Good evening.
I have to confess that I didn’t go hunting this clip out on the basis that my hunger, my desire for International football no matter who is playing starts off poorly and usually fizzles out not long after. Ray Wilkins was on the television some time back and called it right. The Champions League has replaced International football in so many ways it’s difficult to know where to begin.
ODM has a plan to bin the conventional national sides of these sceptered isles and replace them with a Team GB. I’m not entirely sure if he’s serious but it might be a plan worth some consideration. I’m not sure what the answer is. Maybe we just chuck John Terry down a well and forget which one.
But the reason I dragged you here was to have a butchers at the clip above. The stance prior to moving, the almost tippy toe approach and the way his shoe goes through the ball. Yeah., very similar to that unhappy bloke at Real Madrid.
Now since Villas-Boas has arrived we’ve seen a less dangerous Bale. In the whole three games so far he hasn’t wreaked the havoc that we used to love to watch on the wing. Can the combination of Dembélé and Dempsey somehow galvanise him again?Mmmn. What is for sure is he’s been working on something quite sexy there and it works.
On a lighter note-It’s refreshing to read how Lloris has decided to knuckle down and fight for his place, blimey-talk about stating the patently obvious!
Bale needs a few games on the bench.
He is actually messing up our game…crowding the centre of the pitch with his free roaming bollocks.And this has been going on for a while too (since he scored some stupid goal away to Norwich or someplace). Redknapp didn’t have the brains to tell him to go back to his position and HH’s AVB just doesn’t have the guts to tell him its not working.
If Bale has to be a free-roaming do nothing, then he better be doing that nothing for some other club (Man City?). We are better of with the 50million pounds we will get from the Arabs.
Bring on Townsend.
On the past 6 months showing I tend to agree, all show-no dough
Agree, he’s been a big disappointment……Sad to see :-(
Maybe just maybe-he’s another Tony Daly or Peter Barnes type player-whoosh-hit’s the big time and fades into oblivion-I truly hope not, but I’ve seen many times in the past-Rohan Rickets?
Dempsey scored most goals on the left. Sell Bale, play Dempsey on the left, Siggurdson in middle and Azza on the right with Ade leading the line and Defoe as an impact sub.
Yeah I’m rad!
In this formation of AVB, I would be bold enough to agree..
I think he just needs to be told to stay out wide, for at least a game or two. Thing is, nobody seems man enough to put an end to his wandering.
Is he doing the same thing for Wales? Haven’t watched any of their games recently, last I heard he was on the right for them. But, just that if it’s only Spurs he’s experimenting with it’s a bit of a pisstake!
i agree. too much huff n puff not much guile.
not enough steel.
we need a leader, you guys think Lloris?
only captain material i see on the field. thinker, doer, motivator, crafter, fighter.
No. Thats a ridiculous notion, he hasnt even played a game for us yet, and can he even speak fluent english?
Dawson.
and he’s French!
They don’t make good leaders.
Jan Vertonghen! The real Verminator!
Sullivan the wankfather is on BBC 2 now
Elvis eh,when he’s not living on the moon he’s knobbing nutters,Thank you very much aha
……she did say he was a tender lover….. :unsure:
Train Spotter’s-wankers!
Bale getting the ball from deep and running on the counter is when he is at his best. Arry played counter attacking football, AVB doesn’t. AVB likes the players already up the pitch playing football in opposition half. Bale cannot play to his strengths in a front three with limited space.
I can see Bale going at the end of the season with no Champs league football (probably in this ‘season of transition’), an over inflated opinion of himself and a big european club (or two) in for him. Can’t work out whther that was a hand grenade just tossed or a reasonable comment??
Totally agree with your first paragraph. I think you have hit the nail on the head there. However I think the boy has talent beyond his gut busting running ability so perhaps he will find a good balance under AVB’s tutelage.
I agree that Bale does have more to his game than powerful runs – but his ‘power’ game is by far his biggest strength, without that, would he even by playing for us? I just think that he has got to vasty improve his technical ability. The unsuccesful ‘free’ roles under Arry last season showed how his technical ability is fundementally flawed by not being able to cope with various situations around the pitch in diffrent positions – as obvious as it sounds, he’s certainly not a Ronaldo, Sheringham, Rooney – although he (and the media)sometimes thinks he may be. He is unfortauntely in a place where some (or most) corners of the media (and himself) believe he is the finished article already. To work ‘well’ under AVB I think he needs to humble himself and allow himself to be coached, adapt his game and focus development.
On his day he is an awesome player, but under AVB I fear those days will be few and far between.
It ws only in a handful of games last season he lived up to his hype. At 23 he has a lot to prove this year.
Bale Stats 2011/12
TOTAL MINUTES PLAYED 3,356
STARTS 39
USED SUBSTITUTE (BOLD) 2
TOTAL APPEARANCES 41
UNUSED SUBSTITUTE (US) 0
TOTAL SQUADS 41
AVERAGE MINUTE PLAYED PER MATCH 82
GOALS SCORED 11
STRIKE RATE (Minutes played per goal) 305
No stat for Assists there, he was our top assister last season as well (top of my head 18). Not defending him as i agree he needs ot be more consistent however, we need to give him credit where its due.
Re eton: I note there was no assist stats, not intentional, just off the site where I sourced.
As per my post he has got talent and yes you are correct it should be noted that he does provide a lot of assists. It would be very interesting to see how many of those assists came from a LM position or the wandering (or free) role? I could take a sneaky guess..
Do u think he would have more space playing as an attacking left back similar to Walker? As long as the DM’s can cover the space he leaves when he’s up the pitch, it could be worth a try.
Don’t think he would want to play there though.
ignore that, Spurlative has already suggested the same thing below.
I think him playing as an attacking LB would create problems in a 4-3-3 which we are stuck with at least for now.
1) GB has little discipline in regards to positional awareness, I appreciate this is doen the manager as well!
2) I don’t think that GB would enjoy that role. As much as much as i firm believer in ‘for the good of the team’, unless your Man U (or have balls of steel as a manager) you rtry keep your best players happy (as you reasonably can).
3) AVB’s formation os based around pressing in the final third and strict positioning when we lose possession (4-5-1) which I don’t think would allow for GB freedom that we would need to expoit to his strengths.
4) Also as LB or LM you still need to play a high level of counter attacking football, which under AVB I don’t think we will.
I would love to use GB o his strengths, but under the 4-3-3 we need a technical ‘dribbler’ who beat two or three players with skill (not primarily pace) and delive rinto the box.
Apologise for typo’s Im on a train that isn’t to smooth of generous with room !