Downing - that left midfielder....

[Legend10]

I don't expect any left sided additions in the summer.

LB

Bale
Lee
Gilberto
Gunter
BAE

LM

Bale
Gilberto
Steed
O'Hara

More likely that 1 of the FB's will be shipped out.

 

[SpurSince57]

Downing and Bale down the left would be awesome.

So who is going to do the defending?

 

[Legend10]

So who is going to do the defending?

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.

 

[Flatters]

Bale = Downing with more pace/a better left peg/youth/more height/more athleticism!!

I agree with that. They're very similar players, but Bale is better than Downing in every way.

 

[Yid-ol]

i would say Bale would be better in LM, but from the few games Bale did play in, it looks like he may be played at the back, so wouldnt surise me if we go in for Downing again at the end of the season, not the best of choiced IMO, but not as bad as i and others make out he is

If Blae does play LB then i would really hope the LM would be able to track back and be good at the defensive side as well, as i dont think Blae it totaly up to scratch at defending in the top flight yet

 

[klinsmann66]

I could be wrong........but I am beginning to think that he would be surpluss to requirements :shrug:

 

[Flatters]

I think Bale and Downing are too similar to play together on the left. Plus, I'd just want Downing to get out of the way and let Bale do all the attacking.

 

[SpurSince57]

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.

Er, Getafe? Not convinced Juande would like that on his CV.

I'm sure he will eventually become a very good LB indeed. That was Jol's opinion and it would be highly surprising if Ramos didn't share it. I'm rather less sure that he's quite ready for the job yet, that's all. When his tackling improves, yes.

 

[Flatters]

I always felt Bale would be wasted at left back because he offers so much going forward, but with Malbranque in front of him it could work well.

 

[AllSeeingEye]

As good a player as Downing is, i don't think he would fit with what we have.

If we had to sign one player this season I would go for a midfield boss-type. We always seem to lack a bit of grit in the middle with no Ledley.

The team we have now will be fine for next season if they keep their heads on and not give away silly goals like the Dawson o.g. on Saturday.

With Steed playing as he is, and Bale, O'Hara, and Taarabt in the wings we should be fine.

 

[Legend10]

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.

 

[Flatters]

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.

It's not evidence. It's an assumption.

 

[Evolution]

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!

100% Agree :clap:

We think of Lennon bombing down the right who's delivery is now getting better and better btw. Add to that Hutton supporting and overlaping....looking nice isn't it and I think we're looking for the same balance on the left with Gilberto and Bale. There is also Steeeeed that can come in too so I honestly don't think we need Downing.

This is not an area that needs attention and I would much rather see us going in for a World Class DM, GK & Striker in the summer.

 

[Stoof]

Want.

Seriously, I'm not sure of Bale as a winger, as an overlapping full-back - brilliant - but not an out and out winger.

Downing has an awesome left foot. Absolutely awesome and if anyone watched the Newcastle game at the weekend, he was at the centre of everything good for Middlesbrough.

:-( I really think he completes our midfield jigsaw - or goes a long way too.

 

[Legend10]

It's not evidence. It's an assumption.

It's an assumption based upon the evidence available:wink:

 

[djvapour]

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?

 

[Rocksuperstar]

It's an assumption based upon the evidence available:wink:

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:

 

[SpurSince57]

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?

We were linked with half the planet.

ITK Chunky, who doesn't post much but is reckoned to be one of the most reliable, claimed we and Boro were £5m apart on valuation, so I'll take a flying unsubstantiated guess and suggest that we were saying £8m, they were saying £13m, and no-one was prepared to budge very far. But I doubt Gus would have said what he did off his own bat, so it's a not unreasonable assumption that we did rate him, only not quite enough to shell out £10m+.

 

[sloth]

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

I disagree. And I guess we'll see once Lee's fit.

 

[Legend10]

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:

I wasn't giving my opinion of Lee, I was just saying what has happened.

Ramos has had Bale available to him only 3 times, on each of these occasions Bale has played at LB and Lee has been substitute. This may or may not be seen as an indication that Ramos sees Bale as ahead of Lee as a LB, to some people it isn't, to me it is.

As for the strongest team I don't quite agree with your sentiments, I think that Ramos picked what he saw as his strongest available team to play against Utd on Saturday and that had a RB who has virtually never played LB in the LB position.

We've seen Gunter there, O'Hara, Chimbonda and have just gone out and bought another LB even though we still have BAE and Bale.

When I weigh all of this up I just can't come to the conclusion that Lee is part of Ramos's plans.

It is just a personal opinion but I think that we won't be seeing a lot more of Lee in a Spurs shirt and Ramos will move him on in the summer.