Left wing has been one of Liverpool's problem positions ever since Anfield legend John Barnes stopped playing there for the club. A succession of players have tried to make a go of it, and all - including current incumbent Stewart Downing - have failed to be a success in that position. Spurs have no such problem at the moment - Gareth Bale is playing fantastically well on the left for Harry Redknapp's team, and Barnes is full of praise for the Welsh International.
Speaking to the Spurs official club website yesterday, Barnes gave his view on Bale's progress over the last two years. He enthused:
“He [Bale] has adapted his game to become world- class. He's an all-round athlete, an intelligent footballer and he's been sensational for the last two years.
“His game is not just about getting the ball and beating four players every time. What happened a lot - and it happened with me at times and maybe with him earlier in his career - when he got the ball, he probably felt he had to do something special.
"What's happening now is that he's making the right decisions. Maybe he won't be as eye-catching in every game in terms of beating four players, but he's still contributing to the team in helping them be successful.”
Bale has 21 goals and 9 assists from 64 appearances over the last two years. Is that World Class form? I personally don't think so, but as I've found in the past, my definition of 'World Class' differs from many other peoples'.
Jaimie Kanwar
Speaking to the Spurs official club website yesterday, Barnes gave his view on Bale's progress over the last two years. He enthused:
“He [Bale] has adapted his game to become world- class. He's an all-round athlete, an intelligent footballer and he's been sensational for the last two years.
“His game is not just about getting the ball and beating four players every time. What happened a lot - and it happened with me at times and maybe with him earlier in his career - when he got the ball, he probably felt he had to do something special.
"What's happening now is that he's making the right decisions. Maybe he won't be as eye-catching in every game in terms of beating four players, but he's still contributing to the team in helping them be successful.”
Bale has 21 goals and 9 assists from 64 appearances over the last two years. Is that World Class form? I personally don't think so, but as I've found in the past, my definition of 'World Class' differs from many other peoples'.
Jaimie Kanwar
I'd say we've had the left wing problem since Berger left. Regarding Bale, I think he is world class.
ReplyDeletea 1 in 3 goal ratio from a left sided midfielder... not to be sniffed at. Would love to see the stats for his assists, he has set up waaaaaaay more than 9 goals in the past 2 seasons. Name me a better left-winger. Of course he is world class, whatever that means, poor scousers. What has happened to your wonderful football club these past 5 seasons? I shall tell you, it has lost all of the dignity and elegance that was its benchmark. Sad.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should work on your stats. Also, contibuting to over 30 goals in 64 games for a winger isn't top drawer? Messi/Ronaldo aside, you'd be hard pressed to find that kind of consistency anywhere. A goal every 3 is pretty damn good for a winger who played as a fullback at times last season. Not world class? You're having a laugh mate
ReplyDeleteHmmmm.....I think if he had shown the same performance in a Liverpool shirt you would say he was world class!!
ReplyDeleteGreat point, Tornike. I forgot about Berger; I loved watching him play.
ReplyDeleteRidiculous. Bale's already got 10 goals and 7 assists this season, your saying he only got two assists the whole of last year? You stupid wanker.
ReplyDeleteHe is phenonemal
ReplyDeleteJust lucky that Man Utd thought they could bide their time signing him, they thought they could do a Carrick on it
Liverpool have noone anywhere near him
Mines a bitter. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteYou are a poor judge of a footballer if you think Bale isnt world class
ReplyDeleteAgree..
ReplyDeleteTake his stats out of the equation. If Downing plays for England, and Bale is faster, stronger, better crosser, more skillfull, and more attack minded then I think hes world class.
ReplyDeleteWhat's telling is that Barnes puts forward a descriptive case for why he thinks Bale is world class. He talks about his intelligence, his decision making and his overall contribution to the team. JK just refers to goals and assists. Two plain numbers don't come even close to describing a player's ability or influence for some hundred hours of time on the pitch.
ReplyDeleteI think the term 'world class' is used too much and Bale isn't that but only very few players are that. He could be on his way to world class and is not far off but for now, he isn't. For now, he is still one of the best left wingers in the world, if not the best. Fantastic player who could go onto becoming a something truly special.
ReplyDeleteBut we have a stable of mediocre players which no other club can rival.
ReplyDeletei think he s on his way to become world class but yet he s not as good as messi ronaldo or zidane cruyff etc......ynwa
ReplyDeleteCan one define the requisites for a player to be trully described as 'World Class'?
ReplyDeleteAre they phenomenal goal scorers, week in, week out, season in, season out, both with their clubs and countries? If this is one then Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo aren't there yet for neither of them has anything to achive at international level. Maradona, Pele, Zidane, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Socrates, Romario etc, all these players were sensational both for club and country. Even Torres fell into that category when he was breaking scoring records for Liverpool and Spain won consecutive international honours.
Being realistic, Bale probably won't win any major honours with Wales, much like Dalglish never won anything with Scotland. Messi might C. Ronaldo might with Portugal and, with their respective clubs they are breaking new ground every season but, I think, until they have an international honour, they will fall short of the ranks of the all time greats of the game.
I think Bale is a great asset to Spurs & Wales and that you could probably count on one hand the sides which he wouldn't walk into as an automatic 1st choice left winger. Same goes for Messi & Ronaldo. It'll be interesting to see how his career pans out if Harry takes the England job full time and how a change of manager plays him. I would love to see him in a red shirt but really don't think that's ever going to happen - unless Harry gets the Liverpool job!
