Tottenham 3 Charlton 0:HARRY REDKNAPP said last night that he had not, after all, given up hope of signing David Beckham but it is questionable whether Tottenham Hotspur need the former England captain.
The introduction of the team’s current creative inspiration, Luka Modric, at half-time transformed this game as Spurs scored three times in nine minutes, two from Jermain Defoe, to kill off a well-drilled Charlton Athletic.
As if to emphasise further Tottenham’s midfield riches, there was a first goal for Andros Townsend, a 19-year-old making his debut on Beckham’s favoured flank. Redknapp had said before kick-off that his attempt to take Beckham on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy had failed because of “insurance issues”. But the manager said last night that “apparently that’s not the case” and added: “Hopefully it could still happen. The situation is ongoing.”
At the very least Beckham will train with Tottenham for a month from tomorrow. He is due at Spurs Lodge today to meet medical staff. “He’ll come in here in a training capacity, not to play,” Redknapp’s assistant Kevin Bond had said before the on-off loan was potentially back on again.
With David Bentley looking Birmingham-bound Bond did not rule out Spurs bringing in another right-sided player, although he admitted Townsend’s fine debut showing might yet be timely: “He’s direct, he’s quick, he’s got good feet. He’s come in today and certainly given the manager something to think about.”
In Charlton, Tottenham faced a team 45 league places below them. Redknapp made nine changes to his starting line-up, among them Niko Kranjcar, making his first domestic start at White Hart Lane this season.
Spurs’ second-string looked short of thrust during a comfortable first half for their League One visitors, playing their first game under their caretaker manager Keith Peacock. A centre-half pairing of the 37-year-old Christian Dailly and former Spurs man Gary Doherty was scarcely tested as Spurs moved the ball ponderously through midfield.
At the other end Joe Anyinsah almost wriggled though and Scott Wagstaff shot wide after good work by Johnny Jackson. Roman Pavlyuchenko drew a save from Rob Elliot with a shot from a tight angle but that was Tottenham’s only real chance of a sluggish half in which Wilson Palacios frequently gave the ball away softly.
Redknapp brought on Modric for the Honduran and his passing and vision sharpened the tempo. It was from Modric’s neat sideways flick that Sandro found Townsend in space on the edge of the area on 49 minutes and he shot low into the corner. It was a finish of Beckham-like accuracy from the teenager.
With the ball apparently taped to Modric’s feet, Spurs were rampant and they scored again on 58 minutes. This time Modric started the move from deep with a pass to Kranjcar. He found Defoe, who sprinted from left to right before shooting low across Elliot. Two minutes later it was three as Charlton allowed Defoe to run from the halfway line, accept a ricochet off two Charlton players, cut inside Dailly and finish with ease. Charlton continued to break with energy in between Spurs pressure and the substitute Akpo Sodje drew two fine saves from Carlo Cudicini.
“I was very proud of the way the players performed – after that terrible little patch at the start of the second half we kept going to the end,” Peacock said, before adding: “As soon as I saw who had come on the pitch I thought we were going to have a problem.” In the end 10 minutes of magic from Modric was all it took.
