The Official THFC thread

[paco]

I think Bale's success in last year's CL was largely down to the element of surprise him not being that well known outside England, I can't imagine many of the top European clubs had heard of him before he destroyed Maicon. If they keep up their current form and qualify for next year's competition it'll be interesting to see how he copes against the bigger sides.

[gawa316]

Some of the one touch stuff spurs was playing last night was a joy to watch. If they can keep the majority of the team fit they'll defo push for 2nd.

Sandro reminds me of something looks wise but can't think who

[muppet]

Some of the one touch stuff spurs was playing last night was a joy to watch. If they can keep the majority of the team fit they'll defo push for 2nd.

Sandro reminds me of something looks wise but can't think who

Sean Óg?

[ONeill]

[ONeill]

Bale is good but he has many faults.

You're talking through your hoop.

Note what his manager says (45 secs in):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16342274.stm
"He's got everything, absolutely everything, there's not a weakness in his make-up"

He's the laziest player on the Spurs team (well, not now that Adebayor is there).

Really? According to Opta, he's covered more distance in games this season than any other Spurs player...

Count the amount of goals Spurs concede that are directly down to him not tracking back. He's an average defender.

Why don't you count them for us? You know, a few examples, maybe even two?
Meanwhile, whilst you're cranking up your calculator, you might wonder why he wears the No.3 shirt for Spurs. It's because he started out at Left Back, and still occasionally fills in when the (extremely consistent) Assou-Ekotto (and Danny Rose) is unavailable.
In fact last season, when Bale was blazing a trail throught he Champions League, Redknapp insisted that he still thinks LB is Bale's "natural position" and where he'll possibly end up playing.

He is also one-dimensional, albeit a terrific athlete.

Meanwhile, back in the real world:
"In terms of Bale himself, the stats show that he is pivotal to Spurs' side, [up until the Chelsea game] assisting 4 goals and scoring 5 himself, creating 42 chances this season, on average creating a chance every 30 minutes. Spurs, although they are fantastic attacking side, still seem to have a problem with goalscorers and without Bale against Sunderland they only managed to scrape a 1-0 victory, with him in the side they have managed to score more freely, with him being the pivotal key to Spurs' attack."
http://www.eplindex.com/spurs-chelsea-importance-gareth-bale/

All of which explains why, for intance, in Spurs last nine games, he has scored or provided an Assist in 8 of them...

VDV and Modric have a much better footballing brain.

VDV is nearly 29, Modric is 26, whereas Bale is 22. It is only natural that they have more nous and experience than he has. But I saw a lot of Modric when he first joined Spurs (aged 23) and although he plays a different role, Bale is comparable in ability and contribution on a same-age basis.

He's good but not great and never will be.

So his fellow professionals in the EPL voted him their "Player of the Year" aged 21 for being merely "good"? Yeah, very likely...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13110874.stm

Still what would they know, eh? Far better to trust an objective, continental analysis of him, like this one from last season:
Spanish newspaper El Mundo said: "Bale combines the height and build of an 800-metre runner like Steve Ovett with the acceleration and directness of a rugby winger like Bryan Habana. And, when he gets to the byline, he delivers curling crosses like a Brazilian. Big words? Yes, but that's what Bale is like – easily the greatest sensation in the opening month and a half of the Champions League. Ask Maicon what he thinks after the two exhibitions Bale turned in against Inter. Yesterday he left Maicon for dead and then a wily old fox like Lúcio was left in his wake like someone trying to follow the vapour trail of an aeroplane. Three goals and two assists — against the European champions. His performances have been stunning."

Of course, Bale is not the finished article, but he's visibly getting better by the day. If he continues his present progress, there is no good reason why another couple of seasons' experience cannot see him become the equal of VDV/Modric/King - currently the other top 3 players at WHL.

At least.

I hope you don't find this insulting as you've obviously spent a lot of time writing that, but I'd like to reply in a Joycean manner:

To quote harry redknapp is not doing you any favours the man's a rentaquote and mostly full of it especially when talking about his own players i wouldn't trust anything that comes out of his mouth as genuine the reason he has covered more ground is that he has played more games than any other midfielder in fact the double barrelled boy is the only to have played more i haven't a clue what your point is about him playing lb it only worsens your argument he's a shit defender for a defender never mind a midfielder age has nothing to do with footballing brain fabregas had a better footballing brain at 16 than ray parlour at 32 el mundo is the continent's version of the sun and i don't care for quotes from others about bale i like to trust my own judgement and for me he's a good player with glaring faults not a great one and you'll be wise to that soon do a bale-watch on his next game. A man's errors are his portals of discovery.

[Minder]

Harry Redknapp in hyperbole shocker.

[Evil Genius]

Bale is good but he has many faults.

You're talking through your hoop.

