Former Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp has told TalkSport that Luka Modric has been the best player at the 2022 World Cup, and reflected on his time managing the Croatia star.
Modric joined Spurs in 2008 from Dinamo Zagreb, and made 160 appearances for the North London club, providing 17 goals and 26 assists over the course of four years (Transfermarkt).
The dynamic midfielder then joined Real Madrid and has enjoyed an incredible career since. He has won the Champions League five times, three La Liga titles, and numerous other domestic and continental honours (Transfermarkt).
On a personal level, Modric has also won football’s most prestigious individual award, the Ballon d’Or. The Croatian star became the first player since 2007 to beat Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to the award (FourFourTwo).
If that wasn’t enough, Modric has also enjoyed a brilliant career at international level. He has 23 goals in 161 caps for Croatia (Transfermarkt), and has seen his side reach the World Cup final in 2018, the Euro 2020 semi-final, and more recently, the semi-final of the 2022 World Cup.
His performances at the tournament in Qatar have been lauded by many, including former boss Redknapp, who believes he is the pick of the lot from this year’s World Cup.
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Redknapp said: “What a player! For me, he’s been the best player in the tournament, again. He’s an absolute genius of a footballer and a great, great guy.”
On his time working with the Croatian, Redknapp added: “He was not a minute’s problem. He just came in every day, trained hard, he’s a family man. He’s just a super guy and what a footballer.
“When I first went to Tottenham he was playing off the left. He was stuck out there, and his move was wide left and coming into little pockets when we’ve got possession and the left-back coming into the hole he’d vacated. He’d pick the ball up in there.”
But, Redknapp made a crucial change to Modric’s style of play which has endured to this day. “I pushed him in central midfield and people said to me, ‘He can’t play there, he will get murdered, he’s not strong enough, he’ll never last ten minutes.”
How wrong they were.
Spurs Web Opinion
What a career Luka Modric has had. I just wish more of it was spent at Tottenham Hotspur, and then maybe we would have won more trophies. He is truly a generational talent, and oddly still feels a little underrated because he just quietly goes about his business, dictating games in the middle of the park.
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