball forward. They are both good up-and-down, workmanlike midfielders but neither of them has got guile. That was the problem that Tottenham had last season. We missed the clever ball-playing midfielder. Paulinho's strength is that he can get from box to box. He will get on the end of a move and score a few goals, but he needs it on his right foot to happen. It would be optimistic to compare him to someone like Frank Lampard who, at his peak, was capable of surging into the opposition area from midfield and scoring with his left or right foot."