It's become very hard to contribute to this thread.
I said an awful lot early on and I stand by that. The whole 'he said' thing becomes so negative it's sad.
When there are 22 men, a ball and a pitch, there's only so much you can do that's different. There will always be similarities.
The devil is in the details, in looking to maximize moments and situations, in modifying the way certain things are done and in maximizing the potential of what you have.
Obviously when Bale gets the ball and runs at full tilt, he's been doing that for the last few seasons. But it's own you use the sports car, not evaluating the performance in full flight. That doesn't change!
Our possession game this season has been built without Modric, who was the VITAL part of it for over two seasons IMO. With Verts and the renewed Dawson, we can see that the defenders are pumping less long balls. The shape of the team off the ball is much much tighter and compact (put it this way, VDV would not be able to play in this system for prolonged spells) and we are able to tactically adjust according to opposition. On Sunday, once Bale stuck more to the left and accepted the double-teaming, we were able to use the space more effectively, and then when BAE came on, it freed him up a bit more and kept Utd's excellent DMs and defense consistently on their toes. In the end, we deserved to win. We ran them harder in the second half than anyone has that I've seen.
In short, AVB has clearly, clearly had us doing things differently, and as was said by some during the early season back and forth, he was putting down the roots from which we're starting to see bloom. There's still a way to go, and I think he would be the first to say that, but for me, we are a very hard, consistent team to beat. Of all the results which were a disappointment, Everton was my main one because frankly, it's a game we did not deserve to lose.
Anyway, onwards and upwards!
