Downing and Bale down the left would be awesome.
So who is going to do the defending?
Bale = Downing with more pace/a better left peg/youth/more height/more athleticism!!
When Ramos arrived Bale was injured and Lee was played at LB.
As soon as Bale was fit again he was straight into the team at Lee's expense at LB (not LM) for the game at the Spammers, played LB against Getafe, played LB against Birmingham.
In summary Ramos has had Bale available only 3 times and started him at LB on all 3 occasions with Lee as sub each time.
Ramos just might not agree with your assesment that the kid can't defend.
We've had 4 LB's in the last 4 games
Lee
O'Hara
Gunter
Chimbonda
This is evidence that Ramos isn't happy with any of his options at LB.
The only 2 players he could possibly want to play there on a consistent basis are Bale and possibly Gilberto (maybe BAE as we have no evidence)
What I am confident of in my thinking is that Ramos doesn't want Lee and I would be surprised to see Lee play too many more games this season, in fact barring injuries I'm not convinced that we will see him in the Premiership again.
Next season (again barring injuries) I see Bale, Gilberto and Steed sharing left side duties.
Bale = Downing with more pace/a better left peg/youth/more height/more athleticism!!
I agree with Blotto we should be looking for a long term LB in a cpl of years!
It's not evidence. It's an assumption.
Come off it, Lee is by far the number one choice for left back - if you had to pick our strongest team then there's no doubt he'd our left back, but it still concerns me that so many are prepared to ignore our current squad players, so blinded are they by the definite glory these new boys will bring us.It's an assumption based upon the evidence available:wink:
very shrewd by levy and co...and fair play-he is way over priced...good but not worth 9mil...were we not linked with david silva-isnt he a left winger?
Come off it, Lee is by far the number one choice for left back - if you had to pick our strongest team then there's no doubt he'd our left back
Come off it, Lee is by far the number one choice for left back - if you had to pick our strongest team then there's no doubt he'd our left back, but it still concerns me that so many are prepared to ignore our current squad players, so blinded are they by the definite glory these new boys will bring us.
Bale looks like he has bags of promise but is too lightweight to be effective at LB - spend some time with Lee and learn to use your head first, then your feet and he could be excellent but, aside from being injured forever, he's not a first team starter. Not got the stamina, not got the presence or defensive awareness to be given that responsibility.
The only reasons i can think of that Ramos wouldn't be playing Lee is he's either saving him or he had fears we would be losing him soon - either way, Wendy has to know what backup the squad has for each position and, until we signed Giblets, we only had one fit LB and the situation was staying that way for a good few months.
So, forget Bale and BAE - we have two recognised LB's in Lee and Giblets and three players who are able to play there if needed, with O'Hara, Chimbo and Teemu - i like that, that's good for me and it takes a lot of pressure off of Bale to rush back lest the team be short-handed...
Downing turned us down at least once, maybe even used us to bump his wages, so he's hardly in a position to moan when we do the same back to him.
Left side, for me, is comfortable with O'Hara and Malbranque so far, adding Giblets is just a whole new sack of fun :up: