21Jan

Redknapp’s Bale tinkering hampering Spurs

by Ross Gale

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I must stress before I start, that I am by no means taking Harry Redknapp’s name in vain, just simply offering up one piece of constructive criticism that I believe would only go to improve Spurs’ recent form.

The man has, quite frankly, worked miracles at a club that was languishing with just two points from eight games (which he loves to mention with impressive regularity) when he took the helm.

The tinkering that I am, of course, discussing is that of Gareth Bale’s recent position or distinct lack of one. The Welsh wing wizard is that no more.

Ever since Tottenham’s trip to Carrow Road in December, Bale has been given the freedom of the pitch by Redknapp. Few would have argued that this was a negative move after Bale’s destructive display against the Canaries. He ran them ragged and grabbed two goals, the second a contender for Goal of the Month. However effective he was on that night from central areas, he has been every bit just as ineffective ever since.

The move from the Spurs manager came as a result of Bale being double, and sometimes even triple, marked in recent times. With this in mind, it makes perfect sense for Bale to learn how to play more centrally to evade being man-marked.

The ploy was extremely successful against Premier League new boys Norwich, as the Lilywhites fielded a different formation, an increasingly popular 4-2-3-1. The use of Scott Parker and Sandro as deep-lying midfielders, and Luka Modric, Rafael van der Vaart, Bale and Emmanuel Adebayor as the front four dovetailed to devastating effect.

The hugely dominant Spurs performance was lauded by pundits and could be cited as the point where people thought they might actually be good enough to mount a serious title challenge. However, every coin has two sides and Norwich are a newly promoted side and hadn’t managed a clean sheet all season until the goalless draw against Chelsea.

The crux of this issue is Bale’s performances subsequently; since the Norwich game he has struggled to make an impact on games and has only provided one assist. Comparably, in the four games previous Bale was instrumental and laid on three goals for the side while also scoring once.

The problem has come in recent games against the likes of Wolves; the emphasis on creating and exploiting space is stressed further when such teams set up to contain Spurs as opposed to attacking them. So why then instruct Bale to leave the left-wing berth only to congest an already packed midfield area, making it easier for the opposition to defend against?

Therefore, I believe it is only sensible to position Bale out wide as soon as possible to maximise his enormous pace and ability to cross accurately on the run. Let us not forget what this man is capable of from the left wing. He scored a blistering hat-trick single-handedly in the San Siro last season and then left Brazilian full back Maicon without a shred of credibility after Inter’s visit to White Hart Lane.

The Welshman is seriously special, particularly from wide areas, so please ’Arry do the best thing, not just for Bale, but for Tottenham and revoke his freedom, or I fear we may suffer more frustrating and disappointing results.

Posted by Tottenham fan Ross Gale

Follow Ross on Twitter @RossJGale