Spurs will be better without Bale

As Gareth Bale prepares to walk out on Spurs for Real Madrid the demise of Spurs might be greatly exaggerated. Actually Spurs might have a stronger team without Bale.

Last year with no defined striker the goal scoring fell on Bale, while this year with Spurs have a proven goal scorer in Soldado who will come close to matching Bale's goal output. This years starting 11 for Spurs is deeper and stronger with Bale gone. With the addition, this also allows AVB to change the game when he needs to on the bench.

Just take a look:

Last years Spurs went with a 4-2-3-1 formation: 

Striker: Adebayor/Defoe 
Attacking Midfielder: Dempsey/Sigurdsson
Attacking Midfielder: Bale
Attacking Midfielder: Lennon
Holding Midfielder: Sandro 
Holding Midfielder: Dembele
Defender: Walker
Defender: Dawson 
Defender: Vertonghen
Defender: Assou Ekotto
Goalie: Lloris 


Now look at this years roster for Spurs playing 4-2-3-1, if the rumoured transfer for Willian and Lamala go through:

Striker:  Roberto Soldado
Attacking Midfielders: Lennon /Lamala
Attacking Midfielders: Willian
Attacking Midfielder: Sigurdsson/ Nacer Chadli
Holding Midfielder: Dembele 
Holding Midfielder: Paulinho
Defender: Walker
Defender: Vertonghen 
Defender: Dawson/ Capoue
Defender: Rose/Contrao
Goalie: Lloris

If the rumoured deals for William an Lamala go through, Spurs would have spent 117 million pounds on player this summer. That makes this team deeper, which might allow them to reach their ultimate goal which is Champions League football next year, even without Bale. 

Premier League Coverage is No Longer a Joke

For years American fans of the Premier League have had to deal with low budget Fox Soccer Channel, now that has all changed.  Premier League is making inroads into American culture and that is expected to continue as NBC Sports Network takes over coverage of the League in America.

World's Richest Transfers

If Bale leaves Spurs for Real Madrid, he will then top this list, but before that happens here are the top transfers fee record breakers. A great list and hours of fun.

The power of TV

There used to a time when I would have to watch the Premier League on an illegal box at my then girlfriend's, current wife, parents house. Fast forward 15 years and you can watch a variety of different leagues on your tv. This week that is what I did.

Friday:
French League: Stade Rennais vs. AS Saint Etienne

Saturday:
FA Cup: Wigan vs. Everton
Premier League: Aston Villas vs. Reading
League Championship: Crystal Palace vs. Leeds United
MLS: New England at Chicago
Spain: Barcelona vs. Deportivo La Coruna
Mexican League: Cruz Azul vs. Jaguares

Sunday
FA Cup: Millwall vs. Blackburn
FA Cup: Manchester United vs Chelsea
Premier League: Spurs vs. Liverpool

Now I'm not saying I watched all of these games in their entirety, but I did flip between all of them. It's amazing to know that soccer fans in this country have more options than people in Europe or even South American. Isn't cable great.

How Bale Almost Left Spurs

The idea that Gareth Bale was going to be a star at Spurs was not always a forgone conclusion. Lets go back four years ago when Spurs wanted to sent him out of White Hart Lane. Boy has times changed. Thanks to 101 goals for the photo.

Mid-Term Team of the Season

The Barclay's Premier League season is halfway over. Most of the teams have played 19 games, marking the half way point of the 38 games season. Here is a look at The OTWT All Mid-Season Team.I'm sure people will complain about it, if you have a different view post your team in the comment section.

Goalie: Asmir Begovic, Stoke City
Defender: Vincent Kompany, Manchester City
Defender: Jan Vertonghen, Spurs
Defender: Ryan Shawcross, Stoke City
Defender: Leighton Baines, Everton
MF: Micheal Carrick, Manchester United
MF: Juan Matta, Chelsea
MF: Marouane Fellaini, Everton
MF:Michu, Sweansea City (pictured above)
Striker: Luis Suarez, LFC
Strick: RVP, Manchester United

The Premier League is Printing Money

So Burma is one of the poorest countries in the world and they have the money to show Premier League. Around the world, £5.5bn was spent by channels to show the Premier League. Shows how incredible a TV asset it is and how popular it is, even if the quality of the league is down over the last couple of years.

OTWT All Transfer team

With the transfer windowing now finally shutting around Europe. Here is the OTWT ALL Transfer Team. This team may have cost a ton, but I bet I can could coach them to a league title in any country.

