Posts Tagged ‘Gareth Bale’

Football

Guardiola wants Spurs’ Gareth Bale for Bayern Munich

By Stefano on February 16th, 2013
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Gareth Bale’s sensational season hasn’t gone un-noticed in Germany. According to today’s Daily Mail Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola is lining up a bid to rival the one that which is expected to come from Real Madrid in the summer.

The paper reckons that the ex Barca boss has a transfer war chest of £100 million and that he is ready to fork out half of that on the brilliant Tottenham player. Guardiola apparently has scouts watching Bale and reporting back to him.

Performances like that against Lyon in the Europa Cup are only going to push Bale to the front of the list of Europe’s most wanted. The player signed a four year contract in 2012 and has so far hasn’t had his head turned by big money transfer talk.

Bale said after the game on Thursday

‘I don’t take too much notice. I’m concentrating on every game and just hoping I can keep my form going.’

‘This is probably the best I’ve been playing so far in my career,’ admitted Bale. ‘I’m enjoying my football and the team’s playing well, which obviously makes it easier for me.I’ve just got to keep my head down, keep working hard. I’ve still got a lot of room for improvement.’

Meanwhile writing for The Sun ex Spurs and England boss Terry Venables says that Spurs ambitions must match Bale’s if the player is to stay.

‘I have heard some say that Bale will probably need to quit Tottenham to become a world great like Ron(aldo). But I do not think that is necessarily the case. It just depends on how good Spurs want to become. To be recognised as a top player, Bale will have to play at the highest level and challenge for trophies in club football.

He has previously expressed his desire to take on the challenge of playing abroad in the future. But there is no reason why he could not achieve world greatness with his current club.’

Pic James Boyes



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Football

Wenger admits Arsenal tried to sign Gareth Bale from Southampton, but rated Theo Walcott more important

By Stefano on February 15th, 2013
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One other really great snippet from this morning’s conference which has been picked up by ESPN and others is that Arsene Wenger had admitted that Arsenal were looking to sign Gareth Bale from Southampton, but instead determined Theo Walcott to be the better prospect.

And it is a decision that he doesn’t regret.

Talking about signing Theo Walcott from Southampton in 2006 but not taking Bale too Wenger said :

“At some stage, we were looking to take the two if possible. We got Walcott, and I am very happy with that. Look, if I tell you the number of players we did not sign that we should have signed, you will be amazed. It’s the same for every club – you sometimes miss out on players.”

In words that will probably anger a few spurs fans Wenger said that he feels that while Bale is a brilliant player he isn’t the third best player in the world behind Messi and Ronlado as has been suggested by some papers today.

“He has the potential to develop and to get close to the players you compare him to, but Ronaldo and Messi?

“Messi has won two or three Champions League titles. He has won a few championships. He scored more than 90 goals last year. Let’s not go too quick [in comparing Bale to Messi]. You are always very quick here, but let’s slow down a bit.”

Bale was in sensational form for Spurs last night scoring twice in their win over Lyon in the Europa Cup.

Tottenham play Arsenal in what might turn out to the the Champions league fourth place decider on March 2nd.

Pic James Boyes



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Football

Arsenal face tough battle to land the ‘new Gareth Bale’ Luke Shaw

By Stefano on January 1st, 2013
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Arsenal are stepping up their bid to secure Southampton’s Luke Shaw, a left back whose ability has inevitability lead to comparisons with another Saints graduate Gareth Bale.

However they may face a tough battle to secure the youngster in the winter transfer window with manager Nigel Adkins adamant that his star 17 year old defender is going nowhere.

Adkins told the Mail

‘I think Luke gets linked every week with Arsenal, doesn’t he?’ said Adkins.

‘Luke is under contract, he is playing football for us in the Premier League, which is important.

‘We are not looking to let him go anywhere if anyone wants to come in for any of our players, by all means speak to the chairman. He does the deals and all the best with that.’

Wenger has apparently been tracking Shaw for several years. He also has swelled Southampton’s coffers in the past with big money signings of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain. The latter cost £15 million. The bid for Shaw is apparently a third of that figure and Arsenal will have to increase that offer to stand a chance of luring Shaw to The Emirates.

