Bale is a winger, no he is a full back etc. blah blah blah

[mil1lion]

The reason he is doing so well on the wing atm is because he is still young. It's a lot harder to defend at a young age than it is to attack at will. That's why there aren't many top quality young defenders starting at this level. He still has to develop defensively. So I wouldn't rule hime out of becoming a top quality left back just yet. When he matures, he will be able to take on the responsibility of a defender, while also offering a major threat going forward.

He is not too disimilar to Ashley Cole. He just needs more experience so he can develop as an attacking fullback.

 

[mill]

I can see the benefit on playing him on the wing, but wouldn't it be great to have a fullback like him in the tradition of Roberto Carlos and Ashley Cole, and a cracking left winger in front of him? in games against strong opposition I'm happy to play him on the wing cos good defending is something that comes with experience. Cole was criticised for his defending at a young age but has gone on to become the best leftback in the world, even if he is a **** as a person, bale will develop into one of if not the best leftbacks in the world, imo

 

[mill]

The reason he is doing so well on the wing atm is because he is still young. It's a lot harder to defend at a young age than it is to attack at will. That's why there aren't many top quality young defenders starting at this level. He still has to develop defensively. So I wouldn't rule hime out of becoming a top quality left back just yet. When he matures, he will be able to take on the responsibility of a defender, while also offering a major threat going forward.

He is not too disimilar to Ashley Cole. He just needs more experience so he can develop as an attacking fullback.

Beat me to it

 

[rsmith]

The answer is blindingly simple.

Bale, the club, the fans all want GB to become the best LB that ever graced the club. If the day ever dawned that he had the positional sense and aggression of BAE, combined with his energy and talent going forward, he would rewrite history. A GB/LM combo down the left would be virtually unplayable.

However, the truth is that he is a defensive liability. He did NOT win April player of the month playing at LB. He won it at LM.

Sorry OP but , end of!

 

[mil1lion]

I can see the benefit on playing him on the wing, but wouldn't it be great to have a fullback like him in the tradition of Roberto Carlos and Ashley Cole, and a cracking left winger in front of him? in games against strong opposition I'm happy to play him on the wing cos good defending is something that comes with experience. Cole was criticised for his defending at a young age but has gone on to become the best leftback in the world, even if he is a **** as a person, bale will develop into one of if not the best leftbacks in the world, imo

An Alves/Messi combination :hump:

 

[SpurSince57]

The answer is blindingly simple.

Bale, the club, the fans all want GB to become the best LB that ever graced the club. If the day ever dawned that he had the positional sense and aggression of BAE, combined with his energy and talent going forward, he would rewrite history. A GB/LM combo down the left would be virtually unplayable.

However, the truth is that he is a defensive liability. He did NOT win April player of the month playing at LB. He won it at LM.

Sorry OP but , end of!

This would have been true a year or so ago, but if you believe Bale is still a liability you can't have been watching too carefully. He's still got some way to go, mind, but then he's only 20—and anyone who expects a defender to be fully rounded at age 20 needs their head examining.

He can play very effectively at LM—but in the modern game LM and LB (and RM and RB) are practically interchangeable. (When I were a boy it was only Spurs full-backs that ventured into the opposition half.)

No 'end of'. Bale sees himself as a LB. We should give him the benefit of the doubt. That said, I'm perfectly happy with Disco Benny at LB and Bale at LM. We're very fortunate to have this option and others.

 

[Kendall]

He can play both, but as he matures I expect him to play left back more and more. I don't see Modric as a CM long term.

 

[nailsy]

The reason he is doing so well on the wing atm is because he is still young. It's a lot harder to defend at a young age than it is to attack at will. That's why there aren't many top quality young defenders starting at this level. He still has to develop defensively. So I wouldn't rule hime out of becoming a top quality left back just yet. When he matures, he will be able to take on the responsibility of a defender, while also offering a major threat going forward.

He is not too disimilar to Ashley Cole. He just needs more experience so he can develop as an attacking fullback.

Harry agrees with you Million: 'The sky’s the limit for him — I think he’ll be one of the top, top players. ‘I don’t think there are many better left backs than Ashley Cole anywhere but we’re lucky.
'We have Benoit, who is a great left back, and we have Gareth.’


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...tenham-boss-Harry-Redknapp.html#ixzz0nHXB2G72

 

[mil1lion]

A lot depends on who we're up against. I still fancy him as a left back in games where we dominate possession. He defends best when teams counter attack us and he has to make a recovery tackle anyway. But when we face a side who we don't have the fair share of possession, especially in certain away games, it's best to stick an experienced full back like Ekotto at left back.

I liken him to Dani Alves. He doesn't stop running all game, and will occupy the wing all day long. When Alves was at Sevilla, they did play him on the right wing at times. However, now that he is at Barca, he is strictly a right back. The reason being, Barca will dominate possession against any team in the world, so they can afford to play him there.

We don't quiete have that luxury of course. Yet we do have the ability to dominate possession against a fair number of teams in the Premier League. Those are the sort of games I would play him at left back, with Modric or Kranjcar in front. That way, Kranjcar/Modric will come infield, take a midfielder with them, and open up some space for Bale to drive forward in. Expecially useful when we're camped in the opposition half.

Barca use Alves and Messi this way too. Messi will roam and that will allow Alves the whole of that right midfield to himself. The luxury for Barca is, Messi is so good that he can take 3/4 players with him at times. This is the sort of thing Modric is capable of doing for us at a lesser level, yet an effective one at that (Nobody can do as great as Messi of course). So even if he isn't getting on the ball enough, he still takes players with him to create space for Bale.


