http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...reedom-of-new-central-role-article846861.html So Redknapp was the manager that created the idea of playing through the middle, and thats from Bale himself as Redknapp was manager and gave him that role.
flaspurs, i said exactly the same thing to my dad this morning. The manager should be positive, it rubs off. We should be aiming for City now, not to keep chelsea/arsenal at bay. We might not manage it, heck we might not manage to stay above those 2, but the best chance we have is if the manager makes the players believe we can and will. Everything the manager says will get back to the team. If he is looking over his shoulder at the teams below then so will the players and the performances will suffer. Media wise i have been supremely impressed with AVB since he joined.
I've defended Redknapp many times on here and think he was the best man for Spurs at the time, think his was the best tenure for decades, didn't want him to go etc etc... ...BUT I really think that arguably the biggest criticism you can have of his reign was with regards to Bale. Let's not forget that Bale only got in the team under Redknapp, really, when Benny got injured. That seemed odd even at the time cos us Spurs fans had seen him for those first few games when he first joined and before he got injured. He was clearly absolute quality. (I really am not just saying this with the advantage of hindsight. It really was obvious - many on here would agree I'm sure). It was about Jan 2010 when Benny got injured and Harry gave him a proper run? I know there were injuries but there were definitely months when he was fit and not playing. And if that quote (which I remember at the time thinking "eh?" to) about Harry thinking that, long-term, Bale was a left back IS from Feb 2011 that's still after Harry had been working with him for about two and half years and after Bale had scored that hat-trick in Milan and after numerous displays of fantastic, unplayable attacking play. I would have thought that Harry did not still see Bale as a left back this time last year. (Assuming that he HAS changed his mind!). But that's not to say that his record on Bale does not have a couple of obvious blots. And having said all that I still think that, as hinted at above, if Harry was still here and had had Modric and VDV sold out from under him we could well have still seen Bale doing what he's doing now more centrally. Harry never would have made such a bold change as to drop VDV to put Bale in a new position. But he may well have reacted to the changes in the squad the same way AVB has - necessity was very much the mother of invention for Redknapp.
Signs were there v Norwich away, it was difficult to be as fully effective there as we had VdV to accomodate in a similar role.
I agree. It was always going to take Bale a while to adjust to the new role too, so there had to be a period when he wasn't quite as effective. Bad timing, though.
Good players play anywhere. It's hard to label Bale now. He's not a winger, he's not a striker, he's not a no.10, he's not a midfielder- he plays all of those positions.
Exactly, thank you! Essentially Redknapp was just lucky that Benny got injured because he clearly didn't rate Bale until he got in the team.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/8427212.stm He was always going to use Bale when Assou-Ekotto went to the African Nations. He got injured just before he was due to go, but he was always due to come in anyway.
I think you're being harsh, as two years ago, or when Bale broke into the 1st team, did you and or anyone believe Bale could play centrally? be honest? and the answer will be no. Redknapp got the best out of Bale from an attacking left back position and he got the best out of Bale from the left wing. When it became clear Bale needed to adapt to a new position, he also tried it and made Bale aware he had to learn how to play centrally and it actually worked at times last year, as I mentioned above, yet also lets not forget we had VDV last year BUT in the norwich game he played VDV & Bale centrally, swapping positions, so again its harsh (and unfair) to suggest his hand was forced. Also, lets not forget Villas Boas, has tried Dempsey, SIggy, Adebayor & Holtby through the centre, its not like Villas Boas marked Bale as a central attacking midfielder from the outset, it was a position he grew into as the season progressed. At the start of the season, how many fans on here viewed Bale as a central player? again just asking you or anyone to be honest, and I expect very few, if any and the general view throughout football was that Bale would be one of the best left sided players in the game. I respect your opinions Lenny, but on this I would say you're being overly harsh as Redknapp was a superb for Bale and was a major factor in him progressing as a player.
Cheers. Theres a lot of crap being spoke about Redknapp, claiming he never rated Bale is one of them, and a cheap shot.
