Everytime I've watched Bayern or Barca I see a team with talent of the highest quality all over the pitch. Lot's of their players would get into our team thay are all on another level collectively. IMO there are only three teams in England with higher quality squads than Spurs with or wiithout Bale. That's our target, we can't get to their level by having a poorer overall squad and just 1 standout we need a stronger squad and THAT is the difficult bit. Finding a Bale is luck, building a top team is hard work. Especially when the bigger teams are doing their best to nick your bricks.
Yes: Kaboul - Not played at all preseason. Missed an ENTIRE season last time out Verts - Injured Dawson - Fit, but a player AVB was trying to offload this time last year Fryers - Not a centre back? Never played in the prem. Never played a competitive game for Spurs that i know of.
you have to give Everton credit for the squad they have. It might be small, but bloody hell are they a good unit considering the club don't have much cash. They are the definition of a team.
Tbf Spurf I should've said I agree with your team ethos...who wouldn't!, but top teams strive to get 'something special' in their side, Messi is the best of the 3 as a team player, Ronaldo like Bale ignores potentially better options, but we're not discussing that. A team can be just as well run with a 'luxury' player, I don't particularly like the term 'build a team round' as that hints at one dimensional.
Fryers I put a question mark because I don't know. AVB played him as a centre back in the friendly against Sunderland, yes I know we lost. Kaboul is ok isn't he? Is he playing in the Monaco game?
No one is going to turn down these brilliant players notso I agree, but the manager has to manage them. All the noises from AVB (and the free role) suggested to me that he was star struck. Maybe that's unfair and he meant to compliment Bale with higher quality team mates but looking at the last half of last season would suggest not.
Of course they have other fantastic players, I said that already but the ones I mentioned are the guys that ultimately increase their dominance and put the fear of god in opposition defences. 90% of the players in their squads would get in ours and all others in Europe easily, that's why keeping Bale is vital for me. Bale is a huge reason why we're able to compete and give a good game to any team in the country and Europe. Take Bale out, and while we're a good side/ squad, we're nowhere near as strong as what we could be. The bigger teams nick other players because they keep hold of their star players and add to them. If we sell our star player then we're going to truly build a top team.
I take it that you need to edit your last sentence, assuming that you mean we are NOT going to build a top team, I would disagree. Yes it would be easier if we did not lose Berbatov, Carrick, Modric, and now maybe Bale but as I have already said we have managed to keep improving. We haven't chosen to lose these players the bigger guy has outmuscled us. I take your point, hang on to your big guy and it's easier to get other big guys in. That's what Levy has tried to do tbf but it's bloody hard. We have to find a way to get up there and stay there and we are so so close.
It could be argued Robben is their Bale type (lets not get into petty differences, I'm just referring to his role for the team), a direct goalscorer with a tendency to be wasteful, not much kop defensively either, but I wouldn't say Bayern have built the side round him though. When they're desperate though, who do they seek to get the ball too?, the same can be said of Real and Barca, nothing is guaranteed, but better to have that option than not, surely. I also don't think the 3/4 players we could buy will be of sufficient standard to keep up with the top4, they'll be no better than usual, but more expensive. Soldado and Paulinho do seem an improvement in calibre, so it seems madness to let Bale go now. Its a conundrum I don't have the answer to!
Every team needs players that the opposition fear, but even Crouch could do that for us but I would argue that Crouch did little for the overall team. Which reminds me of a few players that were regulars for us in recent times, Crouch, Bent, Jenas, Palacious, Tanio, Chimbonda, I don't think they would be anywhere near our present squad which indicates the improvements we have made under Harry and now AVB.
I bloody hope he's ok, but the lack of action so far is a concern considering how long he's been out. It was looking like Dawson+Caulker for the start of the season with Verts and Kaboul coming back in later, but who knows now?
I like your style. At some point, later today, I shall suggest that Mata is 3.76 times the player Bale is......at which point feel free to use the derogatory phrase of your choice (as, of course, we know Mata is only 2.76 times the player Bale is)
How much more improving then to keep the likes of Bale? if anyone thinks a host of star names better than what we've got now without Bale are going willingly come to us...well, i shall refrain from a negative description as we're all friends! .
As much as I agree that a team can be better than it's constituent parts, it really does help if those parts are exceptional to start with. Look at Bayern's team and then look at their bloody bench. Utterly terrifying. I don't know if he was injured or suspended or something but Gustavo, Paulinho's midfield partner for Brazil, didn't even make the 18. You don't just have to have good players all over the pitch now, you need a load in reserve, as well.
Yeah sorry, ****ed up my last sentence there. I think we can build a good team, but not a top team if we keep selling our star assets. In a sense we did/ have chose to sell, Berba, Luka and now Bale all had/ have sufficient years left on their contracts. Granted the first two were acting ridiculous and throwing their toys out but ultimately, the decision to sell a player is always with the selling club, no one else. That's the thing, Levy has been trying and he's been fantastic for us, I just hope he tries that little bit harder. Like you said we really are so, so close now to having a fantastic squad, selling Bale will only hold us back.
As a sub-discussion of what constitutes the best team, there should also be consideration of those two player combinations that when they work well, contribute significantly to the team. You know, those players that seem to play very well together. I would argue that we had it with BAE and Bale, when Bale used to be a winger (ho hum), and with Corluka and Lennon. There are more obvious examples of this when you get two strikers that compliment each other or work well together for some other reason like Keane and Berbatov, two centre halves that have that little bit extra understanding or perhaps two midfield players that play their part of the game according to what the other is doing at the time, then swap round. The converse is also true, for example two midfielders who can't play together - Lampard and Gerrard! - no matter how clever the manager or pundits think they are saying they can.
Sandro + Dembele seemed to work pretty well together and as an added bonus we still have both of them!
We've had good teams before, even recently, but good teams still get those games that just don't go for you, faffing around the oppo's box doing nothing, before, we lost and drew these games, we now have a player in Bale who can salvage a result, and has done, the very thing missing for years and now we talk about letting him go at the first bit of pressure for him and being better off. is all I can say, oh, and **** off Real!
Well said, All this "balance" and lack of creativity from midfield, of course there is a little Tom Carroll who will sit on the bench and be thinking "i can do what these players are attempting to do, with my eyes closed" but until he drinks more protein shakes he will just be ignored and have to shout much louder to get his chance!!