I certainly think it's too soon to be talking about converting Bale to one or the other position. He will naturally find his best position in time. In the meantime, we have a great player who can operate anywhere down the left. Defensively I think he is a good tackler. He just lacks the defensive instincts that comes with age, which tends to lead to him losing a runner.

 

[Spurger King]

I don't think he's a defensive liability, but he's extremely impressive going forward (whether coming from deep or starting as a winger). For me the truth seems to simply be that no one really knows where his best position is at this stage...us, Redknapp, Bale...even the all-knowing Mark Lawrenson.

He's a fantastic left-footed player, and these are generally few and far between. If he showed any defensive ability as he was rising through the ranks, I can understand why managers would prefer him in the LB position. At the same time he's still very young...can defend and attack (personally I think he has plenty of potential as a defensive player), so at this stage of his career it is impossible to say where he will end up. Equally, it's impossible to say what his current 'position' is. The most we can say is that it is currently transitional...

...but then what do I know...I think Hudd could one day end up as a great centre back!

 

[guy]

thank christ people agree this whole "debate" is a boring waste of time

 

[BorisTM]

I wouldn't worry about this fella's opinion to much, I'm sure he's the same person that started a 'I just don't get it with modric' thread a couple of weeks ago, got ripped to shreds and didn't reply to any of the comments on said thread

You are just trolling. The thread was locked, and I didn't feel like arguing with a bunch of angry forum posters who took everything so personal.

Nobody ripped me to shreds. Only arguments can. There were none, just silly infantile abuse for the most part. Everything I said still stands and I'm going to add one more - Modric is not capable of clearing the ball. Pathetic and laughable.

He is a first division quality player, if Man U want him, let them have him, we will cash in good and they will never be in the top 4 while he is with them, makes our job much easier.

 

[JerryGarcia]

Here's a quote from Harry from today that should help to put this to rest.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6140256,00.html

Future

Bale has the versatility to play in defence or on the wing but he has caught the eye more with his forward play.

But despite being one of Spurs' most potent attacking weapons over the past few months, Redknapp envisages the youngster establishing himself as a full-back.
"I think he'll become a great left-back eventually. That's how I see it," Redknapp said.

 

[NEVILLEB]

Left winger

 

[JerryGarcia]

Left winger

:grin:

 

[archiewasking]

Two suggestions;

1 Make this a poll.
2 Then put all the losers on ignore after the winners neg rep them all.
3 Shut this zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz thread. For good.

Until someone starts a new one. :grin:

 

[BorisTM]

Here's a quote from Harry from today that should help to put this to rest.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6140256,00.html

Future

Bale has the versatility to play in defence or on the wing but he has caught the eye more with his forward play.

But despite being one of Spurs' most potent attacking weapons over the past few months, Redknapp envisages the youngster establishing himself as a full-back.
"I think he'll become a great left-back eventually. That's how I see it," Redknapp said.

Sure, and he also got the team for the Man U game right too, didn't he? Let's see how long it will take before he admits that he was wrong.

Instead of trying to improve him as a LB he should try to improve his already excellent game as a LW, so he is more diverse than just running with the ball past defenders. Bale and Ekotto have played few games together but their partnership has already made top teams fear it big time, and I can't even think what it would be after they have played it over few seasons.

Why would anyone want to destroy that is beyond me? Who in our team is soo good as a LW that him playing with Bale as a LB would provide us with better play on the left than this fresh Bale/Ekotto partnership has provided us so far, which has been the best for the entire season BTW? Who?

I mean Man U game clearly showed that even playing Modric as LW (prolly the best option according to many posters here) and Bale as LB is not as productive as Ekotto/Bale.

 

[JerryGarcia]

Two suggestions;

1 Make this a poll.
2 Then put all the losers on ignore after the winners neg rep them all.
3 Shut this zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz thread. For good.

Until someone starts a new one. :grin:

Two suggestions? I'm pretty sure I count three :wink:

 

[JerryGarcia]

Sure, and he also got the team for the Man U game right too, didn't he? Let's see how long it will take before he admits that he was wrong.

Instead of trying to improve him as a LB he should try to improve his already excellent game as a LW, so he is more diverse than just running with the ball past defenders. Bale and Ekotto have played few games together but their partnership has already made top teams fear it big time, and I can't even think what it would be after they have played it over few seasons.

Why would anyone want to destroy that is beyond me? Who in our team is soo good as a LW that him playing with Bale as a LB would provide us with better play on the left than this fresh Bale/Ekotto partnership has provided us so far, which has been the best for the entire season BTW? Who?

Did he really get the team wrong at Man Utd though? At 1-1 in the 80th minute we looked like getting a second and it was only an individual mistake that led to us giving up the penalty. If we had come away with a point everyone would have been happy and would have been said Harry picked the right team.

The fact is, Harry and Bale himself both say he's a left back so why are people ignoring that?

 

[BorisTM]

Did he really get the team wrong at Man Utd though? At 1-1 in the 80th minute we looked like getting a second and it was only an individual mistake that led to us giving up the penalty. If we had come away with a point everyone would have been happy and would have been said Harry picked the right team.

The fact is, Harry and Bale himself both say he's a left back so why are people ignoring that?

yeah he did - the team looked a bit disorganized with Ekotto on the right, Bale as LB and Modric as LW. After he corrected that, normal service was resumed and we were all over them and I thought we were gonna do them hard on their ground.

I dont think people are ignoring what Harry and Bale have said or that he was signed as a LB, it is just that they, including me, think that Bale is much better player as LW than as LB, that it comes natural to him and should be played as such.