What a load of tosh and also an unneccessary cheap shot at Harry Redknapp. So if a player flourishes under a manager and his coaching staff, then that manager can't be given any credit and is merely "lucky" ?? If that's the case then I fail to see any purpose in having coaching staff.
Be careful SC, Redknapp never rated Bale, never had a good team spirit, never used Bale effectively.. We may as well forget all of Bales superb performances in the past two years, as he was crap? its only this season that VIllas Boas found a deflated welsh man in our reserves and boosted his confidence.
It never sits easy with me when I see people belittling Harry's achievements with us and although I recognise he was never a lot of people's cup of tea, twisting the truth in order to elevate AVB's status is not on in my eye. Like Harry or not, it is fact he put Bale in the side and then proceeded to get the best out of him and improve his all round game. It was not "luck" it was knowing how to manage the player, knowing how to improve his game, good coaching and dedication and desire from the player himself. If he hadn't have rated the player then he wouldn't have picked him. After all there were a good few other players on the books who were never picked because he didn't rate them.
But that just reinforces my point. Harry was only going to play him when the issue was forced upon him. Cos he didn't want to fix something that wasn't broken (Benny at left back). Please note that I've never said that it was obvious that Bale could play centrally - that's not my point. Just that Harry only started playing him when his hand was semi-forced, only moved him to LW when Niko(?) got injured and until fairly recently still thought Bale would be a left back long term. Saying this is not a cheap shot. I have no axe to grind with Harry. And I'm saying nothing about AVB by saying this. I thought Harry was slow on the uptake at the time with Bale and have said so before. Which is not to rubbish his entire achievements with us. And his approaches mostly were great for Spurs.
Lets be fair here, Bales progression to this level wasn't seen by anyone, which is no failing on anyones part.
Look guys, I'm not here to have a pop at people or slate Harry's achievements because I was one of the group who wanted him to stay last season. My thread was merely to point out that its great to have a manager that is willing to state his intentions through positive comment and reinforce that by showing he believes we belong where we are in the table. Somehow, somewhere along the line, this got translated as me having a pop at our previous gaffer over a disagreement over where Harry felt Bale would "eventually" end up playing. A side issue. My overall point was simply to state that I feel AVB's mentality is less "well see what happens" but more "this is what we aim to achieve" which is exactly what we need to give the players belief. I'm not a WUM so if I have caused offence to anyone, you can take this as an apology but I didn't get personal where some others have. What Harry did for our club was unbelievable and he turned us from nearly men to real contenders - something he can always be proud of. He's gone and that's the past. I'm merely stating my pleasure at how I have seen AVB grow into his role this season and hope it continues. It's good to have a pretty happy dressing room (maybe bar one or two but that's normal) and see that translate into results on the pitch.
You have to give AVB one thing, at least. If body language is anything to go by, they clearly are enjoying themselves under his leadership. The team spirit is as good as it's ever been. That's always a big, big plus when you're all pulling in the same direction.
No offence caused but debates like this always stir up different views. Arrys views on Bale being a left back where out dated and from the quotes/evidence presented its obvious(to me anyway) that redknapp was aware Bale would end up through the middle. However of course Villas Boas deserves praise as well, both managers do, which is why its being said making digs at Arry over Bale are cheap shots, as he was the manager that helped Bale first adapt. Anyhow, like I said, no offence caused, just a fiesty debate at times!
According to the Fail, Bale nearly went out on loan to Brum during his 'unlucky' days... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...eals-close-signing-Birmingham--EXCLUSIVE.html Was it really that long ago!??
Absolutely this!! And from what I can see this team spirit runs through the whole squad - yes, including Mr A, at least from his interactions on the pitch - which is quite unique. To be fair it's not a squad full of egos, but even those 'borderline' on that are pulling together, working hard on the pitch and saying the right things off it. For example, even at the end of his career, you might have imagined that Willy G might get the hump from not getting game time, but no, he comes in, works hard and espouses a team ethic. And Brad - deposed as No 1 keeper (rightly) but comes in for the EL, performs well and shows real emotion at the result. I really think that this element of the current squad might well make the difference at the end of the season - and go a long way to keeping our best player/s for next. And for that, you are right that AVB must take a lot of credit.