Note what his manager says (45 secs in):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16342274.stm
"He's got everything, absolutely everything, there's not a weakness in his make-up"

He's the laziest player on the Spurs team (well, not now that Adebayor is there).

Really? According to Opta, he's covered more distance in games this season than any other Spurs player...

Count the amount of goals Spurs concede that are directly down to him not tracking back. He's an average defender.

Why don't you count them for us? You know, a few examples, maybe even two?
Meanwhile, whilst you're cranking up your calculator, you might wonder why he wears the No.3 shirt for Spurs. It's because he started out at Left Back, and still occasionally fills in when the (extremely consistent) Assou-Ekotto (and Danny Rose) is unavailable.
In fact last season, when Bale was blazing a trail throught he Champions League, Redknapp insisted that he still thinks LB is Bale's "natural position" and where he'll possibly end up playing.

He is also one-dimensional, albeit a terrific athlete.

Meanwhile, back in the real world:
"In terms of Bale himself, the stats show that he is pivotal to Spurs' side, [up until the Chelsea game] assisting 4 goals and scoring 5 himself, creating 42 chances this season, on average creating a chance every 30 minutes. Spurs, although they are fantastic attacking side, still seem to have a problem with goalscorers and without Bale against Sunderland they only managed to scrape a 1-0 victory, with him in the side they have managed to score more freely, with him being the pivotal key to Spurs' attack."
http://www.eplindex.com/spurs-chelsea-importance-gareth-bale/

All of which explains why, for intance, in Spurs last nine games, he has scored or provided an Assist in 8 of them...

VDV and Modric have a much better footballing brain.

VDV is nearly 29, Modric is 26, whereas Bale is 22. It is only natural that they have more nous and experience than he has. But I saw a lot of Modric when he first joined Spurs (aged 23) and although he plays a different role, Bale is comparable in ability and contribution on a same-age basis.

He's good but not great and never will be.

So his fellow professionals in the EPL voted him their "Player of the Year" aged 21 for being merely "good"? Yeah, very likely...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13110874.stm

Still what would they know, eh? Far better to trust an objective, continental analysis of him, like this one from last season:
Spanish newspaper El Mundo said: "Bale combines the height and build of an 800-metre runner like Steve Ovett with the acceleration and directness of a rugby winger like Bryan Habana. And, when he gets to the byline, he delivers curling crosses like a Brazilian. Big words? Yes, but that's what Bale is like – easily the greatest sensation in the opening month and a half of the Champions League. Ask Maicon what he thinks after the two exhibitions Bale turned in against Inter. Yesterday he left Maicon for dead and then a wily old fox like Lúcio was left in his wake like someone trying to follow the vapour trail of an aeroplane. Three goals and two assists — against the European champions. His performances have been stunning."

Of course, Bale is not the finished article, but he's visibly getting better by the day. If he continues his present progress, there is no good reason why another couple of seasons' experience cannot see him become the equal of VDV/Modric/King - currently the other top 3 players at WHL.

At least.

I hope you don't find this insulting as you've obviously spent a lot of time writing that, but I'd like to reply in a Joycean manner:

To quote harry redknapp is not doing you any favours the man's a rentaquote and mostly full of it especially when talking about his own players i wouldn't trust anything that comes out of his mouth as genuine the reason he has covered more ground is that he has played more games than any other midfielder in fact the double barrelled boy is the only to have played more i haven't a clue what your point is about him playing lb it only worsens your argument he's a shit defender for a defender never mind a midfielder age has nothing to do with footballing brain fabregas had a better footballing brain at 16 than ray parlour at 32 el mundo is the continent's version of the sun and i don't care for quotes from others about bale i like to trust my own judgement and for me he's a good player with glaring faults not a great one and you'll be wise to that soon do a bale-watch on his next game. A man's errors are his portals of discovery.

Wha?

Anyhow, care to explain why Bale's fellow pros voted him  Player of the Year last season, when he was still only 21? (An honour shared with three other Taffs, btw, Rush, Hughes and Giggs)

[GalwayBayBoy]

Bale is good but he has many faults.

You're talking through your hoop.

Note what his manager says (45 secs in):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16342274.stm
"He's got everything, absolutely everything, there's not a weakness in his make-up"

He's the laziest player on the Spurs team (well, not now that Adebayor is there).

Really? According to Opta, he's covered more distance in games this season than any other Spurs player...

Count the amount of goals Spurs concede that are directly down to him not tracking back. He's an average defender.

Why don't you count them for us? You know, a few examples, maybe even two?
Meanwhile, whilst you're cranking up your calculator, you might wonder why he wears the No.3 shirt for Spurs. It's because he started out at Left Back, and still occasionally fills in when the (extremely consistent) Assou-Ekotto (and Danny Rose) is unavailable.
In fact last season, when Bale was blazing a trail throught he Champions League, Redknapp insisted that he still thinks LB is Bale's "natural position" and where he'll possibly end up playing.