Downing is world class but only in Dalglish's world.
ReplyDeleteOn his day, Marko Marin.
ReplyDeleteNot yet, but maybe Raheem Sterling might get there, or even beyond.
ReplyDeleteIf he's possibly the best, but not world class yet, that implies the world currently has no world class left wingers. I'm not disagreeing, but would that also imply we aren't too poorly off with Downing and that we had to fork out such a huge sum for his signature because he is such a rare commodity?
ReplyDeleteTorres wasn't world class - but Torres and Gerrard was a world class pairing. He wasn't that good when he was at Atletico, he isn't very good at Chelsea and he wasn't the same for us without Gerrard.
ReplyDeleteOf course he is world class. If he is not, then hardly anyone in our league is. Although, looking at Arsenal on Wednesday makes you wonder how strong our league is at the moment. And, still, we flounder in 7th. Real progress!
ReplyDeleteBale is the best left sided attacker in our league by a country mile. If he is not world class, then we have no world class wide players in England.
Bale is nowhere near "world-class". He's a great player but isn't the best at passing to his other team-mates and has a bit of a temper as displayed while playing Liverpool. I feel he's a player where if you take him out of his current squad he'd be a fish out of water.
ReplyDeleteThere aren't many good left wingers these days, though there has always been a shortage of top left wingers for a while. Add in the modern fashion of having left wingers out on the right and cutting inside, such as Robben and Adam Johnson (shows more in his substitute appearances for City than Downing has ever done in a Liverpool shirt)
ReplyDeleteTop left wingers are rare. Average or poor left wingers like Downing aren't a rare commodity. So I'm not falling for that excuse. He has been a waste of money so far, for a so-called proven PL player. Fiorentina's Vargas would have been cheaper and he would have been better, in my view. Or even simply spending on a player that can play well really well on the left but is a right footer, which there are a few of out there
Actually, according to OPTA, most of the things he's doing for us are the same and and roughly the same rate he did for Villa, in a season he was their supposed best player. The telling differences are he's yet to make an assist or score a league goal for us. The other particularly interesting stat is that he is hitting more backward and outward passes with us than at Villa. So one thing we cannot fault him for is industry, he is the same professional with us as he is with Villa. Seeing as most of his stats did remain the same, our management didn't really misjudge him, but it is obvious he is trying to come to grips combining with Enrique, whose style is totally different from Warnock. Also, his passes in the attacking third must either be more suited to villa than us, or he just has to try to adjust to the team. My critique of him nearer the start of the season was that he does his own thing without playing the ball to our forwards, and he's still no different - but somehow, he worked well with Bent.
ReplyDeleteBale at best is international class.
ReplyDeleteTo be world class, you need to perform at a high standard for more than just 2 years. He is on his way to being world class, but he is not there yet.
ReplyDeleteA player has a good season and he is hyped to the point of god like status. Barring injuries, if we are still praising him 3 years from now, then he will be world class.
Downing is a super failure!
ReplyDeleteI know he's not a Liverpool player, but when talking of world class players, the stats stack up my friends(everytime he shots, he scores) and in my humble opinion the la creme de la creme has got to be the Irish Zidane Kevin Kilbane, also known by friend and foe alike as Kizou
ReplyDeleteI assume any definiton of 'world class' would loosely translate to being in the top 5 or 6 players in that position in the world. I think Bale certainly fits into that category..
ReplyDeleteHis form in the Premier league has been second to none.. And in his breif spell in the champions league he proved beyond doubt(take note Jamie) that he was indeed world class .. If you have any further doubts just look at the Inter Milan games again.. Sensational stuff .. And he's a must have in fantasy football.. I rest my case ..lol
Sorry now mate but stuff your stats.. just before he got hauled off at OT and most probably as a result of, he stood over a free kick for from about 30 yards out. On a day when our best chance of scoring seemed to be set pieces (as was proved with our goal) he had the simple task of floating a ball into the box.. He couldnt get 4 foot of air on it.. whatever united player was in the 2 man wall had to actually stoop to head the ball !!
ReplyDelete20 million and he can't even get his foot under the ball.. It was the last straw in what was his poorest performance in a long line of poor performances.. I ve seen school boys been dragged off for less.. He's a disgrace and all the stats in the world won't change that.
and KK has the gall to say he's SHOCKED at how VERY GOOD Downing really is..better than what he originally thought. Freaky!
ReplyDeleteStats will never tell the whole story with almost anything.
ReplyDeleteOne doesn't need to see stats to see the dire and ineffectiveness of Downing's performances in a Liverpool shirt. At Villa last season, he got 7 assists and 7 goals, so clearly he isn't the doing the same in a Liverpool shirt as he has no assists or goals in the league.
To his defence, Suarez isn't a forward like Bent. Bent likes to get behind defences and attack crosses. But Carroll, to some degree, likes to attack crosses (well he did at Newcastle). Downing simply doesn't get past his man enough on the right wing to make the most of wing play. The amount of times Carroll was waiting for a cross that never came, against Spurs when Downing came off the bench, was endless. Martin Kelly put in more effective crosses than he did. Liverpool tend to dominate majority possession in most of their games than Villa do, so if anything, so he should be doing more, not the same or certainly not worse.