The Tottenham Thread 12/13

[THFC6061]

Just as Arry had very secure job after bringing you from relegation spots to 4th place twice.

Harry did have a secure job - until he talked himself out of it.

 

[MSP]

Just as Arry had very secure job after bringing you from relegation spots to 4th place twice.

Harry did have a secure job - until he talked himself out of it.

Man wanted national team job what's pretty normal and lost it only because your greedy chairman asked Bale alike money to let him go. Then sacked him when he lost the chance to get the job any sane man would like.

Not big fan of 'Arry (is there anyone who is) but will take him anytime before Levy.

 

[taconinja]

Just as Arry had very secure job after bringing you from relegation spots to 4th place twice.

Harry did have a secure job - until he talked himself out of it.

Man wanted national team job what's pretty normal and lost it only because your greedy chairman asked Bale alike money to let him go. Then sacked him when he lost the chance to get the job any sane man would like.

Not big fan of 'Arry (is there anyone who is) but will take him anytime before Levy.

This is not accurate. He openly courted the national job (Okay fine.) and tried to leverage that into a lucrative contract extension, and he apparently tried to leverage the possibility of a contract extension into higher pay if he took the national job plus he blatantly used his pals in the media to try to force Levy to let him go for either next to nothing to the England position or give him mega-money to stay. Then the bottom fell out on their season giving both sides the opportunity to tell him to go away.

 

[MSP]

Harry did have a secure job - until he talked himself out of it.

Man wanted national team job what's pretty normal and lost it only because your greedy chairman asked Bale alike money to let him go. Then sacked him when he lost the chance to get the job any sane man would like.

Not big fan of 'Arry (is there anyone who is) but will take him anytime before Levy.

This is not accurate. He openly courted the national job (Okay fine.) and tried to leverage that into a lucrative contract extension, and he apparently tried to leverage the possibility of a contract extension into higher pay if he took the national job plus he blatantly used his pals in the media to try to force Levy to let him go for either next to nothing to the England position or give him mega-money to stay. Then the bottom fell out on their season giving both sides the opportunity to tell him to go away.

Well, yes, that's technically true but he couldn't do anything else when levy had put 10m fee to him having any chance to get England job. That's approx. what Madrid paid to Inter to get Mourinho ffs.

He certainly tried to force his exit to England and that's perfectly normal.

However, I don't think it was fair from levy to ask that money to let him go and it was effectively robbing him for chance to get that job - both one you want emotionally and because it's great job to have.

Harry is not flower, he is **** too but I think he made great job at Spurs and deserved to be given a chance to crown his career and manage his national team. Levy basically took it from him and on the end kicked him in the arse.

Arry is twat but Levy is twat of the highest order.

 

[Josh Blue]

AVB is in a different league to Harry. I have always said Spurs have a great manager on their hands now, a great improvement on that chancer Redknapp.

 

[Dzeko's Right Boot]

Going to defend Spurs a little bit here. *spits*

Sandro is a better DM than Garcia and Dembele is a better CM than Barry.

However we can say a lot clubs are 'one-man team' - Barca without Messi would struggle too. He can score 80 goals per season and can create space for guys like Alba, Adriano or Alves. The most complete football club is Bayern, to be honest.

Very true.

Theo Walcott has chalked-up a higher proportion of Arsenal's Premier League goals & assists this season than Gareth Bale has done for Spurs, yet you don't hear anyone saying that Arsenal are a one-man team, do you?

and what percentage of each were match-winning contributions?

That is hardly a stick to beat Bale with! You're criticising him for turning it on in the big games. Is that not what we have been missing in matches this season? Against United, Arsenal (H), Chelsea (A) and Liverpool (both) we needed a player like Bale to do something magic. The fact that Bale is doing this 'magic' every game is phenomenal.

Now here's a funny thing:

After 27 matches of the 2011-12 season Chelsea got rid of André Villas-Boas.

