What Bale would have given us was some end product on the right, as the last two seasons routinely saw the ball go out to the right flank but never come back again as Aurier couldn't cross to save his life while Lucas ran down blind alleys, and that certainly showed with how he popped up in the area to finish moves which Lucas so rarely did (until this season, where he suddenly turned into a Brazilian Jay Rodriguez) This is also why anyone bemoaning our not signing Adama Traore in the summer is barking up the wrong tree, as Traore is basically Lucas 2019-20 but faster, so he'd have just run down a blind alley sooner than Lucas would This is also the issue with our right flank: nobody seems to be able to receive the ball on the right and either score or create anywhere near as much as we need. Lucas has improved with his late runs to the far post recently but that doesn't compensate for how he never seems to take on an opponent and create an opening, Bergwijn seems much better suited on the left than the right where there's a Son-shaped reason he won't play there, and Gil does have a lot of potential as a creative outlet but it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't really click until February-March
I’m with Spurf, Bale fits any system or profile. The man’s ability is still amongst the footballing elite and realistically only Kane can match him in that regard at this club. It’d be a no brainer to bring him back if the opportunity presented itself again. Albeit Ally Gold seems to have poured cold water on the rumours (damn you, Ally!). But seriously, does anyone here truly pick any of Lucas, Bergwijn or Lo Celso over him to play on that right flank? Because with respect, if you do, I question your sanity… Actually, you’re all fellow Spurs fans, I question your sanity regardless of your views on Bale.
Nobody should be picking Lo Celso on the right anyway, since that's not his position It's weird how we keep winding up with CMs on the flanks: Jol played Davids out there, Ramos and (for a time) Redknapp played Modric out there, both Poch and the ubermensch played Sissoko out there, and Nuno played Lo Celso out there What next, playing Son as a wingback? Oh, right...
You could’ve stopped there . The guy’s been so bad of late though that the parody Twitter account “Stop That GLC” is getting far too much content.
I wouldn’t pick any of those players over Bale. But for the money and long term vision, there are other players the club could be targeting instead of Bale.
I’m not sure that’s true though. Who would represent better value for money than Bale and could guarantee the impact Bale could, or even close too it?
Bale is a match winner and can change a game in a second. You can never have too many players like that, unfortunately Spurs don’t have any at the moment. I’d bring him back for a third spell in a heartbeat.
I couldn't disagree more. At this point in his career he's a trophy signing (if you pardon the expression) still able to create moments of brilliance but mostly be unable to contribute to the team. So while there will be opportunities for his supporters to pat themselves on the back for getting such a great player back at Spurs, his overall contribution would be much more difficult to calculate. And I would argue that it would detract from everyone else. And if you add his salary to this, and that he hardly set the world alight last year, I really don't get it that people want him back. The fact that he is capable of brilliance just clouds the argument, because mostly he will not be contributing. We need to move on.
Same. Bale literally guarantees goals/ goal involvements. In his second spell at Spurs he scored just 6 less league goals than Lucas has managed in his near 4 year stint with us and Lamela in his 8 year stint. Also has the same amount of league goals as Ndombele, Lo Celso and Bergwijn combined. Despite what Ally Gold says at present with regards to no interest, if there is a small chance of another return we should be all over it. There's so much more value in getting him for a loan/ nominal fee and very high wages than there is going on to spend £40m+ and fairly high wages on someone else who very likely wouldn't have the same impact Bale could. Only have to see what £75m gets you nowadays with Sancho and Pepe.
One other positive for Bale is that he basically doesn't take up a squad place. Homegrown, clubgrown and not tied to the Welsh FA.
Bale is a game changer. He did not play under Conte and if you think that doesent matter then why have we engaged him. Its also a reasonable bet that Bale will be raised by the crowd. That was one of hisreasons for returning. If you never noticed his sublime skills when he played and how he made things happen thenyou were not watching. Game changers are not luxurys We have two three luxy midfielders right now so i would not advocate for more these are the expensive players who jog around and produce very little.
Don't get me wrong. I would not object to Bale returning. Simply not at his current salary level. He would be a very good squad player but he needs to be on a salary consummate to this.
His salary would represent a top quality player which is what he is. He’s worth paying triple the wages of the likes of Lucas, Bergwijn, Lo Celso and co because he’ll deliver far more than they could blindfolded.
I think the issue is that he took ages to get fit under Jose. Conte is even more demanding. I’d be worried about Bale’s ability to keep up, especially without a pre-season. If he started with a full pre-season so he could hit the ground running I’d be all for it but I’d be concerned about him taking months to get up to speed at which point the season would basically be over. Admittedly I have no idea how much he’s playing this season but I doubt it’s regular enough to get proper match fitness.
I’d say that’s because Jose never played him enough. You can’t get fit with 5-10 min cameos and then just over half a match every other week in the Europa League, almost impossible to get a rhythm going. When he did get a run of games though he then began shining. The only worry for me with Bale is his injury record, other than that I think he can play in any team in the world under any manager and perform well. Bloke is an amazing footballer.
He started the season in the Real team, playing 3 times for 68, 59 and 66 minutes. Got one goal in a 3-3 draw with Levante, which they were losing when he went off and no assists. Went on international duty with Wales, played the last 7 minutes against Finland and has been injured since.
He is expected to play v Belarus. Has 6 weeks before a transfer is even conceivable, so we should know his fitness level.
I’d say this is the issue for me. As DH says he’s capable of phenomenal things when he’s fit but I’m not sure about him joining half way through a season off the back of an injury. He’s not going to be match fit unless he gets back into the Madrid team. Can we afford to carry passengers, will Conte even consider it? I’d be a lot happier about this if he could have a pre-season with us. But as SD says, if he starts playing again this international break and in the club games after, then we can gauge his fitness levels if we really were considering it in January.
