Former Tottenham assistant coach Gus Poyet has admitted that Luka Modric is the best player he has ever worked with.
Poyet, who spent three seasons at White Hart Lane during his playing days, joined the club as Juande Ramos’ assistant when the Spaniard replaced Martin Jol at the helm in 2007.
Spurs initially made great strides under the new regime, winning the League Cup trophy in 2008, which still remains the last piece of silverware the club have won.
It was during the summer of 2008 that Tottenham snapped up Modric from Dinamo Zagreb, along with other exciting additions including David Bentley and Giovani Dos Santos.
However, the Lilywhites had a historically bad start to the season, finding themselves rooted to the bottom of the table with just two points in eight games before Ramos and his coaching staff were replaced by Harry Redknapp.
It was under Redknapp that the likes of Modric and Gareth Bale went on to fulfil their potential at Spurs but Poyet amitted that the Croat’s quality was clear even in the few months he spent with him in North London.
He told the print edition of AS (04/04/22 edition – as relayed by Sport Witness): “Modric has an understanding, a quality, a balance in his game, the position, how he looks for the ball… With respect to others, the best I had in front of me.”
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When asked about working with Bale, Poyet said: “People have to know Bale to understand him. When you meet him and talk it is a pleasure to be with him.”
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It is worth remembering that Modric did not pull up any trees in his first season at Spurs before evolving into a world-class midfielder over the next few years once he got used to the demands of the Premier League.
Given that he has since gone on to win the Ballon d’Or, that is perhaps a lesson to fans not to judge players too quickly, especially if they are new to English football.
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