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Transfers Have We Signed Gareth Bale Yet?
- Thread starter Coys1955
- Start date
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Have we signed Les Ferdinand yet? 
Here we go.
Is he? Does he? I know the media do more than their fair share of stirring, but much of what's been reported in the last few years is that he isn't much of a 'true professional' at all any more, there have been claims that he's no longer hungry as a player, has other more important focuses in life, and we ourselves have seen that in tougher games he nowadays has a tendency to go missing. I know we don't see the training ground and behind the scenes, but for me, calling him a 'true professional' after the last 3+ years seems a bit of a generously assumed / nostalia-driven stretch...
Q&A - Ali Gold
Coys1986: "Is there any truth to those Gareth Bale rumours? Is his return possible or reasonable with Antonio Conte?"
Alasdair says: "There's different ways to look at this. Various people within Spurs have shut down those Bale stories from Spain pretty quickly, saying there's absolutely no truth in it.
"The flip side is if I'm thinking from a cynical marketing perspective, Tottenham would surely consider bringing him back for one last hurrah of a season in front of a Tottenham Hotspur Stadium packed with crowds.
"However, from a football perspective it makes little sense as trying to shoehorn the Welshman, who will be 33 then, into Conte's demanding, high energy system.
"I just wonder whether it would be similar to the Mourinho and Bale experiment and the winger's even higher wages than last season as a free agent would be problematic if he's not a regular starter either through Conte's wishes or injuries.
"Bale would certainly bring the experience and winning mentality Conte needs in this Spurs team but I'm not sure how well he would suit a system with wing-backs.
He would have to play further inside and there would be a pressure on him to get back and defend, which was a difficultly under Mourinho."
www.football.london
Coys1986: "Is there any truth to those Gareth Bale rumours? Is his return possible or reasonable with Antonio Conte?"
Alasdair says: "There's different ways to look at this. Various people within Spurs have shut down those Bale stories from Spain pretty quickly, saying there's absolutely no truth in it.
"The flip side is if I'm thinking from a cynical marketing perspective, Tottenham would surely consider bringing him back for one last hurrah of a season in front of a Tottenham Hotspur Stadium packed with crowds.
"However, from a football perspective it makes little sense as trying to shoehorn the Welshman, who will be 33 then, into Conte's demanding, high energy system.
"I just wonder whether it would be similar to the Mourinho and Bale experiment and the winger's even higher wages than last season as a free agent would be problematic if he's not a regular starter either through Conte's wishes or injuries.
"Bale would certainly bring the experience and winning mentality Conte needs in this Spurs team but I'm not sure how well he would suit a system with wing-backs.
He would have to play further inside and there would be a pressure on him to get back and defend, which was a difficultly under Mourinho."
Those Gareth Bale to Spurs links, new Harry Kane deal and the Tottenham takeover
Here is the full transcript from our Tottenham Hotspur Q&A with our Spurs correspondents Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest
www.football.london
Who would you rather have crossing balls into the box
a) Royal
b) Doherty
c) Moura
d) Reguillon
e) Bale
Who would you rather pick up the ball at the edge of the box
a) Moura
b) Bergjwin
c) Winks
d) Holjberg
e) Bale
Who would you trust most with a 1 vs 1 with the keeper
a) Kane
b) Son
c) Bergjwin
d) Moura
e) Bale
Fills the home grown quota. 10m for a 12 month contract - seems like a no brainer to me.
I believe a lot of the negativity around the last few years has been the lack of integration with the rest of the team off-field. I don't believe a single report has come out saying his level of training and commitment to games has dropped.
It has been well documented by past managers and teammates that he has always trained hard. I don't believe there is any information to the contrary. About the only thing I've seen is him being criticised for preferring golf to fraternising with colleagues. So just because he would rather swing a club then play fifa on the PS5 he's lazy? Just not the case, the guy is 33 and still looks very able to do an amazing job at the highest of levels.
Would I prefer we got someone younger, like a Sonny or Berba signing? Yes of course. Do I feel Bale is better than a lot of what we have at the moment and can make a massive impact from the bench? Absolutely.
I look back at some of the greatest teams, they've often relied on a big name player towards the end of their career, a combination of their presence, experience of winning, leaders mentality all give the team something they are lacking.
I wouldn't pin all our hopes and budget on him, maybe money isn't a massive motivator and he just wants to come back to the UK, to a club he clearly loves, and maybe one that can offer him a career after playing?
Who knows
Why is it limited to the players we have now or Gareth Bale? There are a lot of very good players out there other than a perma crocked 33yr old on absurd wages, who in no way is a Conte player. Thanks for the memories but we need to move on.
Anyone watch PSG Vs Real Madrid last night?
Forget Bale, who only came on for seconds IIRC, what struck me was that every player on that pitch, for both teams, controlled every pass with consummate ease. Whether it was short, long, slow, hard, high, low, they took that pass first time every time.
The only time anyone gave the ball away was when they were tackled.
We need to weed out the shit in our team who can't do this. It's basic football ability. The likes of Davies, Sanches, Doherty, Winks, Moura even - just drive me mental watching balls bounce off them. There's no excuse for a Premier League footballer to be so inept at controlling a pass. I'd expect even the bottom teams have less players who are so bad at it than us.
Forget Bale, who only came on for seconds IIRC, what struck me was that every player on that pitch, for both teams, controlled every pass with consummate ease. Whether it was short, long, slow, hard, high, low, they took that pass first time every time.
The only time anyone gave the ball away was when they were tackled.
We need to weed out the shit in our team who can't do this. It's basic football ability. The likes of Davies, Sanches, Doherty, Winks, Moura even - just drive me mental watching balls bounce off them. There's no excuse for a Premier League footballer to be so inept at controlling a pass. I'd expect even the bottom teams have less players who are so bad at it than us.
You could sign the entire PSG first XI, or the Real Madrid first XI, or even a best of combination XI if you like, the moment you stick those players in a Spurs shirt and get them out on the NWHL turf, they would be shanking passes 5m overhead out of play, trapping the ball 10 yards ahead of themselves, trundling around from side to side and gracefully working the ball back to the GK at every opportunity as soon as the 9 and a half minute honeymoon period was over...
There's just something in the water at the World Class training facilities.
The last thing we need is a player who is more worried about his golf game and a last pay day.
Can't see it tbh
Can't see it tbh
Yep, it was great watching Veratti control that midfield, I literally can’t remember what that looks like after 2 years of winks and PEH.
I also think the 19 year old LB Nuno Mendes (I think that’s his name) looked miles better than any of our wing backs.
New manager; clean slate explains much of that, but it's not like they haven't been trying to shift him off the wage bill for years..... The kind of deal you described is exactly what led to him coming here last season afterall.
I think the assumption that he handles training well (physically & mentally) is rather rash given his history over the last few years. So likewise, my point remains.
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It certainly feels that way.
If Conte signed them, it would probably lead to great things, but Levy will fuck that up and it'll end up being Neil Warnock next season.
thats a big job
