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Gareth Bale

I thought this comment from Bale last night was telling:

When asked how Spurs should improve after the Mourinho era, Bale told Sky Sports: 'Maybe just to be on the front foot a bit more. We want to attack, we're a big club, we want to attack and we did that today.'
 
glasgowspur said:
Don't get the hype tbh, how many times did their fullback take the ball off him when he tried to go round him? More often than not.
Good goal, but not showing enough, and certainly not for £200k pw.
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I will cheerfully live with that for the number of times he puts the ball in the back of the net.
 
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glasgowspur said:
Don't get the hype tbh, how many times did their fullback take the ball off him when he tried to go round him? More often than not.
Good goal, but not showing enough, and certainly not for £200k pw.
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He's a weapon, goals win matches and he makes/scores them
- He scored
- He setup son who should have scored
- One of his corners should have been a goal

And that's without Kane on the pitch.

The question for the manager is how to create a system that accommodates that?
 
Raziel said:
He's a weapon, goals win matches and he makes/scores them
- He scored
- He setup son who should have scored
- One of his corners should have been a goal

And that's without Kane on the pitch.

The question for the manager is how to create a system that accommodates that?
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The "problem" comes partly from having Son on the other wing who thrives in a similar role. But less defensive responsibility, most effective in the final third.

Bale does bring more deeper with his passing range, bit more creativity from those deeper areas than Son (imo), so going forward it would be a good balance. Defensively though? Lucas, Lamela or Bergwijn would look more balanced defensively.

Can we cope defensively with both of them in the team against better teams, or the best teams. Can we cope against City or will Aurier be left too isolated?

Thought Bale did more defensively against Southampton than in previous games, so perhaps. It will be a gamble if he starts against City, but perhaps a gamble worth taking. Will understand it if Mason goes for Lamela or Lucas though.

Bale also "needs" a full back to get high up the pitch when attacking as he only rarely gets round the outside and will get predictable of he doesn't get that support, so not really a great option to play Tanganga at right back to accommodate him playing imo.
 
i said a few pages back, I think Bale still offers something but doesn't have a manager capable of utilising him because the manager at that time had no attacking ability.

Not saying Mason has this either, but he knows we have attackers to hurt any team it's our strong point, Eric Dier in defence isn't, so it's common sense to focus on your strengths.
 
braineclipse said:
The "problem" comes partly from having Son on the other wing who thrives in a similar role. But less defensive responsibility, most effective in the final third.

Bale does bring more deeper with his passing range, bit more creativity from those deeper areas than Son (imo), so going forward it would be a good balance. Defensively though? Lucas, Lamela or Bergwijn would look more balanced defensively.

Can we cope defensively with both of them in the team against better teams, or the best teams. Can we cope against City or will Aurier be left too isolated?

Thought Bale did more defensively against Southampton than in previous games, so perhaps. It will be a gamble if he starts against City, but perhaps a gamble worth taking. Will understand it if Mason goes for Lamela or Lucas though.

Bale also "needs" a full back to get high up the pitch when attacking as he only rarely gets round the outside and will get predictable of he doesn't get that support, so not really a great option to play Tanganga at right back to accommodate him playing imo.
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We are not going to out-defence City, we are going to have to work really hard and score 2-3 if we have a chance.

I actually like the model Jose had (in the couple of games it worked with Bale), i.e.
- Son & Reguilon sit higher
- Bale & Aurier a little deeper
- Lucas in the 10 role
- That created a lot of pressure on the opponents right (dealing with Son, Reguilon and Lucas) and left space for Bale & Aurier to exploit, make passes/runs from.

The issue is we need to be attacking with that model/lineup, no point playing Bale if you plan to be on the back foot for 60 minutes of the match.
 
Raziel said:
The question for the manager is how to create a system that accommodates that?
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As I posted elsewhere, you also need a system which accommodates two of your front 6 (Bale and Ndombele) who are pretty lazy. They're not suited to a pressing system and without the ball, they close down their men but its somewhat half-hearted. If I was an opposition manager, I would look to take advantage of this. With the ball, neither moves hugely so the constant movement of a Emirates Marketing Project style system (high bar I know) wouldnt really work with them

Both are very creative players and can create/score goals out of nothing, but it needs some thinking through by someone who is more football-clever than I am, and there also needs to be a plan B (e.g.GLC replacing Ndombele) for when they're off form etc
 
Raziel said:
We are not going to out-defence City, we are going to have to work really hard and score 2-3 if we have a chance.

I actually like the model Jose had (in the couple of games it worked with Bale), i.e.
- Son & Reguilon sit higher
- Bale & Aurier a little deeper
- Lucas in the 10 role
- That created a lot of pressure on the opponents right (dealing with Son, Reguilon and Lucas) and left space for Bale & Aurier to exploit, make passes/runs from.

The issue is we need to be attacking with that model/lineup, no point playing Bale if you plan to be on the back foot for 60 minutes of the match.
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Realistically speaking I think we'll have to be clinical/lucky.

Perhaps we won't be able to out defend City if that means consistently keeping them from creating chances by sitting back.