Goalie: Hugo Lloris from Lyon to Tottenham Hotspurs
Defenders: Thiago Silva from AC Milan to PSG
Defender: Jordi Alba from Valencia to Barcelona
Defender:Javier Martineze from Athletic Club to Munich (I know he players in midfield but he has played 22 times in defense last year with Athletic Club)
Defender: Jan Vertonghen from Ajax to Tottenham Hotspur
Midfielder: Marco Reus from M'Gladbach to Dortmond.
Midfielder: Eden Hazard from Lillie to Chelsea
Midfielder: Luka Modric from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid
Midfielder: Alex Witsel from Benfica to Zenit St. Petersburg
Forward: Robin van Persie from Arsenal to Manchester United
Forward: Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan to PSG

Bench: Lucas Mora from Sao Paulo to PSG, Hulk from Porto to Zenit St. Petersburg, Oscar from Sao Paulo to Chelsea. Gregory van der Wiel from Ajax to PSG.

Fox Soccer Fail

First it was ESPN.com screwing up now it's Fox Soccer. During the Spurs Newcastle game, FSC said that Emmanuel Adebayor was coming on to replace Gylfi Sigurosson. Small problem Adebayor is still a Manchester City player even though he spent last season on loan at Spurs. I know it's the first week of the season but this can't happen.

Professional Tailgating: Stevie MBE takes the field

Stevie MBE takes the field against Spurs in Baltimore on Saturday. Liverpool fans love him, while I hate him.

Professional Tailgating: A boring preseason friendly

On Saturday, the OTWT Tailgating Crew traveled to Baltimore to take in the preseason friendly between Spurs and Liverpool. The game was terrible but the stadium is amazing.

Alan Shearer has more Premier League titles than Steven Gerrard

A life size picture of former Rutgers star Ray Rice. Loved watching him college as a Rutgers season ticket holder.

Unitas Plaza 

Love seeing fans honor clubs heroes and at Spurs there is no one bigger than Jimmy Greaves

Find your favorite club

Awesome photo of soccer crest from all over the world. Where is your favorite.

These kids are valuable

An interesting list of the 30 best young players in the world of soccer, put together by Futebol Finance. Very interesting to see the value of some of the players.

Super Sunday EPL Style

The defining Sunday of the Season

Fox Soccer has been promoting this Sunday Premier League games as "Epic Sunday,'' for once this is not over hype. The doubleheader of Manchester City vs. Spurs and Manchester United vs. Arsenal will go a long way toward telling us who will be lifting the trophy in May.

A City win in the early game and a Arsenal win in the late game could all but end the title race. If that happens, City would have a 6 point lead over United and an 8 point lead of Spurs. If Spurs and United both win the title race could still have a long way to go, then United would be level with City on points and Spurs would be two points back of the top two.

I can't remember a day of games that has the potential to impact the Premier League title race like this one can. This is shaping up to be a classic day. At the end of the season, we will look back on Jan. 22 as either the day the title race ended or the day it was blown wide open.

Start Spending Like Crazy

A list put together by BBC Sport on the top 50 players from around the world that could be on the move during the month ahead.

An Unlike Dream

For some the Europa League means nothing but to Irish club Shamrock Rovers it might as well be the Champions League. After fighting extinction, Shamrock Rovers are savouring their chance to play European football. While some kill the Europa League, I can not wait to the see the small little club that could play Spurs in the group stages.

A new Premier League Transfer Policy

Things are changing in the Premier League, gone are the days of clubs spending $14 million on a 26 year old players, now its all about the kids. The Daily Mail's Matt Barlow takes an interesting look at practice.Clubs are looking at the resale value of a player kind of like what happened with Ronald at Manchester United.  

Premier League A to Z

The Premier League season is here and here is a look at league from A to Z. Should be a fun and interesting season, can not wait for opening kickoff in a couple of hours. Seems like it has taken forever for the season to return.

Could Spurs still end up at the Olympic Stadium

With West Ham United squarely looking at the trap door to the Championship, could their move to the Olympic Stadium be on hold? It's a question that needs to be asked.

On 11 February 2011 the Olympic Park Legacy Committee selected West Ham United and Newham Council as the preferred bidder to take over the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. The decision in favour of West Ham's bid was unanimous. However Leyton Orient have complained that the stadium is too close too their ground and would breach FA rules. They claim that West Ham's plans could force them into bankruptcy. On 3 March 2011 West Ham United's proposed move to the Olympic Stadium was approved by the British government.

Their relegation to the Championship could throw a huge wrench into their plans, gone will be the huge crowds that watch Premier League football and the large revenue that comes from both tickets sales and the Premier League TV deals worldwide. How is a club with such a decline in revenue, even if its for just a year, going to be able afford to make the needed changes to the Olympic Stadium. It's expected to cost about £95m to convert the venue from an 80,000 seat stadium to a 60,000-seat venue for football, athletics and cricket, according to the BBC. The Olympic Delivery Authority is to give £35m of that to West Ham, while most of the remaining funds have been provided by a £40m loan arranged by Newham Council.

Could West Ham issues, allow Spurs to call the Olympic Stadium home. Spurs have the money to pay for the changes that need to be made to the stadium in order to bring it up standards for Premier League football. Spurs have the supporters to fill the stadium.

I know nothing is set in stone, but if it all plays out like this, it could be very hard for The Hammers to hold on to their proposed new home.