* Official Pre-Season Games Thread *

[ArcspacE]

Great compilation - cringeworthy narration

 

[Raziel]

^ The support sounded excellent in NY yesterday. I was in Baltimore and very impressed with the size and passion of support in the States really is growing

Baltimore we were definetely out numbered by Pool fans, but still gave a good account.

NY, we had much better % and the NY Spurs club section did us proud, you could see a few Red Bull/American fans looking around in shock at the noise levels.

 

[Rossi22]

Cheers for the upload that commentary was awful!! The way he said BAE lol.

They obviously know their stuff though, at one point one of them said "and here's Benwahh assuu ekotuu, widely recognized as one of the best left backs in the Barclay's Pre-mere League"

 

[ArcspacE]

They obviously know their stuff though, at one point one of them said "and here's Benwahh assuu ekotuu, widely recognized as one of the best left backs in the Barclay's Pre-mere League"

Sure

 

[papaspur]

Baltimore we were definetely out numbered by Pool fans, but still gave a good account.

NY, we had much better % and the NY Spurs club section did us proud, you could see a few Red Bull/American fans looking around in shock at the noise levels.

I have to say, that was my first "match" and I had a great time. I got to see Bentley up close but would've much preferred Bale there. Honestly, I don't think Bale could play as a lone striker, but if he had a good partner he might have had more space for himself and been able to layoff the ball like he did for Thudd. As for Bentley, he rarely did anything spectacular but he did try pretty hard to retain the ball.
Siggurdson didn't look great in the first half, but I think he's better when a striker in front of him is peeling players away. I do think VdV would've retained the ball a bit better but the interplay in the final third was much better in the second half.

All in all, was a pretty good atmosphere, but holy crap driving from that stadium sucks.

 

[africanspurs]

Hahaha, AS, I was at game, saw the lineup and went "wish africanspurs was here"

Bale was better than most people have made out, the interesting part was not only did AVB play him as a striker, but he played him as striker with orders to attack the ball in the air (headers), what most people miss out on, is that's how he scored his goal.

wish i'd seen it.
think you'll find that alot of people have unrealistic expectations about players up front. its a service based position and in most cases you would have your striker not really doing that much outside getting involved in build up

the irony? Mario Gomez does LESS overall in his play and certain people still get on their knees for him....odd

 

[PochettinoPochettinoPochettino]

thing is dont we need Bale on the Left Wing crossing balls into Bale up front?

 

[africanspurs]

thing is dont we need Bale on the Left Wing crossing balls into Bale up front?

can you remember life before bale?

 

[Pandy]

can you remember life before bale?

You really are in love with 'the wonky' aren't you!?

Edit: I think Bale might actually be quite good as a striker in a 'wonky'. I just don't think he showed enough to be the focal point of our attack. Playing a bit higher up, off the shoulder, getting in the box to score or cut it back, he could be deadly.

 

[africanspurs]

You really are in love with 'the wonky' aren't you!?

yes i am. It works. this has been proven before.

we were a force without bale, we have been a force without modric and we have even played well without both those guys playing

IF we dont get a striker, bale is the best option we have......if we do get a striker then the point is moot

 

[Pandy]

yes i am. It works. this has been proven before.

we were a force without bale, we have been a force without modric and we have even played well without both those guys playing

IF we dont get a striker, bale is the best option we have......if we do get a striker then the point is moot

Definitely agree with that, but it doesn't say much about is ability as a striker. I think he needs partner though, of which there are none suitable at the club. Basically we neeeed a striker!

 

[DHSF]

Good goal by Sig.

Sorry my feed is a bit late.




(recorded it and just skipped to the goals)

 

[Rossi22]

You should watch the game, the off the ball work was very impressive. I guess it was a bit of a shock after four or so years of watching us standing off the opposition and letting them pass it around freely.

 

[DHSF]

You should watch the game, the off the ball work was very impressive. I guess it was a bit of a shock after four or so years of watching us standing off the opposition and letting them pass it around freely.

I may watch it as a whole later on tonight

 

[Roy1983]

They obviously know their stuff though, at one point one of them said "and here's Benwahh assuu ekotuu, widely recognized as one of the best left backs in the Barclay's Pre-mere League"

Oh yeah they know their soccer.

 

[thfcsteff]

You should watch the game, the off the ball work was very impressive. I guess it was a bit of a shock after four or so years of watching us standing off the opposition and letting them pass it around freely.

I think we have the right coach at the right time...

 

[Jordinho]

Some dude from Coldplay. :~

 

[Mumorn]

Thought it was Simon Pegg

 

[GGyid]

This is the only thing I think Bale has going for him. In principle he could definitely adapt to the role, but as I said in another thread, it his combination of balance and power, giving him the ability to be strong at speed, along with his stamina that give him his physical presence, he is not strong enough to back in and use his body to protect the ball. Nor is he aggressive enough, an attribute which as proven extremely useful for Modric in particular for overcoming physical weakness. Technically, I don't think he is suited to playing with his back to goal, he is a much more direct player and dropping deep and bringing others into play didn't suit him, he doesn't have the nous to craft passes when under pressure in these situations and is better suited to playing in a wide role with a bit more space to work with.

Seeing Henry there (yuk) reminded me how he was converted from the wing to central, maybe the same role Bale can grow into - not a big hold up CF but one using speed and skill to create havoc, Bale being a very similar player to Henry.

 

[Mumorn]

Seeing Henry there (yuk) reminded me how he was converted from the wing to central, maybe the same role Bale can grow into - not a big hold up CF but one using speed and skill to create havoc, Bale being a very similar player to Henry.

Thing is, Henry was a striker his whole career before for some bizarre reason Juventus put him out wide.