I played in star-studded Tottenham team and three teammates blew me away

07/26/2024 09:03 AM

Jake Livermore played alongside what some would call footballing royalty during his time at Tottenham. 

The 34-year-old's time at Spurs was interwoven with loan spells but that didn't stop him from rubbing shoulders with some of the greats. 

Livermore played alongside the likes of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart, three players who left a lasting impression on him. 

So, it begs the question: should they have done better? 

In the season of 2011/12, they were beaten to the Champions League post by rivals Chelsea, fell short in the League Cup after being defeated by Stoke City on penalties and Chelsea also knocked them out of the FA Cup.

Harry Redknapp was manager at the time, and failing to reach the Champions League was part of his downfall with Spurs sacking him in June 2012.

“The Champions League could have been the jump we needed,” said Livermore.

“That could have attracted the other big players which would have allowed us to keep the likes of Modric and Bale going forward.

“But again it's timing, if we'd had the stadium then, the bigger crowds, there would have been a bigger pull to some of the bigger players. Tottenham could have been the big club.”

Despite Tottenham’s shortfalls that season, they had an incredible array of footballing talent…

Luka Modric

"Playing alongside Modric is amazing," he told talkSPORT. 

Modric had a slow start to life at Tottenham, being labelled 'too lightweight' for the Premier League by Arsenal's manager at the time Arsene Wenger, but the arrival of manager Harry Redknapp soon changed that.

He gave Modric a more familiar role as midfielder, allowing him to show the footballing talent Livermore and fans became accustomed to. 

Modric went on to win the Ballon d’Or in 2018, the Golden Foot award in 2019 and in March 2021, he became Croatia's most capped player in history. 

With six Champions League wins to his name, he is considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time.

Gareth Bale

Wales icon Gareth Bale also left a lasting impression on Livermore, particularly for his explosive pace. 

He said: "You could give Bale the ball at the halfway line and end up with an assist! You'd think, how has that happened?" 

Bale scored 53 Premier League goals for Tottenham in 166 appearances, establishing himself as one of the club’s greatest ever players. 

He would go on to become one of the top players of his generation, winning the Champions League five times after a £77million move to Real Madrid. 

Rafael van der Vaart

Livermore's final stand-out teammate was Rafael van der Vaart. 

The midfielder joined Tottenham by the skin of his teeth in the 2010 summer transfer window, much to the delight of Harry Redknapp. 

Livermore recalled: "You could fire a cannon into him and he'd bring it down." 

The Dutchman scored a few ‘cannons’ for Spurs, 24 to be exact, along with 16 assists.

However, most of Van der Vaart’s career success came away from Tottenham, collecting multiple trophies with Ajax and Real Madrid, as well as 109 caps for the Netherlands.