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Ex-Spurs Player Gareth Bale

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My ex-supported Southampton and for her birthday in 2006 I took her to St Mary's to see Southampton play Hull in the Championship. Crap game, finished 0-0. The only thing that stood out from the game at all was a young 17 year old left back called Gareth Bale. Even then you could tell he was a level above the other 21 players. He dominated that game from left back and at 17.

So when he signed for us, I was ecstatic. Absolute genius player.
 
To think we had Bale, Kane and Son and that fucking turd Mourinho kept picking Lucas ahead of Bale.

Even though Bale wasn’t the player he had been he was still criminally underused by that cunt Jose.
 
TonySoprano said:
To think we had Bale, Kane and Son and that fucking turd Mourinho kept picking Lucas ahead of Bale.

Even though Bale wasn’t the player he had been he was still criminally underused by that cunt Jose.
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Seemed like he was being stubborn because he was a club signing or something.

Wasn't just Mourinho though. Mason didn't start Mr Cup Final in a cup final. Brought him on late and barely touched the ball.

Tragic.
 
TonySoprano said:
To think we had Bale, Kane and Son and that fucking turd Mourinho kept picking Lucas ahead of Bale.

Even though Bale wasn’t the player he had been he was still criminally underused by that cunt Jose.
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Bale was a defensive liability at that point, the only way to get the best out of him was to play him behind the striker but that wasn't happening with Kane dropping deep.
 
Mampi said:
From what I have seen, Greaves looked a better goalscorer than Kane - but I didn't watch him play every game so can't really say. May not have had the passing range or aerial threat of Kane, but appeared a wonderful dribbler and a truly, naturally gifted player. Statistics tell me he did it consistently too, but I won't likely find many clips of him having games he just couldn't get involved in etc.

Had Kane joined Madrid at 24 I expect he would have won European Cups - but I doubt he would done things like Bale did in cup finals.

In terms of raw efficiency, they are probably both 9/10 or 10/10 players. In terms of excitement, I think Kane would be a 7/10 compared to Bale's 10/10.

'For England' is a different thing than 'best English player'. I would (without seeing him play each week) expect Bobby Charlton to top the ranks there.

From my 33 years, Kane, Gerrard, Gascoigne are probably all up there. Should be saying Shearer, Owen, Rooney too - but feel they had spells for England where they didn't perform like the others.
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Greavsie was the greatest!!
 
TonySoprano said:
Even though Bale wasn’t the player he had been he was still criminally underused by that cunt Jose.
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Mampi said:
Seemed like he was being stubborn because he was a club signing or something.

Wasn't just Mourinho though. Mason didn't start Mr Cup Final in a cup final. Brought him on late and barely touched the ball.

Tragic.
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Shadydan said:
He was worse in the Zagreb match when we K.O out of UEFA

Pretty sure Lloris' comments after the match were aimed at him.
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I got the sense that it was a 2-way problem between the two rather than it just being Jose being a cunt to Bale. How much of that was born of Bale playing/training beneath himself with Wales/Euros in mind......?
 
Airfixx said:
I got the sense that it was a 2-way problem between the two rather than it just being Jose being a cunt to Bale. How much of that was born of Bale playing/training beneath himself with Wales/Euros in mind......?
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Another Levy special, didn't fit into the team and got him in purely because there was an opportunity.

This fanbase is so weird, they blame Levy for things he shouldn't be blamed for and absolve him for things that he should be blamed for 😆
 
Shadydan said:
Another Levy special, didn't fit into the team and got him in purely because there was an opportunity.

This fanbase is so weird, they blame Levy for things he shouldn't be blamed for and absolve him for things that he should be blamed for 😆
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It was the Covid summer......... Dosh was limited and it was a chance to inject some WC-quality to tide us over without massive outlay (which in basic terms made sense); but too much wasn't clicking behind the front 3 for it to work (Every few matches we'd switch up the CBs and we weren't even playing a proper front 3 anyway; as Jose and his new right hand man were trying to get some antiquated version of 442 off the ground; yet it actually played out more like a wonky 352 - Yuk!).
 
Shadydan said:
It's subjective because what you see in a footballer is entirely different to what someone else sees, that's how subjectivity works...
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Can it be subjective if players play in different positions.

It's impossible to compare a striker with a winger. A Att Mid with a CB etc etc.

Kane is a world class striker.

Bale was a world class winger

Bobby Moore was a world class CB

Lev Yashin was a world class keeper.

It's impossible to say who was the better "footballer" as each position needs it's own skill sets.
 
stevee said:
Can it be subjective if players play in different positions.

It's impossible to compare a striker with a winger. A Att Mid with a CB etc etc.

Kane is a world class striker.

Bale was a world class winger

Bobby Moore was a world class CB

Lev Yashin was a world class keeper.

It's impossible to say who was the better "footballer" as each position needs it's own skill sets.
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Yeah pointless comparison.
 
Mampi said:
Real Madrid, the biggest and best club in global football (by miles) didn't want a discount, special relationship sub 100m punt on Kane when they need a striker.

They paid a world record fee for Bale when they already had Ronaldo.

Says it all really.

Whilst 'who's the best' opinions are subjective, the position of the player is relevant.

Wide forwards are the most valuable (best) players.
Attacking midfielders probably rank slightly above strikers.
Then central / defensive midfielders, to defenders to keepers.

Strikers haven't been the prized assets in over 20 years really since 442 died.
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It literally only says that Madrid were focused on Mbappe at that point and when they signed Bale he was much younger than Kane. Madrid didn’t want another ageing player, haven’t you noticed their recent strategy?

Yeah they’d have taken Kane on some massive bargain but it’s pretty clear that after Hazard they’re steering clear of big fees for ageing stars.
 
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Interesting read....

Zinedine Zidane, José Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Paolo Maldini, Gareth Southgate and Gareth Bale are just some of the members that created the newly formed UEFA football board recently

An independent voice of experience and expertise on fundamental football-related topics, including the Laws of the Game, refereeing, match calendar, elite youth development and players well-being

As former manager Arsen Wenger pushes for more games per calender year, citing the spread of wealth being a positive football, some of England's oldest clubs have raised concerns

The English national football cups will be cut from the 2024/2025 season to allow space for the new UEFA and FIFA calenders

English lower table clubs state their existence is in jeopardy as such cup games generate the majority of annual income

The effect on the world's oldest cup competition is also now irreversible, as UEFA and FIFA plan further expansion to their competitions in the near future

The tradition of the FA Cup is in danger of becoming nothing more than a memory as England and the English FA appear to allow our game to collapse
 

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26d_lEyQQP8

Into my golf. Was watching this, there are some pretty interesting comments from Gareth in this. Very candid/uncensored about football. Said he preferred Spurs to Madrid (more of a family environment) and essentially said that Ronaldo is a bit of bellend 😂

4:13 in if you don't fancy watching the whole thing.

But a fair bit of banter from him throughout.
 
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