Shaw might also worry that he is trading regular first team football for a period as under study to Kieran Gibbs. Although one wonders if Wenger has plans to do a Bale with Shaw and turn him into a more attack-minded wide player.

Images PA



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features, Football

Why Spurs now have a stronger squad than Arsenal – and this from a Gooner

By Stefano on December 27th, 2012
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Up until this season if you had suggested to an Arsenal fan that their pals at the other end of the Seven Sisters Road had a stronger squad you would have probably been chased all the way back to Edmonton.

However, as the season progresses and Arsenal’s results and performances get weirder and weirder, it has become painfully obvious to a lot of Gooners that the superiority over their neighbours that they once took for granted, might be about to come to an end.

At the time of writing both teams are, along with Everton, the key contenders for that fourth Champions League slot. If you asked me though who I think will be hosting Champions League games next season I’d say it is more likely to be Spurs – and this from a Gooner. And it isn’t just me. Catch them in a more reflective moment and many Arsenal fans would agree that their worst fears might soon be about to be realised.

I have gone through both squads and compared the Arsenal and Spurs players (to be fair I am way more familiar with the Gunners, but I have watched a lot of the Spuds on the TV this season) and the sad part is that, while it is still pretty close, in certain key areas, Tottenham have the edge. There is probably a greater number of Spurs players who I wish were wearing red and white than probably since the late 80s, and fewer Arsenal men that Spurs fans covet.

So, take the tour and say what you think in the comments. Like most Arsenal fans I remain optimistic, but that optimism is born out of two things – 1 A feeling that we have managed to sneak a Champions League slot so many times before. 2 That Ivan Gazidis isn’t kidding when he says that Arsene Wenger has plenty of cash to spend in January. Whether Arsene spends it though is another matter.

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Strikers - Spurs

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This is really rather embarrassing. Spurs have Jermain Defoe, who at the moment looks like he is going to score every time he gets the ball, and Arsenal have in Giroud, a player who is still finding his feet this side of the channel. Spurs also have Emmanuel Adebayor, the less said about the better. But if he hadn't played for Arsenal before we'd clearly take him as a second striking option. For all his faults our second option is a player who can't even make the Morocco squad for the African Cup. Of course some huge marquee signing might change everything at a stroke. But that just won't happen. It will be Demba Ba or Adrian Lopez, not David Villa or Wesley Sneijder, at The Emirates come January.



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Football

Gareth Bale – is he going to Real Madrid/Barcelona? And why Spurs might not miss him

By Stefano on December 18th, 2012
4 comments

As Arsene Wenger has found to his cost, sell your best players and it becomes very hard to stay a top team. And that’s a dilemma that must be uppermost in the mind of one André Villas-Boas as he ponders the future of Gareth Bale.

There’s no denying the huge talent of the Welsh full back/winger/striker and there are no shortage of clubs keen to secure his services.

A few weeks ago Spain was being talked of as the most likely destination for Bale, if he does choose to move this summer, with Jose Mourinho apparently keen enough to fork out the £50 million or so it would take to reunite Bale with his old mucker Luka Modric. Though it should be added that Mourinho’s future at Real seems to be in some doubt.

For AVB then the decision is a tricky one. Sell Bale, and he’ll need the board to back him, and he has a huge war chest with which to build a new team. But if he does sell him he will run the risk of seriously alienating some of the fans.

The interesting bit though is the question – how useful has Bale been to Tottenham this season? This chart from our mates at Bantr illustrates that not only do Spurs not miss Bale, they have actually performed slightly better without him. Obviously there would be a huge hole were AVB to cash in on Bale but if the figures are similar at the end of the season surely the temptation to sell Bale to a Spanish club would be overwhelming.

So why have Spurs not played so well when Bale has been in the team. Any theories Spurs fans?

Infographic courtesy of our mates at Bantr. Bantr makes live football interactive by allowing fans to follow and vote on live football matches in real time, set manager and player approval and much more.

Our website is a hotbed of sparky football debate and offers exclusive statistics about the mood from the terraces. Whether you want to keep an eye on all the scores, vote on whether Rooney dived for that penalty or comment on the unique data that our website produces, Bantr is the interactive future of following the beautiful game.



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