So how DO we defend against Bale et al?

It was an aside in my other thread... (there are only two) and suggested as a new topic by StoneyNUFC so he gets the blame...

So back to the question... bearing in mind my educational needs.. what do we do?

Do we just close him down with our midfield, give him no chance to get his steam up? It has been done before and successfully, although this would leave us men short up front and Defoe is one of the underrated players in the team, short, nippy, and always a risk of a goal from him. Modric, Parker, Adabayor, class acts... this is gonna be tough...

So tell me... what would YOU do?

 

Play Santon.

In all seriousness though, Raylor and Simpson really worry me going into this game. Spurs are lightning quick in possession and will cause them all sorts of problems.

 

nothing changes

"As for the Bale question, I think we have been pretty solid in defence, so any changes there would probably be a little foolish. I think the best bet would be to try and get ahead from the start, then pull Tiote back to sweep infront of defence, dropping to 1 striker and bring on someone like Gosling to buff up the mid.

Failing to get the early goals, I would think attack and try to offset his efforts and rely on our defence to continue the good work.

Another option would be to play a heavy midfield to stop them getting any momentum in attacking, but would limit our players up-front



Might be worth posting as it's own article? "

Maybe Santon would be a good move though in LB. Appreciate what Raylor does offer to the team, but we definately need a tight defense for this one. The other three should stay the same though.

 

more worried about modric, bale can't do anything if nobody's giving him the ball.

 

Simpson's backing off is a worry if he faces Bale. A big worry. Cost us 2 points when he did it against Lennon last year.

Their whole attack looks so deadly. Can't see us getting anything out of this to be honest - just hope we put in a respectable perfomance.

 

Pray he gets injured in the international break?

 

Modric and Van de Vart are the heart beat of Spurs. Stop those two and we might have a chance.

 

Hmm, I would be very satisfied with a draw- a score draw though. They have a very good attack, but we look very strong defensively (although our 2nd half performance vs Wolves would suggest otherwise). We need Best and Ba up front- as much as I'd love to thrown Benny back in, we've done a lot of damage with those 2 in recent performances.

As for stopping Bale I concur with the post above, he shouldn't be so much of a problem as long as the delivery to him in stomped out.

 

Tell Simpson to just get stuck into him. If he gets booked then he's taking one for the team.

Or, tell Tiote that Bale said he didn't think he was very tough and that he's a bit of a mincer.

 

I want Bale to have a poor game, but I don't want him dead!

 

Lol.
But seriously the refs are on the look out for that and ten men against the rest of the team? dont fancy our chances then

 

Try and get Usain Bolt on a loan deal for one match only.

I'm sure he'd do it if Ashley promised him a canny pair of running shoes from Sports Direct.

 

Is that safe?

 

Pack the midfield. Play HBA not as a 2nd striker but a bit deeper, virtually playing with 2 playmakers in HBA & Cabaye.

 

Pack the midfield. Play like we did against Fulham. Make them play wide like City made them. I think we ought to go with one up top vs Spurs, who did we play against Fulham? Can't really remember, Lover on the wing? Anyway, point being our pitch is not as big as Spurs, they like making the game very wide, so don't let them do that. Stand on their feet, play slowly, bodies in front of the ball. Sure a Spurs team playing is pretty scary, but they haven't done that great on their travels, especially up north.

 

I'd go for this team assuming Ba is fit, if not swap him for Best:

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Their danger comes in the form of their wingers and Modric. By having Santon and Simpson on the right we can double up on Bale, also Santon is very quick and is good at marking top players out of the game (he's no Andy Griffin tho.) I would keep the left hand side the same as it has been if Van der Vaart plays out there, but if Lennon is fit and comes in I'd be tempted to swap Raylor and Santon over, that way you still have two players on Bale and Santon to cope with Lennon's pace. Stick Tiote on Modric and he'll not get a sniff. I understand we are the home side and we are on top form so we should be letting them worry about us but they are miles ahead of us in terms of quality and I'd take a point from this game now despite their dreadful record up here

 

I think with Bale, Simpson just has to show him down the line and hope that Saylor and Colo can beat Defoe & Adebayor to the headers....

 

Surely we want to put Marv up against Bale, about the only one who'll match him for pace, I think Santon needs to play at LB, Raylor wasn't good against Wolves and just get the feeling he'll have his pants pulled down and soundly rogered by Lennon/Bale switching.

 

That actually looks good, but I don't think it's gonna happen.

 

Yeah, definately a viable option, but not sure if I want them rushing us on the wings. Trust in Jonas and Simpson on each side, but I have no idea about Obertan tracking back or defensively and would definately need Santon in at LB

If we force them through the center though, straight into Tiote, Colo and Saylor...

Ideally we want to play for possesion though, so definately pack it out. I'm not fussed about "attractive" football for this one, we should play it solid and take no risks. maybe:

-----------------Krul------------------
Simmo-----Tayls------Colo------Santon
----------------Tiote------------------
Obertan--Cabaye--Gosling/Smith--Jonas
-----------------Ba--------------------

I know I'll get slated for putting Smith, but he could be handy for this one with his rough touch.