Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace

Bale unlocks the talent in the team it's like having two Kanes. Defenders have a very difficult problem keeping an eye on all the talent coming at them and moving the ball quickly just opens up scoring chances. I think Bale is much better at picking lethal passes than he was 10 years ago. Taxi for Macon was the individualist Bale now we have Team Bale which in some ways is even better.

 

My main criticism is that we were boring...we seem to be getting over that.
For that, JM needs to be given credit as I blamed him for the turgid football.
Here's hoping he makes me look stupid for wanting him out.
Coys

 

It feels like his time in Spain has made him a better, more intelligent footballer, which makes up for the fact he can’t ‘Maicon’ a whole team like he could back in the day. Some of the one touch play and passes he’s pulling out are great.

Now he’s fit he’s a real asset and if Son can pick his form up again then we’ll be a real problem for teams, they won’t know who to pick up. With Moura driving through the middle too pulling defenders out of position, it could be fun to watch if we keep playing like we did against Burnley and Palace.

What’s so great about Bale being there as well as Son and Kane is that it’s another player who is a serious threat in and around the box. You can’t give any of them half a yard or they’ve got the ability to punish you. You just don’t get that with Lucas, Lamela or Bergwijn making up the 3rd man in that front 3.

 

I'm just glad he's getting proper chances now and showing any of the doubters (including one or two on here, you know who you are! ) that all he needed was a run of games. No one can deny Bale looked poor in his sparse appearances earlier in the season but that alone was part of the problem, we were barely even drip feeding a player who was in desperate need of minutes but seemingly expecting him to be superman in the small chances he had. Up until the last few weeks, he'd played something like 265 minutes of Premier League football, less than three full matches worth and yet fans, pundits, media etc had convinced themselves he was either finished/ not up too it/ not interested/ was a poor bit of business... it was only poor because we hadn't given him sufficient game time.

I really hope we get that second year agreed ASAP. Getting to see him and Kane on the same pitch is one of the best things you can watch as a Spurs fan, all I'd need would be to get Modric back and I'd be in footballing heaven. They're the three best players I've seen play for this club in my lifetime, with Ledley also right up there.

 

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Like you spurf , I am fed up with the BS that Sky and Bt put out before and during the games now and try to tune in at the start of play and switch off at the final whistle, yesterday Chris Coleman seemed to forget that we had any non Welsh players on the pitch and spent a lot of time talking up a very average palace side , off the top of my head I can only think of Cahill who did a stint of commentary that was objective and accurate to both teams on the pitch , I'm not looking for them to blow smoke up us I just want a true reflection of the game

 

Yeah to sound a little cliched, Bale is certainly more cultured now that he's got several years of Spanish football behind him, he's even brought back the hairstyle, let alone the different skills and technique he now has.

Lot of English/ British players could benefit by playing a couple years abroad, just not Harry Kane...

 

Would love to be proved wrong...his performances from his 20 minute cameo v West ham onwards have been good.
Am happy to eat my words if this continues

 

Don't worry, RCL, you weren't the only crazy bastard writing him off, lol.

 

Something I'm happy with what Jose's doing is that he's changing things that clearly aren't/ haven't been working. I think he's probably waited a little too late in some areas but I like the fact he does eventually end up seeing where he's gone wrong. For me, for someone to see where they've gone wrong and somewhat swallow their pride to change something is always a good sign. He seemed very stubborn and stuck in his ways in his second Chelsea spell as well as Utd, here it does feel like he sees where he's gone wrong and looks to change it up.

Since Jose's come in he's:
Played and then dropped Winks.
Not played and now plays Tanguy (albeit Levy had a lot to do with that).
Played and then dropped Dier.
Barely played and is now playing Bale.
Played counter attacking football that worked, stupidly changed it to score and sit back for 85 mins which didn't work, now changed it again to utilise our elite attackers which is now working.

The only thing that still annoys me at the moment is his squad management, I think he really is taking a huge risk with how much he overplays the likes of Kane, Son and Hojbjerg especially but other than that things are beginning to look up again.

On a personal scale I've really liked Jose since he came in, I'm surprised at how much I've warmed to him on that aspect to be honest. Like many others I've certainly questioned his position of late but I do hope it works out for him and us here, the end of the season will be very telling as to whether the majority think he's the right man or not to lead us forward.

