I agree. Labeling players into particular positions is one of the commonest mistakes that fans make. What exactly is Bale missing that would stop him being an excellent 'centre-forward' if he was needed there? I'd much rather have that as the back-up plan than pay over the odds to sign some over-rated 'striker' who in practice will turn out to be as useful as Raziak or Mido. And all this talk of 'leading the line' - we don't have a line to lead - we have players who close pass it to each other on the ground - that is why Defoe suddenly works - he is playing in a system that suits his skills - not being left isolated and asked to hold it up.
The issue with Bale playing centre forward is not whether he can do it (he clearly can) it would that he would be missed on the left wing. Dempsey, Townsend or Falque don't really replace him.
We played Bale up front in one the pre-season games. He was ****. We'd be better off sticking him in the hole, pushing Dempsey forward and putting either Sigurdsson or Townsend on the wing, in my opinion.
With Deuce upfront I think I'd rather keep Bale and Sig in their natural positions, Bale left wing and Sig in the hole.
Centre forward play requires a whole new set of skills, movement, timing of runs, discipline to stay put in position to provide an outlet, Bale wanders all over the place, there's more to it than shooting and heading, if he was anything like excellent, do you not think someone might have spotted that by now?
My view on this, is that Bale excels because he runs into space, arrives from a position behind attackers and has space to use the ball to knick past defenders, or play quick passes with team mates so to think he could play as a striker is rather far fetched. You only need to look at how easily he is taken out of the game, when he switches central, as he doesn't have the football brain to play in congested crowded areas, nor does he have the patience or experience to make runs as a forward.
I agree that he is better out wide, I just think its a waste of money buying another forward just in case Defoe gets injured when we've already got other options. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't buy some really good like Leandro Damiao or Llorente, I just think we already have better options than most of the people we get linked to like Remy.
Totally agree with not buying a stopgap mate, quality only if we're going to do anything. Back to Bale, we should remember he started life as a LB, so I think he has done extremely well to adapt to a left attacking mid, and I've said before he should concentrate on the finer arts of that position to become a world class player, which we all know he has the talent to do.
I'm thinking we'll be okay if Defoe gets hurt as well. The biggest problem may be the time it will take to get the new lineup used to each other. I trust AVB will make a good choice. Asking Dempsey to play as a striker would mean everyone but him plays in their accustomed position, and I'm not convinced he's best as a CAM anyway (I think he'd be better in the front line of a 4-3-3.).