After 27 matches of the 2012-13 season, André Villas-Boas' Tottenham Hotspur overtook Chelsea into third place in the Premier League Table.

Isn't Karma a bitch sometimes?

So, was their subsequent winning of the Champion's League karma, too, or simply Western luck? :-)

Did you watch Chelsea's Champions League campaign? It was massive amounts of luck!

 

[MSP]

AVB is in a different league to Harry. I have always said Spurs have a great manager on their hands now, a great improvement on that chancer Redknapp.

He probably is, very young too and has loads of time to get better than he is.

Though I completely agree with Daily Mai's Durham's article that "Total bale" tactics he is using at Spurs are hardly Rinus Michel's "total football" ones.

 

[jimharri]

Only two more points earned for his side than the mighty Dzeko. The wankfest for Edin is strangely muted though. Hmm. Spurs; media darlings.

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

Going to defend Spurs a little bit here. *spits*

Very true.

Theo Walcott has chalked-up a higher proportion of Arsenal's Premier League goals & assists this season than Gareth Bale has done for Spurs, yet you don't hear anyone saying that Arsenal are a one-man team, do you?

and what percentage of each were match-winning contributions?

That is hardly a stick to beat Bale with! You're criticising him for turning it on in the big games. Is that not what we have been missing in matches this season? Against United, Arsenal (H), Chelsea (A) and Liverpool (both) we needed a player like Bale to do something magic. The fact that Bale is doing this 'magic' every game is phenomenal.

Now here's a funny thing:

After 27 matches of the 2011-12 season Chelsea got rid of André Villas-Boas.

After 27 matches of the 2012-13 season, André Villas-Boas' Tottenham Hotspur overtook Chelsea into third place in the Premier League Table.

Isn't Karma a bitch sometimes?

So, was their subsequent winning of the Champion's League karma, too, or simply Western luck? :-)

Did you watch Chelsea's Champions League campaign? It was massive amounts of luck!

wrong end of the stick there mate, I was questioning that although Walcott has contributed a higher percentage of Arsenal's goals and assists than Bale has to Spurs whether the breakdown of those shows that Walcott has made a bigger result-changing contribution than Bale has. I'd suspect not seeing as I've noticed several of Walcott's goals have been in games Arsenal have already won. I think Bale has single-handedly won Spurs 10 points in the last 4 games.

 

[Gabriel]

Going to defend Spurs a little bit here. *spits*

Very true.

Theo Walcott has chalked-up a higher proportion of Arsenal's Premier League goals & assists this season than Gareth Bale has done for Spurs, yet you don't hear anyone saying that Arsenal are a one-man team, do you?

and what percentage of each were match-winning contributions?

That is hardly a stick to beat Bale with! You're criticising him for turning it on in the big games. Is that not what we have been missing in matches this season? Against United, Arsenal (H), Chelsea (A) and Liverpool (both) we needed a player like Bale to do something magic. The fact that Bale is doing this 'magic' every game is phenomenal.

Now here's a funny thing:

After 27 matches of the 2011-12 season Chelsea got rid of André Villas-Boas.

After 27 matches of the 2012-13 season, André Villas-Boas' Tottenham Hotspur overtook Chelsea into third place in the Premier League Table.

Isn't Karma a bitch sometimes?

So, was their subsequent winning of the Champion's League karma, too, or simply Western luck? :-)

Did you watch Chelsea's Champions League campaign? It was massive amounts of luck!

A campaign, as we can proudly testify, is not won on luck. Chelsea enjoyed good fortune in certain games and played with pluck rather than panache, but their name being on the trophy is all that matters. Must now wash my mouth out with soapy water. :-)

 

[MSP]

Bale scored 8 of their last 10 goals.

 

[bleed.blue]

One man team. even more so than rvp led arsenal last term. Bale both creates for himself and scores. So where is he moving next summer?

