People need to frame that one a bit differently I think.
AVB is the manager who finally got the best out of Bale. Bale looked very inconsistent and often anonymous in the couple of seasons before that, and while he showed glimpses of what he was going to become, AVB needs to get credit for what he did to get the best out of Bale on a consistent basis - countless other teams had their star man to rely on, why did we have to be any different?
**NOTE: This is not me defending AVB as a whole. I think recent results have been pretty unacceptable against teams we consider 'rivals'. But people should recognise that he did a good job last season, and not try to ignore it or dismiss that out of hand just because results aren't good at the moment.
Browse:
"AVB had Bale to carry him last season..."
comment by The_Bossman1 (U1631)
posted on 15/12/13
No it was Bale who got the best out of Bale. A player as good as that will always perform when he want's to progress. In Bale's case he would still have prospered had Redknapp been at the helm.
comment by The_Con_Job (U4023)
posted on 15/12/13
Bossman
So he just sat back biding his time when Redknapp was there, playing to only a percentage of his capabilities?
Not having a go, just trying to follow your logic.
I agree that a part of it was obviously on Bale, but I can't see that it's a coincidence that Bale stepped up a couple of gears when AVB came around.
comment by The_Bossman1 (U1631)
posted on 15/12/13
World class players will always step it up when it's their time to raise the gears. In Bale's case it was only a matter of time and that happened to be when ABV was the manager.
comment by Good old Chicken (U1043)
posted on 15/12/13
Yes fair's fair AVB got the best out of Bale - whilst everything else suffered.
What is meant by "papering over the cracks" is more that we won games we didn't deserve to just because of a last minute goal - and that type of strategy will never last.
It's an amateur tactic - and we were in a false position because of it.
Lets not make any more excuses for AVB. He should never have been appointed in the first place.
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