Tottenham captain Michael Dawson believes in-form team-mate Gareth Bale is the best player in the world right now.
Praise
Although he took his goal superbly on Sunday, Tottenham's victory owed more to some lion-hearted defending from Dawson and his partner at the back Jan Vertonghen.
While Thomas Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker resembled statues at the other end of the pitch, Dawson and Vertonghen were at the top of their game, nullifying the threat posed by Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud with some superb last-ditch tackling.
"He has been brilliant from day one," Dawson said of Vertonghen, who snubbed Arsenal to move to Spurs last summer for £10milllion.
"He's a great centre-half and a top guy.
"He has everything in his game. He wants to play, his feet are unbelievable, he can score goals and you saw the kind of tackles he can make.
"We have a good squad of centre backs here. Younes (Kaboul) is coming back in to training, and we have William (Gallas), myself, Caulks (Steven Caulker), and Jan, so the manager has some big decisions (to make), but I'm sure he will enjoy (making them). Competition and quality is high. It makes everyone want to do well."