 

[THFC6061]

Gareth Bale the sensation who owes it all to Tottenham's compact style

Gareth Bale is playing brilliantly. He is quick and powerful, technically gifted and can strike the ball ferociously with his left foot. He self-consciously models himself on Cristiano Ronaldo and in terms of his drive for self-improvement and even his style of play, cutting in from the left flank, there is validity to comparisons between them.

He is in a rare seam of form. It is entirely possible he may never play as well as this again. Jermain Defoe is injured, Emmanuel Adebayor was away at the Africa Cup of Nations and has struggled since his return and Tottenham Hotspur have no other strikers, and yet it has not mattered because of Bale's excellence.

Predictably, that has led to claims that Tottenham are a one-man team, as though his brilliance was inevitable and not linked to those around him. There seems to be a belief that individual brilliance undermines the whole notion of a systemic approach to football.

It is possible that one superb player playing superbly can outweigh shambolic organisation. But far more likely, and far more common, is that individual and system work together, that the system provides the environment in which an individual can thrive and the individual, in doing so, elevates the whole.

André Villas-Boas is clearly grateful to Bale but the way Bale charged to celebrate with Villas-Boas after scoring the winner in the 3-2 victory at West Ham on Monday suggests he is aware how much he owes to his manager.

Think back to the first three games of Tottenham's season, when they lost at Newcastle United and drew against West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City. Bale played in all three games and, while no worse than anyone else, was ineffective. When he got the ball, he tended to be too deep or isolated, easy to crowd out because there was no option for a pass. Perhaps if you took the Bale of now and transplanted him to that side, he could still conjure a goal from nowhere, but form tends not to work like that; his purple patch is the result of accumulating confidence that stems from and enhances an efficient system.

It has taken time – these things do – but Tottenham's shape has changed. Although Villas-Boas had a brief dabble with 4-4-2, the formation remains 4-2-3-1, but Spurs are far more compact now than they were. The defence plays higher, which means the midfield lines can shuffle up and that means the spaces between players diminish. Bale is closer to his forward, closer to the attacking central midfielder, closer to the left-sided holder and closer to the full-back; there are passing options which, even if not used, at least exercise defenders.

Take the last-minute winner against West Ham. Bale began a charge and was bundled off the ball as he laid it outside to Gylfi Sigurdsson who had moved left as Bale surged through the centre. Sigurdsson knocked a pass inside to Tom Carroll by which time Bale had got back to his feet and Sigurdsson had made a run that created a fraction of space. It took an extraordinary strike to score but the key thing was that Bale had two players within 10-15 yards of him, as well as Adebayor pulling away to the right. You do not have to share the late Valeriy Lobanovskyi's conviction that the coalitions between players are more important than the players themselves to appreciate that others contributed before the majestic execution.

So why are Tottenham more compact than they were five months ago? Why does the defence feel able to push higher? In part that is down to confidence and to Villas-Boas's training. But it is also down to the change of goalkeeper. Brad Friedel remains a very fine keeper but he is part of the reactive school of US keeping that tends to stay deep. There is nothing wrong with that – it is a perfectly legitimate way to play – but it does have ramifications elsewhere on the pitch.

If a team want to play with a high line they need a keeper who is comfortable coming off his line, sweeping up behind the defence, making sure the space behind an advanced back four is not a yawning void into which opponents can play through balls. Hugo Lloris is much more adept than Friedel at that and, since he has become the regular No1, Spurs have played much higher and been much more compact. That has got the best out of Bale. (It has also worked defensively; no team in the Premier League concede as few shots on goal as Tottenham.)

There has been much debate as to whether Bale is better continuing as a winger or moving inside. It may be that he does end up as a central player, whether as an attacking midfielder or a false 9, but there is no reason at the moment why he should not carry on what he is doing, drifting in from the left into goalscoring positions.

There seems to be an idea that wingers are somehow peripheral both literally and in terms of their influence over a game, and perhaps that was once true. Even in the late 70s, though, John Robertson was able to run games from a position on the left and Ronaldo shows how that can work in the modern game. As Sir Alex Ferguson has noted, there is often more space to be found attacking from wide on a diagonal than starting through the middle.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are reported to be interested in Bale and if Ronaldo were to leave it is easy to see why Real would regard him as being as close to a like-for-like replacement as possible. Then again, it may be that the muscularity of his style would add something missing from the mix at Barcelona.

