Gareth Bale has been in the form of his life; scoring 21 goals in all competitions, which is why he is increasingly considered to be one of brightest rising stars in the game, with no indication he will cease to improve any time soon. He has of course been scoring left, right and centre for us Spurs in recent games, being the vital scorer in our impressive unbeaten run (till it ended 3 games ago), and predominantly being our main attacker in the middle of an attacking midfield three. But is this truly the best position for him and for Tottenham.
Now, to start with, I am of the opinion that due to the amount of goals he has scored playing in the middle, Bale’s transition should be considered a success. However, recent performance from the team as a whole suggests a greater understanding of when and where Bale should be released unto the opposition is required. This article isn’t directly looking at the losses against Liverpool, Inter and Fulham where of a combination of poor performance, poor selection, and self-destruction, but watching games, Bale both seduces and aggravates throughout.
We shall firstly take the positives of central bale into account. The most notably trait is of course his shooting; when he has his eye for goal, there are few better in football who find the net with the same ferocity. He also has the ability to run at the opposition, taking them either side with twist, turns and skills; which is a defenders worst nightmare. He has used the combination of these abilities several times this season, and we all hope he continues to do so. Bale also has a great work ethic, creating space for others, making endless amount of runs, and doing his fair share of closing down off the ball.
Conversely, when bale is not dazzling with his dribbling, or scoring from any and everywhere on the pitch, he tends to not add anything a central attacker should. Many compare Bale to that number seven bloke at Real Madrid, and while the comparison makes complete sense due to the shared qualities and characteristics, Ronaldo regularly plays / starts out wide, with a Benzema or Higuain up top with Ozil in behind, and Ronaldo still scores a ridicules amount of goals etc… and when he does come inside, he chooses his moments, knowing he could cause maximum damage. This isn’t to say that CR7 doesn’t start in the middles some games, and I am not trying to say Bale shouldn’t either, but Bale currently lacks that killer pass, magical touch or supernatural vision to create scoring chances for anyone else.
I am a hugely confident that we have a player in bale that could take us to the next level and beyond (if he stays, discussion for the future) anywhere he plays, and I am also a fan of both Sigurdsson and Holtby, and believe that they too can play well anywhere across the attacking mid-3, especially the young German, who looks eager and hungry to impress every time he plays and a player who would flourish in the central attacking role.
I shall end in Bale’s favour, and like I said before, he has been scoring, and no one should take that away from him, but would others score, as well as Bale, if we diverted him back to a left (or even right if appropriate) sided player, it has to be said that this type of problem is probably a good one.
Comment on this article below or via any of the e-Spurs sites below!
e-Spurs Blog - www.espurs.blogspot.com
e-Spurs Forum - www.e-spurs.freeforums.net
e-Spurs Facebook - www.facebook.com/eSpurs1882
e-Spurs Twitter - www.twitter.com/e_spurs
We have to keep Bale on the left. We have top drawer cm's so Bale on the left makes us stronger
ReplyDeleteI personally like Bale in the middle but we dont have enough left sided cover with townsend away
ReplyDeleteexactly....but I still agree with the Townsend loan, its a short term sacrifice for a huge long term gain. Like Walker's half season at Villa. OK he's had his critics but he's now ours and Englands RB for years to come. Personally think that Bale should go back to the Left but his unknown quantity for opposition managers is a huge bonus
DeleteIts a no brainer Bale should not be playing up the middle and i'm sick of watching it, because its at the sacrifice of the team playing well/ Other than the home leg against Inter, which lets face it was a poor inter team, when was the last time you saw spurs play and thought, wow they look good??? Game after game we are just relying on Bale to pull a bit of magic out of his backside. I don't know where this theory that Bale plays great up the middle comes from, cos he doesn't
ReplyDeleteI think the development of Townsend at QPR, and the reason he went on loan despite the mini 'crisis' when Lennon got injured, is so that we have the option of floating Bale in the middle. Unfortunately we've needed him to play centrally which has worked as often as its hindered us. Whether you agree with the comparison or not, Bale is developing in a similar style to C. Ronaldo, who arguably has no fixed position and can play well on the wing, through the middle or as a striker. This can only be good for Spurs we just need players like Townsend (and Holtby) to develop to address the balance, which they will
ReplyDeleteif Townsend continues as he is for QPR and we can pick up another versatile wide man (Capel et al) then Bale centrally could be an answer to this Striker problem without us shelling out $25-30m (which we won't do until we have a new stadium and CL consitency). Agree with the Cristiano Ronaldo comments - a player that good who doesnt have a position is a nightmare on opposition tactics.
ReplyDelete