Bale as a striker?

[mpickard2087]

Said for years he could play as a wide striker in a 4-3-3, As a main striker Im not sure I think he would need a partner in a 4-4-2 or play as the No.10 in a 4-4-1-1.

 

[danielneeds]

To me, the match today marked another evolution of Bale as a player. He showed he is capable of maturing into the role of modern forward all across the front line, much like Cristiano Ronaldo now does after starting out as a wide player.

 

[bananafish]

Bale has scored some great goals by making deep runs into the center. He has a good understanding with Ade, who plays out wide as much as centrally.

With his improving small-space game and solid finishing, I see Bale as a wing forward with license to roam, though not a CF or striker who plays with his back to goal.

The important thing for Bale is to not get hustled and trapped wide left, peripheral to the rest of the team. As a direct 4-4-2 winger he is too easy to mark since that movement is too predictable and he doesn't one-touch pass quickly enough. But if he constantly looks for space and hunts for the ball in other areas, both ghosting in the box to score and assisting from out wide, sometimes even playmaking from the center - he is unpredictable, unmarkable, and a nightmare to play against.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

but.. isn't he a left back? :shrug:







:lol:

 

[Spurger King]

but.. isn't he a left back? :shrug:







:lol:

I believe SP's positional-definition senses are tingling :lol:

 

[AnotherSpursFan]

Alot of talk comparing Bale to Ronaldo.

Totaly agree. Bale could be as lethal as him. He got the physic and skill to hopefully become a better Ronaldo.

 

[kcmei]

I think he could make a good support striker or attacking midfielder

 

[stevenqoz]

Bale is a multi-talented player. It really depends what you mean by the term striker. I could see him developing along the lines of Thiery Henry if given the opportunity. However, I feel that Bale does have some areas where he is less strong. One of these is receiving the ball in to feet with his back to play. The more central he is required to play the more likely he will be literally marked by a clogging centre back. This in itself brings us to another area where he is less strong......Bale is vulnerable to heavy tackles and would break down more often if ankle tapped regularly. Clearly his biggest strength is running the opposition Henry-like so if that makes him a striker carry on!

 

[Kendall]

Valid points there. Being able to finish isn't necessarily the mark of a great striker.

 

[spurious1]

Seems to me that Bale is not doing too bad in his current role...

But the way our attacking players play currently, vdV, Modric, Ade, Lennon, and Bale are all all across the field, so Bale already takes up striker positions as we saw yesterday. To hold him to a central role would be a waste of his other skills, though.

There have been less of those, "Read my lips. Bale is a fullback. FULLBACK. End of." posts that used to always show up.

 

[DJS]

He's a left-back bitches.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

Seems to me that Bale is not doing too bad in his current role...

But the way our attacking players play currently, vdV, Modric, Ade, Lennon, and Bale are all all across the field, so Bale already takes up striker positions as we saw yesterday. To hold him to a central role would be a waste of his other skills, though.

This, all day. We have him tearing up his flank and having a great time, a superb relationship with Lennon, allowing them to switch back and forth, cut in, overlap with Disco - it's not broke, what are we trying to fix here?

We've got enough talent across the field, moving Bale into the middle would mean shuffling about the whole team and that makes no sense.

 

[bananafish]

I think "Bale as striker" is more a 'far-out' option to take when the alternative is Pav, than an actual suggestion. Hopefully we will get Ade cover soon so we won't have to resort to that, but it's a possibility.

In that apocalyptic striker-less scenario I guess VdV could operate as a sort of (very) false 9, dropping off/wide to allow Bale and Lennon/Niko to burst forward from deep positions or cut inside. Essentially you want Bale running onto balls rather than receiving them with his back to goal.

It helps that Lennon is reputed to be even better from the left and Bale is starting to look more comfortable in the right/central areas, and that we are blessed with pace. OTOH it would probably demand better finishing from Modric and Parker, and Tevez-like aggression + workrate from VdV.

Or if we want to be really strange, duplicate the Gerrard-Torres axis with VdV-Bale in a forward-facing side with grunt workers out wide to hold up the ball. Eek

Bale doesn't quite have Torres's explosive turn of pace, but at least he's a better option than Mr. Invisible. (I am grateful for Pav's goals, but good god does he cost us possession and all semblance of ever controlling midfield.)

 

[worcestersauce]

Here's the thing, Bale is a phenomenon and so can play anywhere he fucking likes!! He really is that good.
The other year when the big discussion was should he be left back or left wing I argued that left back was wrong because you don't want a player of his class 80 yards from the opposition goal so for the time being he should be left wing but even that is short term and he will eventually move inside and play across the pitch, it seems to me that's happening now.

 

[Shanks]

I said last year that Bale, could do the role that Gerrard done for Liverpool. Essentially a completely free role, given license to go box to box, or simple attack from the middle.

 

[tttcowan]

Just let him wander around doing whatever he wants... He really is that good.

 

[tototoner]

No

He is best in an advanced 3 behind a lone forward in 4-2-3-1 formation

He could play anywhere in that 3 , as can Van Der Vaart, Lennon, Modric, Pienaar, and Kranjcar. Youngsters Falque and Fredericks also

In fact Harry said that Bale and Van Der Vaart both have licence to do and play where they want when we have the ball - fluid formation much like Man City. However when defending they then have to fit into a rigid system to support the defence.

 

[TheChosenOne]

Tis a funny old game, some twerps on here didn't want Bale anywhere near the first team a couple calling him a "bok" and a "Jonah" because Spurs never won x PL games while he played.

Ficklefuckers.

 

[Shanks]

If anything, it's nice that he probably could play up top.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

It's not a question of Bale as a striker - it's Bale IS a striker...

... among many other skills and talents.

He is the complete footballer. Wonder how good he would be as a goalie?