But for now, Bale has found a club playing in a way that gets the best out of him, and the value of that should not be underestimated.

 

[mcmanus]

Gareth Bale the sensation who owes it all to Tottenham's compact style

Gareth Bale is playing brilliantly. He is quick and powerful, technically gifted and can strike the ball ferociously with his left foot. He self-consciously models himself on Cristiano Ronaldo and in terms of his drive for self-improvement and even his style of play, cutting in from the left flank, there is validity to comparisons between them.

He is in a rare seam of form. It is entirely possible he may never play as well as this again. Jermain Defoe is injured, Emmanuel Adebayor was away at the Africa Cup of Nations and has struggled since his return and Tottenham Hotspur have no other strikers, and yet it has not mattered because of Bale's excellence.

Predictably, that has led to claims that Tottenham are a one-man team, as though his brilliance was inevitable and not linked to those around him. There seems to be a belief that individual brilliance undermines the whole notion of a systemic approach to football.

It is possible that one superb player playing superbly can outweigh shambolic organisation. But far more likely, and far more common, is that individual and system work together, that the system provides the environment in which an individual can thrive and the individual, in doing so, elevates the whole.

André Villas-Boas is clearly grateful to Bale but the way Bale charged to celebrate with Villas-Boas after scoring the winner in the 3-2 victory at West Ham on Monday suggests he is aware how much he owes to his manager.

Think back to the first three games of Tottenham's season, when they lost at Newcastle United and drew against West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City. Bale played in all three games and, while no worse than anyone else, was ineffective. When he got the ball, he tended to be too deep or isolated, easy to crowd out because there was no option for a pass. Perhaps if you took the Bale of now and transplanted him to that side, he could still conjure a goal from nowhere, but form tends not to work like that; his purple patch is the result of accumulating confidence that stems from and enhances an efficient system.

It has taken time – these things do – but Tottenham's shape has changed. Although Villas-Boas had a brief dabble with 4-4-2, the formation remains 4-2-3-1, but Spurs are far more compact now than they were. The defence plays higher, which means the midfield lines can shuffle up and that means the spaces between players diminish. Bale is closer to his forward, closer to the attacking central midfielder, closer to the left-sided holder and closer to the full-back; there are passing options which, even if not used, at least exercise defenders.

Take the last-minute winner against West Ham. Bale began a charge and was bundled off the ball as he laid it outside to Gylfi Sigurdsson who had moved left as Bale surged through the centre. Sigurdsson knocked a pass inside to Tom Carroll by which time Bale had got back to his feet and Sigurdsson had made a run that created a fraction of space. It took an extraordinary strike to score but the key thing was that Bale had two players within 10-15 yards of him, as well as Adebayor pulling away to the right. You do not have to share the late Valeriy Lobanovskyi's conviction that the coalitions between players are more important than the players themselves to appreciate that others contributed before the majestic execution.

So why are Tottenham more compact than they were five months ago? Why does the defence feel able to push higher? In part that is down to confidence and to Villas-Boas's training. But it is also down to the change of goalkeeper. Brad Friedel remains a very fine keeper but he is part of the reactive school of US keeping that tends to stay deep. There is nothing wrong with that – it is a perfectly legitimate way to play – but it does have ramifications elsewhere on the pitch.

If a team want to play with a high line they need a keeper who is comfortable coming off his line, sweeping up behind the defence, making sure the space behind an advanced back four is not a yawning void into which opponents can play through balls. Hugo Lloris is much more adept than Friedel at that and, since he has become the regular No1, Spurs have played much higher and been much more compact. That has got the best out of Bale. (It has also worked defensively; no team in the Premier League concede as few shots on goal as Tottenham.)

