Whilst Tottenham are stuck in a bit of a rut, it’s not nearly as bad as many assume. They’re currently fourth in the League, way ahead of big-spenders Liverpool and Chelsea with a run of games that they could easily pick up points from. There’s no point judging Spur’s level of success by comparing them to Arsenal. It’s time to be objective.
With that in mind, I think it’d also be churlish not to look at what Tottenham could improve. For instance, I just don’t feel that Spurs are getting the most out of their best players. For the purposes of brevity, I’m going to focus on Gareth Bale, who looks out of place on the right wing, or in the ‘free role’.
I don’t understand Harry Redknapp’s insistence on playing him down the right when he clearly has no right foot. Instead of whipping in a trademark Bale cross, we’ve become all too accustomed to him cutting inside to try and make something happen – a tactic that has rarely been effective.
When he’s deployed down the left, Tottenham are granted full access to his crossing abilities, he’s better at beating his man and he seems more energised. He’s such a threat down the left that teams often feel the need to double up on him and provide more room for the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor and Rafael van der Vaart to do their stuff.
I’m not a fan of seeing Bale in the free role. He’s a good player, but that’s not the role best suited for him. With teams becoming increasingly more willing to park the bus at White Hart Lane, Spurs need all the width they can get. It’s frustrating then, to see Bale wandering around aimlessly. I worry that Tottenham are pandering to Bale a little bit here and giving him the role he wants, rather than the role he should have.
With Aaron Lennon back Tottenham have real threat down the wings, providing Gareth Bale stays disciplined. Harry Redknapp needs to stop shifting his players about, nail down their best positions and let them do their jobs.
I’m loathe to bring up Arsenal again, but just look at the way Tomas Rosicky has improved since he started playing in his favoured position. It’s time for Tottenham to follow track and start getting the most out of their players.
Follow @ThePerfectPass on Twitter for details on all the latest updates and various football-related musings.
Introducing the neat little app that’ll pay you to view content tailored to your interests:
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.
I agree that bales been played out of position which makes me smile because its made you lot struggle, but then you look at arshivin and whats happened to him, so mr red-napp keep it up.
But…. but… is ‘Arry playing him in a free role?
I very much get the impression with Bale that he’s a player whos let thehype get to him and now thinks he’s up there with the best on the planet. I get this impression from his body language, new tendancy to dive and all round attitude on the pitch.
Maybe I’m wrong, being a gooner I’m not too in the know about Spurs’ going ons but thats what I see from the outside.
So possibly Bale is just doing what he wants, Arry might not want to rain him in due to fear Bale would want to leave to a big club.
i totally agree with this we got to where we are because of the way we played with bale bombing down the left and lennon on the right.since the norwich game apart from against newcstle 5- 0 . we have not been the same team because bale is now playing this so called free role which has not done us any favours . we should go back to what we were being sucsesful with and stick bale on the left .he is brilliant there and teams are shit scared of him.