He is also one-dimensional, albeit a terrific athlete.

Meanwhile, back in the real world:
"In terms of Bale himself, the stats show that he is pivotal to Spurs' side, [up until the Chelsea game] assisting 4 goals and scoring 5 himself, creating 42 chances this season, on average creating a chance every 30 minutes. Spurs, although they are fantastic attacking side, still seem to have a problem with goalscorers and without Bale against Sunderland they only managed to scrape a 1-0 victory, with him in the side they have managed to score more freely, with him being the pivotal key to Spurs' attack."
http://www.eplindex.com/spurs-chelsea-importance-gareth-bale/

All of which explains why, for intance, in Spurs last nine games, he has scored or provided an Assist in 8 of them...

VDV and Modric have a much better footballing brain.

VDV is nearly 29, Modric is 26, whereas Bale is 22. It is only natural that they have more nous and experience than he has. But I saw a lot of Modric when he first joined Spurs (aged 23) and although he plays a different role, Bale is comparable in ability and contribution on a same-age basis.

He's good but not great and never will be.

So his fellow professionals in the EPL voted him their "Player of the Year" aged 21 for being merely "good"? Yeah, very likely...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13110874.stm

Still what would they know, eh? Far better to trust an objective, continental analysis of him, like this one from last season:
Spanish newspaper El Mundo said: "Bale combines the height and build of an 800-metre runner like Steve Ovett with the acceleration and directness of a rugby winger like Bryan Habana. And, when he gets to the byline, he delivers curling crosses like a Brazilian. Big words? Yes, but that's what Bale is like – easily the greatest sensation in the opening month and a half of the Champions League. Ask Maicon what he thinks after the two exhibitions Bale turned in against Inter. Yesterday he left Maicon for dead and then a wily old fox like Lúcio was left in his wake like someone trying to follow the vapour trail of an aeroplane. Three goals and two assists — against the European champions. His performances have been stunning."

Of course, Bale is not the finished article, but he's visibly getting better by the day. If he continues his present progress, there is no good reason why another couple of seasons' experience cannot see him become the equal of VDV/Modric/King - currently the other top 3 players at WHL.

At least.

I hope you don't find this insulting as you've obviously spent a lot of time writing that, but I'd like to reply in a Joycean manner:

To quote harry redknapp is not doing you any favours the man's a rentaquote and mostly full of it especially when talking about his own players i wouldn't trust anything that comes out of his mouth as genuine the reason he has covered more ground is that he has played more games than any other midfielder in fact the double barrelled boy is the only to have played more i haven't a clue what your point is about him playing lb it only worsens your argument he's a shit defender for a defender never mind a midfielder age has nothing to do with footballing brain fabregas had a better footballing brain at 16 than ray parlour at 32 el mundo is the continent's version of the sun and i don't care for quotes from others about bale i like to trust my own judgement and for me he's a good player with glaring faults not a great one and you'll be wise to that soon do a bale-watch on his next game. A man's errors are his portals of discovery.

Wha?

Anyhow, care to explain why Bale's fellow pros voted him  Player of the Year last season, when he was still only 21?

In fairness most people thought that decison was absolute bollocks. Most footballers will vote for whoever has been bigged up on Sky Sports News in between roasting sessions. And when they voted last season Bale was the flavour of the month after the Inter Milan games.

[Main Street]

Now that you list the players there are some great players in there, however Modric is not what I would call one of the greats, by those THFC standards.

Fair enough. But in terms of quality of player I place him many levels above Gareth Bale. I watched Modric for about 5 minutes solid tonight and he had countless touches with 100% success rate in terms of passing. He was the first player his team mates looked for. He made one run into their box and his shot was blocked. Within 20 secs he was intercepting a pass in his own box. Exudes class.

My main game of reference is the Spurs v Chelsea game which I watched closely, where I felt Chelsea were a few notches ahead of Spurs and Modric was unable to impress what you describe, especially when the game called for his influence.
By my reckoning, Spurs may be in the hunt for 4th place but  if I was connected to Arsenal FC I would be more than disappointed if that team finished the table in front.
The season is only at the half way stage and way too early to judge the quality of Spurs in this campaign.

[The Gs Man]

Any links to tonight's Spurs game?

[Agent Orange]

http://www.firstrow.tv

http://www.firstrow.tv/watch/101505/1/watch-tottenham-hotspur-vs-everton-fc.html

[The Gs Man]

Sorted man, cheers.

[Captain Obvious]

The way Man City are performing Tottenham will have the chance to overtake them.

[The Gs Man]

1-0 up at half-time Playing some good football.

Aaron Lennon with the goal.

COYS!!

[muppet]