With all the transfer talk centred on which club Bale will play in next season I thought it might be interesting to take a look at what position the Welsh Wizard could start the season in at White Hart Lane.
Through his coming of age we have witnessed just how versatile Bale is, cultured as a left back, Bale has steadily been moved further up the field, operating on each side as well as in the middle, often all in one game!
Should Spurs survive the transfer onslaught for a player who is frequently mentioned in the same bracket as Messi and Ronaldo, they will have to decide where to best utilise the club’s greatest asset on the field and this will inevitably depend on a number of factors.
Origins at Left Back:
During the Dark 2 points from 8 games Ages we were close to shipping our beloved Bale out to Nottingham Forest. The once marauding left back arrived at the Lane with much promise, although perhaps unfairly labelled as a curse on the Spurs side with 1,553 minutes needed before he saw a win in a Spurs shirt.
The defensive side of his game was a worry as his attacking instincts would often leave him exposed and chasing back, we could argue that this is happening to Walker now as he often escapes his recklessness through his blistering pace.
Despite certain flaws in his game as a defender, it was here where we saw early on what Bale can do when there is space in front of him, bombing down the wing with ferocious velocity, steamrollering past all in his way and often placing a cross with pin point accuracy. Doing this at great speed is a very desirable quality and the forthcoming response from Ol’ ‘Arry Redschnapps was to move him up to the left side of midfield to exploit his attacking assets.
Left Wing:
A master class move by Redschnapps to solve the ever growing legend that was Tottenham’s left sided problem. Suddenly there was a balance to our side where he and Aaron Lennon would provide us with electrifying pace down both flanks. It was operating in this position where he has been catapulted into stardom, conjuring up a bountiful selection of skills with his left foot wand.
He showed incredible adaptability after his first season playing on the wing when the ruthless defenders of the Premier League started doubling up on him. New elements entered his game like his cannon ball shots as well as cutting inside and bearing down on goal, mesmerising defenders and leaving them second guessing which way he would turn.
One could argue that these were the origins of Bale’s insatiable appetite to strike the ball from almost anywhere, in the mould of the bullet strikes unleashed by Ronaldo. Yes we had been given a taste of his free kicks and occasional strikes, but now he was starting to search for the space to shoot on a regular basis.
Right Wing:
There have also been moments where he would be summoned to pull a shift down the right and often playing in that position for his country, Bale has also excelled when swapping positions mid game with Lennon in order to provide other dimensions to the attack.
The fact remains that every year football becomes more technical and tactical and fortunately Bale carries an intelligent head on his shoulders whereby he is constantly learning and developing.
Without stating that he is the same player, elements of Bale’s game can be comparable to Messi’s style on the occasions he’s played on the right, showing the tight ball control used to dance through the defence. Messi takes many light touches in order to divert the ball ever so slightly and delicately to pull it away from the defenders reach. Bale demonstrated this very same ability when he started coming in from the right and should be considered as a genuine building block to his current overall game.
Centre Forward/Free Roll:
This left many Spurs mouth-watering at the prospect of our most prolific player in the greatest danger zones. In the centre forward/Free Role position Bale has better scope to uncover the weaknesses of a team in a given moment, whatever the opposition whilst covering an area which expands to the whole final third, as opposed to the left where he would find fewer areas to exploit.
AVB has to be given some credit for the management of Bale, encouraging and guiding him on the finer tactical aspects of the game as well as reshaping the team allowing him to execute his marvels more freely. The demands of performing in such a vital role were clear towards the closing stages of the campaign where the slogan of “One Man Team” was branded about loosely as the personification of a tiring, depleted Spurs side requiring a Hero to carry them over the finish line. Gareth more than fulfilled what was expected from him in that role and rightly won all the awards lavished upon him.
The Welsh Wizard’s goal against Norwich was the epitome of the level of devastation he can unleash on the opposition when playing in a central role (to see Bale power through from the half way line Click Here).
Where will Bale play next Season?
Bale is quite frankly an exceptional physical specimen and his athleticism combined with his sublime touch allows him to provide any side with an assortment of tools needed to succeed. Gareth’s latter stage of progression is comparable to Ronaldo when he transferred from the wing to up front prompting a flurry of exquisite goals of amazing variety and could potentially end up as Bale’s final position where, similar to Ronaldo, it might be as a striker where he would be most effective.
It remains to be seen whether Bale will be utilised as the pin point of the Spurs attack in the new campaign as it may be too early in his development, if it is indeed heading in that direction and the fact that we have been linked with a multitude of striking options this summer, implies that he will not. If we finally go out and sign the striking options we crave, we may see him out on the left again providing that balance to our midfield we so badly crave when we slot a non-natural winger out of position.
If we sign one or two strikers like Soldado or even Villa it would be interesting to see Gareth in a free role with some genuine quality ahead of him. Similar to the scintillating partnership of Abdebayor and Van der Vaart, the combination of a top quality forward with Bale could be something special to witness and consequently lead to the continuation of his development as an out and out striker.
Only players within the higher echelons of the footballing world can have a team built around them, this constitutes the style, character and importantly, the fear factor posed to the opposition. We have seen this with Ronaldo, Messi, Rooney, Thierry Henry, Drogba and it is safe to say that Bale can be considered as this very persona for the mighty Spurs.
It would not be too far fetched to think that he will be the solution to our striking problem in the future or even at present and should Villas Boas decide that this is the natural progression for Bale, it would provide a platform for him to emulate or, dare I say, even surpass Ronaldo.
Now let’s make sure we keep hold of him!
COYS!
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Hopefully after we've successfully cloned him everywhere except in goal. Just think how many goals and assists he'd get.
ReplyDeleteSeriously I guess that depends on who else we bring in and whether AVB goes for 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.
Being in Gibralter you are excused from not knowing he will be at Tottenham next year.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your totally needless, petty and ignorant comment about my country...let me tell you that we have been British for longer than the United States has existed as a country, our FA is almost as old as that of the UK and our football knowledge as a populace alike.
ReplyDeleteOur advantage is the extensive knowledge we possess about our Spanish neighbours, first and foremost I am Bilingual and can understand what Marca and the rest of them say without anything being lost in translation or misinterpreted.
With regards to my knowledge of whether he will be at Spurs next year, Madrid have just signed Isco, have apologised for comments made about Bale and our chairman and manager have pledged that he will stay so I agree that it will be likely that he will stay...although that is not the basis of my article...it is about what position he may play next season.
It seams that you have commented without reading the article.
With that I will excuse you of your ignorance from not knowing, well anything, really...
+1 LOL. Good comeback. The fact they can't spell Gibraltar says it all
ReplyDelete