So how DO we defend against Bale et al?

I watch the tottenham - arsanal game and I was compleately underwelmed by tottenham, shots where speculative most of the time and crosses where aimed at a place not a person.
Yes they looked good going forward from any point on the pitch, and some of the off the ball play showed strength, but not something I'd expect from a top 7 team in a derby.

On Bale, he will get around Simpson a few times but if we can keep it together for the match taylor, Coloccini and krul should be up to the challenge. Walker might be more of a problem if he starts behind Modric maybe playing Santon LB would solve this.

 

I have to say though, this looks good!

 

The only legal way to stop him is to double up on him and for God's sake don't keep a high line like Arsenal did and Inter last season.

The trouble is that doubling up gives Modric more space. I'd definitely go 451 if I were you and I'm hoping we do to.

 

Too much of a liability. The only things he can do are getting himself sent off, giving the ball away and giving away penalties/free kicks. A few years ago, I'd have agreed with you, but not now.

 

Just a thought, How about dealing with them like this:

------------Krul--------------
Simps - Tayls - Colo - Santon
Guti - Cabaye - Tiote - Marv
----------Ben Arfa ----------
---------Ba/Best------------

Here, Jonas can use his defensive covering to help out simpson and match Bale for pace (if playing him deep).

Santon comes in for Raylor as we need more experience defensively for this one.

Obertan dropped after his poor game last weekend, and Marv in on the Left (his preferred position) with Ben Arfa in for one of the strikers to pack the midfield a bit more.

Unlikely to happen, I'm expecting the same starting 11 as Wolves, but I think this would tackle the various threats that Spurs have.

 

@ Demba's Dodgy Knee

That's what I wanted as our standard starting 11. Obv not happening though, so I gave up lol

People seem to forget Jonas came to us on the right.

 

Sheep?

I like this. Need the extra man in the middle so HBA will play quite deep and deffo need the pace on the wings.

 

cardboard cut out of DKs enemy

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1). Keep possession. They can't attack while we have the ball.

2). Nullify the midfield. Imo our two best players are Cabaye and Tiote, so luckily we have them to try and keep VDV and Modric under wraps.

3). Rely on our CB pairing. I don't have much faith in our full backs, but beating them doesn't mean a goal, it just means they can put a cross in. It's what happens when the ball reaches our box which is the critical point, so if Saylor and Colo get the ball back out of the box as much as possible when it's crossed in, then Spurs will have limited chances to convert those crosses into goals.

4). Krul. There WILL be shots on target from Spurs, and some good ones at that. If anyone can keep them out with some reflex saves then it's Krul, so play well young man.

My formation:

----------------------Krul-----------------
--Simpson --- Saylor --- Colo --- Santon
Ober/Marv --- Cabaye --- Tiote --- Jonas
-------------------Ben Arfa---------------
-------------------Ba/Best---------------

 

Would definitely like to see this actually.

The worst thing to do would be starting Obertan. Bale would get even more freedom to do what he wants if Obertan was in the team.

 

Thanks - I'll be honest though, I wouldn't usually play Gutierrez on the right, given he has formed his role in the team on the left, but for this game in particular I just think Simpson will need a bit of protection from a pseudo-fullback. Playing Obertan will just leave us far too vulnerable defensively as he offers no protection.

 

This.

It's important that we keep the ball and don't give it away cheaply as Spurs have the quality to hurt us.

I think the full backs will just have to show the wingers down the line and stop them getting into the box or into a shooting position.

I think Tiote should mark VDV and Ben Arfa should drop into a deeper position when we lose the ball, meaning him and Cabaye mark Modric and Parker.

The wingers (whoever they may be) will also have to track back and try to double up on their wingers where possible.


Obviously this all involves incredible discipline from every member of the team. We know the likes of Jonas, Tiote and Cabaye are all capable of incredible levels of work rate, but I'm not too sure whether Ben Arfa/Marv/Obertan will keep focused and disciplined for 90 minutes. Here's hoping!

 

I'm old fashioned so bear with me. My view is that VDV, Bale and Modric are the problem. They're all lightweight and injury prone so I say we take a couple of bookings to lift them. Get stuck in and see if their heart is really in it. I know what the predictable response will be, shame on me for suggesting we go out to hurt members of the opposition. But if you stand and play with these fella you'll get raped. And I'm not necessarily saying hurt them, just be aggressive.

I think we have a good player in Obertan to mark Bale. But he's gonna need to get his sizeable head on, and realise he needs to close him down out wide. He nearly killed us on Sat standing off those crosses. We've got enough of that with Simpson. He is one of the few that can live with him pace wise. Adebayor is easily fettled too, get Saylor to get him roughed up. Tiote and Cabaye need to get VDV and Modric hit and let them know its gonna be a long afternoon.

I think we're in for a tough game if we let them settle and play. They are a very very good side, hence I had us down for defeat when we were doing predictions. But that is not to say its a lost cause, no game is. But I firmly believe we have to drag down their level a bit.

 

Bale does not scare me, Lennon is useless and VDV probably won't play much beyond 60mins. Modric however scares the bejesus out of me. If we can stop him, we can probably win the match. Also the trickery of Adebayor will be a big threat but I trust our central defence

 

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Scares the crap out of me.

 

For every tackle that Simpson could make but doesn't, everyone on this forum should be allowed to kick him in the bollocks.

 

He'll end up sounding like beckham!

@Pouch - Nah, roughing them up is definately a tactic. It's not all-out injuring, it's just leaving them a bit sore and putting them off their game. I don't think that is unreasonable, it's a contact sport.

It would depend very much on the ref though.

 

Anyone know who we've got? Tell Halsey we're free if he and his assistants are! Haha

 

May I rescind my earlier statement

 

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