Tag: Tottenham

Gareth Bale wont Leave Real Madrid

Manchester United target Gareth Bale has confirmed that he does not intend to leave Real Madrid – despite the intense speculation – in this January transfer window or in the summer.

The world record signing has been subjected to intense transfer rumours over the last few months. After having cost £ 85 million, many expected Bale to have an even greater impact than Ronaldo. This has not been the case as the Portuguese superstar has been able to go from strength to strength. After an impressive first season at Madrid where he contributed immensely for the Champions League and the Copa del Rey success, Bale has been finding it difficult to live up to the expectations. Continue reading

Carlo Ancelotti shows full confidence on Marcelo

The Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has said that there is no player in the world who can play better than Marcelo at the full back position.

It completely contradicts the statement that the Selecao manager Dunga had made about Marcelo the other day.

Dunga had said that Marcelo did not have the right kind of approach during the World Cup this year and his recklessness cost Brazil dearly in the all important semi final game against Germany.

According to Dunga, rather than doing his job i.e. to keep  the opposition attackers at bay, Marcelo has the tendency to try and move forward all the time and in order to do so, he leaves a hole at his position.

But, Ancelotti does not think that there is anything wrong with Marcelo’s approach as defender.

The Blancos manager has, in fact, put the 26-year old right up there in the list of full backs.

Speaking about Marcelo last evening, Ancelotti said, “I don’t think Marcelo was the only reason because of which Brazil could not win the World Cup. They made mistakes as a group. To hold any particular player responsible for that is not fair at all.”

“For me, Marcelo is as good as anybody else playing as full back in the professional circuit. This season, he’s been brilliant for us and we would not mind if he is not recalled to the Brazilian side because then he would put all his focus on the club.”

The previous manager of Brazil i.e. Luiz Felipe Scolari had faith in Marcelo and he had started with him in most of the games in the World Cup.

But, since the time Scolari has been replaced by Dunga, Marcelo has not played even one game for his country.

BALE BETTER IN MIDFIELD

The Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has said that he feels that the star midfielder Gareth Bale is not at his best when used in the left back position. Tottenham manager AVB recently decided to use the 24-year-old former Southampton winger in the left back position, and told Tottenham Football News that he was impressed with the results. It was the position he started his career, but was eventually moved to the midfield role by the former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp. He has become one of the best wingers in the world after being moved to the midfield position.

For the recent match against QPR, the manager Andre Villas-Boas decided to use him in the left back position with a view of increasing the attacking threat within the team.

However, it was quite visible after the first half that it was a tactic that did not work. Andre Villas-Boas immediately changed the tactics by moving the player back into the midfield position in the second half. QPR had taken the lead in the first half, which would have condemned Tottenham to yet another defeat in the Premier league. However, switching the tactics brought out the desired effect within the team and Tottenham managed a comfortable 2-1 win over QPR. Speaking after the match, the manager said that it was not the right decision to use the player in the defensive positions.

“We decided to play with Gareth at left-back because we thought he would give us more width. But we were much more steady in the second half when we made changes,” said the Tottenham manager after the match. Tottenham have made a poor start to the new season after not winning any of the first three matches. However, they have recently had success in the form of back-to-back wins over Reading and QPR. They have pushed them to the top half of the table.

FUTURE IN DOUBT

Gareth Bale’s Tottenham future has been thrown into doubt after he admitted that he will be holding talks with the club officials soon after returning from holiday. Gareth Bale has also said that he will be seeking assurances from the club that they will continue to challenge for the top four.

Tottenham finished in the top four this season, but they were denied a spot in the group stages of the Champions League next season after Chelsea’s win over Bayern Munich in the final of the competition. Tottenham had many opportunities to finish in the top three, which would have given them the chance to compete in the group stages of the Champions League.

However, poor form in the last few months of the campaign meant that Arsenal pipped them to the third position. Gareth Bale said a few months ago that he wanted to play in the Champions League because it meant a lot to him after having tasted the same with Tottenham a few seasons ago. Now that Tottenham have missed out on the Champions League, speculation has been rife that Gareth Bale will be subject to transfer interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid. Manchester City are also interested in the Welsh winger and are prepared to pay up to £ 45 million for his services.

Gareth Bale is on a contract worth around £ 30,000 per week, which is one of the lowest in the Premier league. Manchester City will be willing to offer up to £ 150,000 per week. In order to compete against such huge sums, Tottenham will need the lure of Champions League football. Since they do not have it at the moment, the club are willing to offer up to £ 80,000 per week for Gareth Bale to stay at White Hart Lane.

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