Luka Modric Starts For Tottenham Hotspur Against Manchester City

Earlier this week, Harry Redknapp said that Luka Modric would certainly be in the starting lineup for Tottenham Hotspur against Manchester City, which I regarded as something of an ultimatum - if Modric did indeed opt to play, the chase for the Croatian midfielder was highly likely to be over, and if not, hunt very much on. I wasn't really sure how things would go, but as it turns out Modric turned out to play at White Hart Lane after all.

The playmaker was apparently greeted by rapturous cheers by the home fans when he was announced in the eleven, but I can't imagine the mood will have stayed very good for long, because said fans are now being treated by an absolute mauling at the hands of City new boy Samir Nasri and slightly-older-boy Edin Dzeko, with the visitors up 2-0 at halftime*. Turns out that no, Luka Modric on his own is not good enough to fix Spurs' squad - but with Emmanuel Adebayor and other reinforcements coming in and now Modric highly likely to stay, Tottenham are going to look very different when the team is fully healthy mid season, because they'll be able to actually finish their chances, which is most of the difference so far today.

*Modric has played 14 passes, completing 12.

Hopefully we're never again going to hear the words 'Luka Modric and £40M' in the same sentence. Assuming Spurs are keeping Modric, well done to them for being able to convince him to stay.