 

My concern is that the damage may already be done as
far as finishing in the PL top 4 goes, with part of that being
a PL starting XI fit Bale has come too late.

There is optimism in that the current play seems to be
mashing PL opponents who 3-4 months ago were subject
to a meek Spurs grind-fest. If that continues, then there is
hope that Spurs could front up to win their remaining
"6 pointers" games to grab 4th place.

Other than injury fortunes, IMHO it will come down to how Jose
manages the squad from now til season end (more so given
3 of the current top 7 have no UEFA match burden) .

This month will tell us much on that aspect.

 

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KANE..........

 

I think it really helps that it's not a front 3 any more and we could extend that to the 2nd choice attack.
Bergwijn, Alli, Vinicius and Lamela is obviously a drop-off in terms of goal threat, but there's a balance there and they could do a job when others are absent.

One major problem is the lack of direct cover for Reguilon, as we saw when he was injured and our form fell off a cliff.
Davies is fine as a defensive fullback, but we lose so much going forward that the whole team seems substantially worse.
Sessegnon might solve that problem next season, but what do we do with Davies?
I'd suggest keeping him if he counted as HG across the board. It's very unfortunate that it's not the case.

 

A goal so good that it knocks people out of their native language and they start speaking English.

 

Please keep up... That's Meghan Markle!

 

Davies certainly has a place as he works very well for games where we're retaining the ball, which is a useful asset to have in European games or in games we need to settle down for

Being able to fill in as a left-footed CB also helps, although preferably in a back four as 3ATB has always felt wonky whenever we've played it this season

 

Don't worry, hopefully, I'll have eaten most of the humble pie before it gets to be your turn.

I'm very happy that we're finally playing to our strengths, that Dier has been taken out of the defence, we've brought Dele and Bale back into the reckoning and that we've strung a few results together. We need European football and we were on the way to failing that basic requirement and chucking away a final.

It hasn't been before time and I would reckon that, much like the about turn with Ndombele this summer, Levy's dabs are all over this. Credit to Mourinho for being able to draw himself back from the abyss but much like when we topped the table in December, I'm going to wait to see whether he reverts to type, falls out with half of the players and has us defending the 6 yard box by April, before I take anything back.

 

I think Son is the better player due to his overall fitness and stamina, but in terms of movement and anticipation, Bale is just so much better. It's to be expected - he is after all the more experienced player and has clearly benefited hugely from playing alongside the likes of Modric and Ronaldo.

If Son worked on this part of his game, he would take it up a notch and join Kane in the 'world class' bracket. As it is, I feel one of the main reasons behind his barren spells (the other being pure exhaustion) is that there are too many games where he can't quite work out how to escape the attentions of the player(s) marking him and/or receive the ball in space, facing the goal. Too often he spends large chunks of a game with his back to goal, either dribbling into or failing to dribble out of dead ends. You rarely see that from Bale, even though he has the footwork to pull it off. Watch him closely - if and when he does receive the ball with his back to goal, he won't do anything complicated, often laying the ball off to the simplest option and trying to find a different position to take possession in. Totally different level.

 

Tough one. I like Davies and he isn't someone I'd want to sell but may be a case of it being the best decision for him and us if he leaves.

Sessegnon should be ready to properly compete next season just as Skipp will be and realistically you can't have three LBs at the club, we had three RBs for a while and one hardly ever played, it'll be the same on the opposite flank and if we want Sess to start proving his worth, he needs the minutes to do so and that will have to come at the expense of Davies.

Moving him to CB could be an option, I thought we could have done that earlier this season but I'm not sure he'd get adequate game time there either in the long term, especially if we bring one or two in in the summer, which is very likely.

 

Davies is one of the many members of this squad who probably hit his ceiling a few years back and is very unlikely to improve. To his credit, that ceiling saw him become a very reliable player who rarely makes a mistake and will also run all game for the team. But you won't get anything spectacular in return. It's a shame b/c what we saw from him in 17/18 suggested a player with a much more sparkling future. But then 3 bad injuries and 2 operations later, that future was sadly forgotten.

Truth be told we could and probably should sell him, but there are quite a few others who are much higher up the 'to sell' list. From the defence alone, Dier, Doherty, Sanchez (although there have been small glimpses recently) and Toby need to go first.