There has been much debate as to whether Bale is better continuing as a winger or moving inside. It may be that he does end up as a central player, whether as an attacking midfielder or a false 9, but there is no reason at the moment why he should not carry on what he is doing, drifting in from the left into goalscoring positions.

There seems to be an idea that wingers are somehow peripheral both literally and in terms of their influence over a game, and perhaps that was once true. Even in the late 70s, though, John Robertson was able to run games from a position on the left and Ronaldo shows how that can work in the modern game. As Sir Alex Ferguson has noted, there is often more space to be found attacking from wide on a diagonal than starting through the middle.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are reported to be interested in Bale and if Ronaldo were to leave it is easy to see why Real would regard him as being as close to a like-for-like replacement as possible. Then again, it may be that the muscularity of his style would add something missing from the mix at Barcelona.

But for now, Bale has found a club playing in a way that gets the best out of him, and the value of that should not be underestimated.

Meh.

 

[BoyBlue_1985]

Gareth Bale the sensation who owes it all to Tottenham's compact style

Gareth Bale is playing brilliantly. He is quick and powerful, technically gifted and can strike the ball ferociously with his left foot. He self-consciously models himself on Cristiano Ronaldo and in terms of his drive for self-improvement and even his style of play, cutting in from the left flank, there is validity to comparisons between them.

He is in a rare seam of form. It is entirely possible he may never play as well as this again. Jermain Defoe is injured, Emmanuel Adebayor was away at the Africa Cup of Nations and has struggled since his return and Tottenham Hotspur have no other strikers, and yet it has not mattered because of Bale's excellence.

Predictably, that has led to claims that Tottenham are a one-man team, as though his brilliance was inevitable and not linked to those around him. There seems to be a belief that individual brilliance undermines the whole notion of a systemic approach to football.

It is possible that one superb player playing superbly can outweigh shambolic organisation. But far more likely, and far more common, is that individual and system work together, that the system provides the environment in which an individual can thrive and the individual, in doing so, elevates the whole.

André Villas-Boas is clearly grateful to Bale but the way Bale charged to celebrate with Villas-Boas after scoring the winner in the 3-2 victory at West Ham on Monday suggests he is aware how much he owes to his manager.

Think back to the first three games of Tottenham's season, when they lost at Newcastle United and drew against West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City. Bale played in all three games and, while no worse than anyone else, was ineffective. When he got the ball, he tended to be too deep or isolated, easy to crowd out because there was no option for a pass. Perhaps if you took the Bale of now and transplanted him to that side, he could still conjure a goal from nowhere, but form tends not to work like that; his purple patch is the result of accumulating confidence that stems from and enhances an efficient system.

It has taken time – these things do – but Tottenham's shape has changed. Although Villas-Boas had a brief dabble with 4-4-2, the formation remains 4-2-3-1, but Spurs are far more compact now than they were. The defence plays higher, which means the midfield lines can shuffle up and that means the spaces between players diminish. Bale is closer to his forward, closer to the attacking central midfielder, closer to the left-sided holder and closer to the full-back; there are passing options which, even if not used, at least exercise defenders.

Take the last-minute winner against West Ham. Bale began a charge and was bundled off the ball as he laid it outside to Gylfi Sigurdsson who had moved left as Bale surged through the centre. Sigurdsson knocked a pass inside to Tom Carroll by which time Bale had got back to his feet and Sigurdsson had made a run that created a fraction of space. It took an extraordinary strike to score but the key thing was that Bale had two players within 10-15 yards of him, as well as Adebayor pulling away to the right. You do not have to share the late Valeriy Lobanovskyi's conviction that the coalitions between players are more important than the players themselves to appreciate that others contributed before the majestic execution.

So why are Tottenham more compact than they were five months ago? Why does the defence feel able to push higher? In part that is down to confidence and to Villas-Boas's training. But it is also down to the change of goalkeeper. Brad Friedel remains a very fine keeper but he is part of the reactive school of US keeping that tends to stay deep. There is nothing wrong with that – it is a perfectly legitimate way to play – but it does have ramifications elsewhere on the pitch.

