Gareth Bale | Signed new contract

pocco

He's usually invisible when we he plays us so I wouldn't give a fuck where he went. He'd weaken Barca.

Will Absolute

Who knows where he'll wind up if he comes on the market, but I wouldn't be surprised if we took an interest.

A number of good players in the midfield area may be available over the summer - M'Vila, Hazard, Kagawa, Bale, Martinez .... There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth if we don't land one or two.

Ash_G

Only way I can see him at Barca is at fall back. He's show this season that he doesn't have the ability on his weaker foot to come inside, which would make it hard for him to fit in to Barca's current system as an attacker.

Baxter

2 out of that 3 for me. Don't rate Bale for us to be shelling out 30 odd million for him.

Bape

He's 22, he can still improve. Alves and him on each side as full back would be devastating though.

Will Absolute

I agree. He doesn't seem the kind of technically gifted all rounder who'd fit Barcelona's style of play. More the kick and rush type, who'd stick out like a sore thumb at the Camp Nou. It's a different story at full back though.

odinnh

dev1l

bale would be a bit wasted at barca....

Their style of play normally puts the other team on the defensive in their own half - and players like bale would have less space where they could use their pace

Ash_G

I don't think he will, look at Valencia, most players that have good feet have it from a young age and it's not really like he's someone who gets past his man in a Giggs like fashion which can be very good in the middle, he's much more about power and speed, nothing wrong with that but it's hard to pull of in central areas, particularly when you're facing a compact middle as barca usually do.

As you said at fall back he could be very good for them and it would allow him to play to his strengths. As they have the ball so much, and Xavi/Busquets who are both excellent defensively he probably wouldn't get exposed at fall back much either in the same way Alves doesn't really. Dunno how happy he would be dropping back to being a fall back though.

Ash_G

Yeah I agree, there are certain players who just don't suit that way, at united from a technical view point the likes of Valencia/Hernandez just would not fit in at all with that style. Bale is another, there were some rumours of Barca being interested in Walcott as well which I thought were odd, I can see how they'd like his runs from outisde to in, but his football intelligence and final pass look a fair bit below what I would expect from a Barcelona attacker.

Brwned

Valencia's technique is remarkably underrated just because it's not flashy. His first touch is amongst the most reliable in our team, as is his passing.

jakec

Why is it that you the only person who seems too post sense in here?

Ash_G

I don't have an issue with his first touch, on his right foot he's excellent, but he unquestionably gets exposed when he's driven inside because he's limited by the options he can do when he's having to rely on either hitting it with the outisde of his right foot or checking and turning back towards our right back. At what he does he's excellent but what he does and where his strengths come from, doesn't ft into certain styles of football.

Brwned

That has almost nothing to do with his technical skills though, just his style of play. And his lack of a left foot, but then Fabregas, Xavi and Messi aren't exactly the most two footed players you'll ever see. Valencia's a very tidy player technically, IMO.

MikeUpNorth

I've actually always thought his first touch is pretty inconsistent.

Ash_G

They may not be as two footed as some but they're a lot more comfortable than he is which enables them to fit in that system. But I'm not trying to say he's poor technically, Hernandez is in my opinion relatively poor in his technique in comparison to other attackers at top clubs, As you said valencia is more his style. His ability on his right foot is great and suits certain styles very well, it however wouldn't fit in to a team like Bacra/Arsenal.

Walrus

bale to barca would be a good move, but he would be playing a WB sort of role akin to alves on the right, rather than as an out-and-out winger, with 3 CBs.


woudl take him here as well for a similar reason. He played a lot at LB remember, and against weaker teams would be a good option to use as a fullback to provide extra attacking oomph.
I agree with some that his game is reliant on pace, but I think that under Fergies guidance he would become immensely good regardless.

Cheesy

I would agree with you on the part about Valencia not fitting into a team like Barca or Arsenal. He is more of a traditional winger, which is good, because he's a perfect fit for our 4-4-4-2 style system which focuses a lot on out and out wing play. Someone like Bale would also be a perfect fit for our team in that sense, however the reason I don't want us to sign Bale is because we do have enough quality wingers in our side and it would be money wasted considering there are others areas of the team we should be focusing on.

charlenefan

Bale really represents everything that our club is about, having the best British talent. Would love to see him in a United shirt

Ash_G

Yeah it's not about Valencia or bale not being good enough but simply their styles don't translate to the way barca or arsenal look to play. Tbh whilst I wouldn't turn down bale at a reasonable price with us having Valencia I don't think he offers that much more to really need to get him. If we were in for another attacker who could play wide, personally I would prefer a mata style player who could give us a bit of extra creative spark.