We know City will try to dominate possession and I think we know they will succeed. Most likely they'll have 60% possession or more, so what do we do when they have the ball?

If we press like we did against Southampton they'll open us up, they will create big chances and us having to score 2-3 might actually be an optimistic number. I think it's very unlikely that our pressing will be sortet out to a sufficient extent to prevent that.

Not saying we have to park the bus, but I think we'll either choose or be forced into playing a medium block most of the time. Perhaps forced into a low block for periods. We need players that can deal with that. Or somehow play well with a style we haven't played well in for ages against the best team in the league and one of the best teams in Europe.

If that means not starting Bale then so be it. I would definitely understand that decision.

What we do with the ball is another question. Our problems with playing through pressure will most likely also remain more or less the same. We will be forced into long balls at times at least, perhaps rather frequently. We need to be prepared for that, not for what we wish would happen.

If that means Bale isn't suited then so be it. Play someone else. Bring Bale on from the bench towards the end or when desperation sets in.
 
braineclipse said:
Realistically speaking I think we'll have to be clinical/lucky.

Perhaps we won't be able to out defend City if that means consistently keeping them from creating chances by sitting back.

We know City will try to dominate possession and I think we know they will succeed. Most likely they'll have 60% possession or more, so what do we do when they have the ball?

If we press like we did against Southampton they'll open us up, they will create big chances and us having to score 2-3 might actually be an optimistic number. I think it's very unlikely that our pressing will be sortet out to a sufficient extent to prevent that.

Not saying we have to park the bus, but I think we'll either choose or be forced into playing a medium block most of the time. Perhaps forced into a low block for periods. We need players that can deal with that. Or somehow play well with a style we haven't played well in for ages against the best team in the league and one of the best teams in Europe.

If that means not starting Bale then so be it. I would definitely understand that decision.

What we do with the ball is another question. Our problems with playing through pressure will most likely also remain more or less the same. We will be forced into long balls at times at least, perhaps rather frequently. We need to be prepared for that, not for what we wish would happen.

If that means Bale isn't suited then so be it. Play someone else. Bring Bale on from the bench towards the end or when desperation sets in.
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I think City is one of those teams you have to have a go at, not all out, but enough to create a few chances and make them uncomfortable.

I'd play Bale because I think our chance is scoring early (one or two) and then probably settling into a medium block as you said and making the counters work.

It will be interesting, we are underdogs by a long way but their form seems to have dipped and they have PSG (far more important game) midweek
 
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I agree that we should have a go at them on Sunday. They presumably won't be playing their first 11 and Walker, Dias, Rodri, Gundogan, Foden, Mahrez, Silva etc all started last night and will presumably play against PSG. Will they all start Wed/Sun/Wed? I assume not
 
Raziel said:
I think City is one of those teams you have to have a go at, not all out, but enough to create a few chances and make them uncomfortable.

I'd play Bale because I think our chance is scoring early (one or two) and then probably settling into a medium block as you said and making the counters work.

It will be interesting, we are underdogs by a long way but their form seems to have dipped and they have PSG (far more important game) midweek
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Would be all for a manic high pressing start to the game, if not for the fact that we haven't really played a good pressing game with any consistency since... Forever.

We did it well against Leeds, but City are on a different level.

I would be concerned that we would either just get played through or have to spend so much energy that we set ourselves up for another Bayern game.

We can create chances and make them uncomfortable despite sitting back more, hopefully not bus parking, but a medium block. The key would then be to do useful things with the ball when we get it. There too I have my concerns, but I think it's more likely than us suddenly pressing effectively.
 
Talk of not playing Bale in the final is madness. He is big game player with a point to prove and one of maybe 3 players that City would genuinely worry about.

The only (slim) chance we have besides a smash and grab is to let the water carriers, battle and press and defend, and enable the trio of Bale Son and Kane cause havoc. With the risk of this being turned in to a OMT (Don't do it) my team (spelling) would be
Hugo
Taganga Dier Toby Regulon
Holjbeir Sisoko
Lucas
Bale Kane Son

Son and Bale as high up as possible switching sides constantly, Lucas running down everything but also getting ahead of kane as well. The out ball should be down the channels behind their full backs, not centrally.
 
AdamB said:
I agree that we should have a go at them on Sunday. They presumably won't be playing their first 11 and Walker, Dias, Rodri, Gundogan, Foden, Mahrez, Silva etc all started last night and will presumably play against PSG. Will they all start Wed/Sun/Wed? I assume not
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We aren't going to win by trying not to lose - might as well give it a go
 
Bedfordspurs said:
His goals and assists have all came vs lower half teams
That’s what we’re playing now after Sunday so it’s right up his street
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He has played 7 times in the Premiership this season (plus 8 as a 'last few mins' sub).
There is an argument to be made that had he been given a run earlier, with the sort of coaching that leans to front foot football, his return might well have been significant.
In fairness to the previous manager, he never wanted him, and has been reported as loudly saying around the club that the money spent on him (I presume he means wages) should've gone to a defender. The accuracies -or not- are certainly a fair discussion. I'd say, however, that if true, this is not the way to manage your thoughts or squad.
 
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