If a team want to play with a high line they need a keeper who is comfortable coming off his line, sweeping up behind the defence, making sure the space behind an advanced back four is not a yawning void into which opponents can play through balls. Hugo Lloris is much more adept than Friedel at that and, since he has become the regular No1, Spurs have played much higher and been much more compact. That has got the best out of Bale. (It has also worked defensively; no team in the Premier League concede as few shots on goal as Tottenham.)

There has been much debate as to whether Bale is better continuing as a winger or moving inside. It may be that he does end up as a central player, whether as an attacking midfielder or a false 9, but there is no reason at the moment why he should not carry on what he is doing, drifting in from the left into goalscoring positions.

There seems to be an idea that wingers are somehow peripheral both literally and in terms of their influence over a game, and perhaps that was once true. Even in the late 70s, though, John Robertson was able to run games from a position on the left and Ronaldo shows how that can work in the modern game. As Sir Alex Ferguson has noted, there is often more space to be found attacking from wide on a diagonal than starting through the middle.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are reported to be interested in Bale and if Ronaldo were to leave it is easy to see why Real would regard him as being as close to a like-for-like replacement as possible. Then again, it may be that the muscularity of his style would add something missing from the mix at Barcelona.

But for now, Bale has found a club playing in a way that gets the best out of him, and the value of that should not be underestimated.

Meh.

All I want to know is does Garath Bale have ambition????

 

[mat]

Gareth Bale the sensation who owes it all to Tottenham's compact style

Gareth Bale is playing brilliantly. He is quick and powerful, technically gifted and can strike the ball ferociously with his left foot. He self-consciously models himself on Cristiano Ronaldo and in terms of his drive for self-improvement and even his style of play, cutting in from the left flank, there is validity to comparisons between them.

He is in a rare seam of form. It is entirely possible he may never play as well as this again. Jermain Defoe is injured, Emmanuel Adebayor was away at the Africa Cup of Nations and has struggled since his return and Tottenham Hotspur have no other strikers, and yet it has not mattered because of Bale's excellence.

Predictably, that has led to claims that Tottenham are a one-man team, as though his brilliance was inevitable and not linked to those around him. There seems to be a belief that individual brilliance undermines the whole notion of a systemic approach to football.

It is possible that one superb player playing superbly can outweigh shambolic organisation. But far more likely, and far more common, is that individual and system work together, that the system provides the environment in which an individual can thrive and the individual, in doing so, elevates the whole.

André Villas-Boas is clearly grateful to Bale but the way Bale charged to celebrate with Villas-Boas after scoring the winner in the 3-2 victory at West Ham on Monday suggests he is aware how much he owes to his manager.

Think back to the first three games of Tottenham's season, when they lost at Newcastle United and drew against West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City. Bale played in all three games and, while no worse than anyone else, was ineffective. When he got the ball, he tended to be too deep or isolated, easy to crowd out because there was no option for a pass. Perhaps if you took the Bale of now and transplanted him to that side, he could still conjure a goal from nowhere, but form tends not to work like that; his purple patch is the result of accumulating confidence that stems from and enhances an efficient system.

It has taken time – these things do – but Tottenham's shape has changed. Although Villas-Boas had a brief dabble with 4-4-2, the formation remains 4-2-3-1, but Spurs are far more compact now than they were. The defence plays higher, which means the midfield lines can shuffle up and that means the spaces between players diminish. Bale is closer to his forward, closer to the attacking central midfielder, closer to the left-sided holder and closer to the full-back; there are passing options which, even if not used, at least exercise defenders.

Take the last-minute winner against West Ham. Bale began a charge and was bundled off the ball as he laid it outside to Gylfi Sigurdsson who had moved left as Bale surged through the centre. Sigurdsson knocked a pass inside to Tom Carroll by which time Bale had got back to his feet and Sigurdsson had made a run that created a fraction of space. It took an extraordinary strike to score but the key thing was that Bale had two players within 10-15 yards of him, as well as Adebayor pulling away to the right. You do not have to share the late Valeriy Lobanovskyi's conviction that the coalitions between players are more important than the players themselves to appreciate that others contributed before the majestic execution.

