da heads bet： Some of you may feel it is strange that I feel the need to defend the current PFA Player of the Year; however I cannot believe the waves of criticism he has been getting from neutrals who genuinely believe he is overrated and another classic media hyperbole. I know people are entitled to their opinion, but there is surely a need to put one’s brain in gear first.
da imperador bet： People like to make comparisons, throw in stats to back up their point, but can they honestly tell me there was a better player in the calendar year of 2010 than Gareth Bale? He was one of the real catalysts that drove us to the Champions League from January, proving Harry spectacularly wrong (although he never seems to admit that) and he took his form to a new level at the start of the season that has seen him get recognised as a top youngster around Europe. People need to remember that these voting forms go out in early January, so is it any real surprise that he got the vote from his peers.
One of the great criticisms of those who fail to appreciate his abilities is that he hasn’t got many assists and even the likes of Nani and Walcott have a lot more. Judging a player merely on assists is a ridiculous way to gauge his performance. I bet if you analyse Luka Modric’s stats they are nothing to write home about, but you trying telling a Tottenham fan that he doesn’t play a key role in our team. If any of Bale’s critics looked into the fact that Spurs’ strikers have been arguably the most wasteful in the Premier League and they miss chances that are put on plates for them via the likes of Bale or Lennon then obviously things like assists are going to be low. I often wonder how far Tottenham could have gone this season had they had one or two top class strikers leading the line; but the club’s failure to land anyone has meant we have had to make do with a mediocre strike force. The likes of Nani and Walcott have players like Berbatov, Hernandez and Van Persie, while we have Crouch, Defoe and Pavlyuchenko – hardly the same league now is it? Unfortunately Bale doesn’t have the magical ability to be in two places at once and be on the end of his own chances.
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised about the naivety of the critics but it just frustrates seeing their short-sightedness. Gareth Bale isn’t only going to become a star in England, but in Europe in the coming years because unlike most of the average footballers in England he has the complete game and has very few, if any, weaknesses. Bale is still a young player and is learning his trade (basically how to deal with the henchmen who continually try and take him out every other week), but that will come in time and as a Tottenham fan I can’t wait to see him develop. Hopefully Levy will pull his finger out this summer and sign some decent forwards who are able to finish off the good deliveries that we provide from either flank these days. I guess that is the only way Bale can shut up his critics, given that they only ever use stats to back up their argument.
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Listen to the third episode of our brand new podcast – The Football FanCast. – Featuring Razor Ruddock, Gary O’Reilly and singer/songwriter Alistair Griffin, who performs a live version of his cult tribute to Mark Viduka, with Razor on backing vocals!