The_Midfielder

Sign him without thinking a second

Inigo Montoya

It's because we've thought about him quite a bit that we haven't.More to do with his injuries than ability.We took a huge punt on Hargreaves whose injuries were well known and on balance that didn't work out for the best.I'm not sure we will with Bale when there could be better options out there

Ramshock

I think he would flourish here and would have done already under Fergie. That lad is a "United player" in my opinion

Lawman

Agreed and add Kyle Walker to that list.

Lawman

The chances Bale would make would be unreal. Valencia on the right Bale on the left and Rooney and Nani through the middle

red2deadboy

I am amazed by how some posters believe the kid will not be able to develop further, he'll always have weaker right foot, will only ever rely on his pace and is one injury away from non-league football. FFS the kid is essentially just starting his football bareer, delivers balls into the box better than most players in the world and has capacity to play either LB or LW.
IMO considering our left-sided option are a fading legend and increasingly error prone left-back, a signing like Bale might fill in a few gaps in our squad.

Varun_Utd

Young? Nani?

RK

If Spurs don't make the Champions League he'll be a City. They need a winger and he wants CL football.

That's that.

Ash_G

I don't think so personally. I think the days of playing with two out and out wingers who always look to go on the outside are over atm. Too many teams play defensive formations you need something different hence the popularity of wingers who can come inside as well. Both bale and Valencia get exposed when they're forced inside. Plus I think if you did that you'd need a powerful striker. Don't get me wrong if we could get bale, or if we had gotten him over spurs in the first place i'd be happy but I wouldn't say with in need of an attacker of bales style that much to justify a 40m ish spend.

Cheesy

For me, it would be too predictable and too easy for others teams to stop. On form, both could be destructive and a world beating wing partnership, but come up against a good tactician and they could suddenly be rendered ineffective.

We have always traditionally stuck to a formation which allows for traditional, direct wing play, but even now when we do that, we need someone who can mix it up a bit, who can cut inside and involve himself in the play a bit more. That's what someone like Nani offers us when he's out on the wing. Even with our current style, I don't think it would really work if we just had two direct wingers.

As for Rooney and Nani, I'm not so sure about that either. We've seen time and time again how good Rooney is as a second striker. It's where he operates best. Yes, he can score goals up front leading the line, but for me, it's wasting him in a sense because he has so much more than that to offer.

Nani is creative admittedly, so could possibly thrive in a central role behind the striker, but we've seen how inconsistent he can be at times in comparison to Rooney, and I think he's better when he's played out on the wing.

Lawman

I see your points but disagree, people have been saying Valencia is predictable but no many have been able to stop him with Bale and Valencia tearing up and down the wings it would be relentless. And then the trickery of Nani through the middle and the goalscoring prowess and power of Rooney imho would be awesome.

peterstorey

He's an MIA diving twat.

gulli_G

bale as LB (don't say he cant defend, anything would be an upgrade to evra's defending nowadays) overlapping Nani who can cut in side would be even better than Rafael and Valencia's partnership.

Ash_G

Yep no doubt about that particularly if we got another defensively strong midfielder in but still I don't see how we could justify the type of expenditure it would take to get him here when we don't really need him.

Ramshock

Him being at Spurs doesnt cloud your judgement at all I am sure.

charlenefan

Except he's got a reasonable scoring record against both Arsenal and Chelsea and scored against City this season as well. The only teams he hasn't done it against is us and Liverpool

red2deadboy

Though both Young & Nani have previously been played out on the left, more often than not both players will cut inside and not get to the byline to deliver final ball. IMO this enables any half decent RB to dictate play, pushing players infield were it is more conjested.

77

He'll be wearing a sky blue shirt next season

Theon

Maybe, depends if they get Hazard or not. If City get Hazard they wont get Bale...

Cling Bak

Barcelona are reportedly willing to lay down £50million for him. Fifty. For what will essentially be a left-back.

For his own career, he'd be better off at City, I'd say. He'd get to play further up the pitch and they could do with some width, unless he played on the right. Barca would be a riskier move for him and he'd be 'wasted' slightly playing as a defender, albeit a very attacking one (Dani Alves, RAM).