So why are Tottenham more compact than they were five months ago? Why does the defence feel able to push higher? In part that is down to confidence and to Villas-Boas's training. But it is also down to the change of goalkeeper. Brad Friedel remains a very fine keeper but he is part of the reactive school of US keeping that tends to stay deep. There is nothing wrong with that – it is a perfectly legitimate way to play – but it does have ramifications elsewhere on the pitch.

If a team want to play with a high line they need a keeper who is comfortable coming off his line, sweeping up behind the defence, making sure the space behind an advanced back four is not a yawning void into which opponents can play through balls. Hugo Lloris is much more adept than Friedel at that and, since he has become the regular No1, Spurs have played much higher and been much more compact. That has got the best out of Bale. (It has also worked defensively; no team in the Premier League concede as few shots on goal as Tottenham.)

There has been much debate as to whether Bale is better continuing as a winger or moving inside. It may be that he does end up as a central player, whether as an attacking midfielder or a false 9, but there is no reason at the moment why he should not carry on what he is doing, drifting in from the left into goalscoring positions.

There seems to be an idea that wingers are somehow peripheral both literally and in terms of their influence over a game, and perhaps that was once true. Even in the late 70s, though, John Robertson was able to run games from a position on the left and Ronaldo shows how that can work in the modern game. As Sir Alex Ferguson has noted, there is often more space to be found attacking from wide on a diagonal than starting through the middle.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are reported to be interested in Bale and if Ronaldo were to leave it is easy to see why Real would regard him as being as close to a like-for-like replacement as possible. Then again, it may be that the muscularity of his style would add something missing from the mix at Barcelona.

But for now, Bale has found a club playing in a way that gets the best out of him, and the value of that should not be underestimated.

Meh.

All I want to know is does Garath Bale have ambition????

More than their club does voting for FFPR. I'm sure he'll want to stay at a club that will be punished for signing someone in a transfer widow to qualify for chimps league.

 

[stony]

More than their club does voting for FFPR. I'm sure he'll want to stay at a club that will be punished for signing someone in a transfer widow to qualify for chimps league.

If ever a player was born to play in the chimps league it's Bale.

 

[mat]

More than their club does voting for FFPR. I'm sure he'll want to stay at a club that will be punished for signing someone in a transfer widow to qualify for chimps league.

If ever a player was born to play in the chimps league it's Bale.

I suspect he's on Bobby's radar. Swap for Nasri just to make him even more popular in Islington.

 

[MSP]

More than their club does voting for FFPR. I'm sure he'll want to stay at a club that will be punished for signing someone in a transfer widow to qualify for chimps league.

If ever a player was born to play in the chimps league it's Bale.

I suspect he's on Bobby's radar. Swap for Nasri just to make him even more popular in Islington.

Yeah, levy can't wait for that offer to come.

 

[jimharri]

Gareth Bale the sensation who owes it all to Tottenham's compact style

Gareth Bale is playing brilliantly. He is quick and powerful, technically gifted and can strike the ball ferociously with his left foot. He self-consciously models himself on Cristiano Ronaldo and in terms of his drive for self-improvement and even his style of play, cutting in from the left flank, there is validity to comparisons between them.

He is in a rare seam of form. It is entirely possible he may never play as well as this again. Jermain Defoe is injured, Emmanuel Adebayor was away at the Africa Cup of Nations and has struggled since his return and Tottenham Hotspur have no other strikers, and yet it has not mattered because of Bale's excellence.

Predictably, that has led to claims that Tottenham are a one-man team, as though his brilliance was inevitable and not linked to those around him. There seems to be a belief that individual brilliance undermines the whole notion of a systemic approach to football.

It is possible that one superb player playing superbly can outweigh shambolic organisation. But far more likely, and far more common, is that individual and system work together, that the system provides the environment in which an individual can thrive and the individual, in doing so, elevates the whole.

André Villas-Boas is clearly grateful to Bale but the way Bale charged to celebrate with Villas-Boas after scoring the winner in the 3-2 victory at West Ham on Monday suggests he is aware how much he owes to his manager.

Think back to the first three games of Tottenham's season, when they lost at Newcastle United and drew against West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City. Bale played in all three games and, while no worse than anyone else, was ineffective. When he got the ball, he tended to be too deep or isolated, easy to crowd out because there was no option for a pass. Perhaps if you took the Bale of now and transplanted him to that side, he could still conjure a goal from nowhere, but form tends not to work like that; his purple patch is the result of accumulating confidence that stems from and enhances an efficient system.

It has taken time – these things do – but Tottenham's shape has changed. Although Villas-Boas had a brief dabble with 4-4-2, the formation remains 4-2-3-1, but Spurs are far more compact now than they were. The defence plays higher, which means the midfield lines can shuffle up and that means the spaces between players diminish. Bale is closer to his forward, closer to the attacking central midfielder, closer to the left-sided holder and closer to the full-back; there are passing options which, even if not used, at least exercise defenders.

Take the last-minute winner against West Ham. Bale began a charge and was bundled off the ball as he laid it outside to Gylfi Sigurdsson who had moved left as Bale surged through the centre. Sigurdsson knocked a pass inside to Tom Carroll by which time Bale had got back to his feet and Sigurdsson had made a run that created a fraction of space. It took an extraordinary strike to score but the key thing was that Bale had two players within 10-15 yards of him, as well as Adebayor pulling away to the right. You do not have to share the late Valeriy Lobanovskyi's conviction that the coalitions between players are more important than the players themselves to appreciate that others contributed before the majestic execution.

So why are Tottenham more compact than they were five months ago? Why does the defence feel able to push higher? In part that is down to confidence and to Villas-Boas's training. But it is also down to the change of goalkeeper. Brad Friedel remains a very fine keeper but he is part of the reactive school of US keeping that tends to stay deep. There is nothing wrong with that – it is a perfectly legitimate way to play – but it does have ramifications elsewhere on the pitch.

If a team want to play with a high line they need a keeper who is comfortable coming off his line, sweeping up behind the defence, making sure the space behind an advanced back four is not a yawning void into which opponents can play through balls. Hugo Lloris is much more adept than Friedel at that and, since he has become the regular No1, Spurs have played much higher and been much more compact. That has got the best out of Bale. (It has also worked defensively; no team in the Premier League concede as few shots on goal as Tottenham.)

There has been much debate as to whether Bale is better continuing as a winger or moving inside. It may be that he does end up as a central player, whether as an attacking midfielder or a false 9, but there is no reason at the moment why he should not carry on what he is doing, drifting in from the left into goalscoring positions.

There seems to be an idea that wingers are somehow peripheral both literally and in terms of their influence over a game, and perhaps that was once true. Even in the late 70s, though, John Robertson was able to run games from a position on the left and Ronaldo shows how that can work in the modern game. As Sir Alex Ferguson has noted, there is often more space to be found attacking from wide on a diagonal than starting through the middle.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are reported to be interested in Bale and if Ronaldo were to leave it is easy to see why Real would regard him as being as close to a like-for-like replacement as possible. Then again, it may be that the muscularity of his style would add something missing from the mix at Barcelona.

But for now, Bale has found a club playing in a way that gets the best out of him, and the value of that should not be underestimated.

Meh.

All I want to know is does Garath Bale have ambition????

If he has, he won't hang around at Spurs. Take him out of that team, and they'd struggle to make the top 4. And I would hope he has enough about him to realise that; it'd be a shame to see him carrying them for another season or two. I look into my crystal ball and I see a Spanish City beginning with 'M' and ending in 'adrid'.