The things that excited me most today about Gareth - even before the goal - were his desire to help out closing down passing lanes and the real flashes of talent, speed, and touch you'd expect from someone of his price tag. Very exciting.
All 3 were too selfish at different times in the match. It happens. They are all probably dying to make a huge splash and be the savior with Ronaldo out. Add in tired legs, high emotions and some actual defenders and sometimes that pass we all see so clearly ain't so clear.
I think everyone thought he'd stop or Bartra would get to the ball and pass back to Pinto. Bale just turned on the afterburners and shocked the shit out of everyone. Insane goal, seriously.
The thing about Bale is he's one of those dudes whose speed is extremely deceptive, and it probably throws defenders off. You can sort of tell when Cristiano is about to turn on the burners, but Gareth has longer strides and it's incredibly easy to underestimate his speed. We all watch all of our matches from a TV camera view and he still surprises us sometimes getting to balls you think he has no chance of getting to - now imagine being a defender on the ground without that aerial perspective who's only played against him once or twice (or perhaps not at all).
One thing I thought to myself after a first half where we ran a lot is that we will be dead in the second. But dayumn, dat Gareth.
Comment on Twitter sums up his goal: Quality through-pass from Bale to Bale, and an exquisite finish by Bale.
Look at the clock.... Bale get the Ball and 9 seconds later it's through Pinto's legs... 9 SECONDS. Ridiculous... And to think that this Madrid is still finding its feet....Bale is going to be a monster for us... great buy Flo.
We need a new thread title for this beast. Welsh Dragon? The Prince of Wales, Conqueror of Catalunia?
Barca fanboys were so sure we'd overpaid on Bale and that neymar was such a bargain. Seeing Neymar miss that sitter just minutes after Bale stunned the Mestalla was almost as awesome as seeing the goal. ALMOST.
Winning goal 2/6 SOT 6 successful dribbles (vs 2 for Neymar and 1 each for Xavi,iniesta, Messi) 3 Key passes 2 tackles 37 touches
Bale is an incredible machine. He has the technique, pace, the dribbling, the shot, everything. Yesterday he also showed he can be a nuisance to opposing defence when they have the ball. What I didn't like yesterday was his selfishness. It can come to hurt us when against teams that allow only a chance or two on a break. At least two times he went for a speculative shot when a simple pass could have led to a clear goalscoring opportunity. I want our three forwards to play more for the team, less for themselves.
Bale plays better without Ronaldo and in a free role behind the striker like in his last few months at tottenham.
Zidane was also very bad in his first season too. suddenly, he scored that screamer against Leverkusen. No one cared about the rest if his first year.
i unfortunately did not take up interest in soccer early enough to see this. true story? how bad was his first season with us?
Just happy for Bale. With that goal to win CDR, there is no doubt tonight that he is officially part of Real Madrid. He put himself Pathetic of that officer to pull him over. As soon as he saw it was Bale, he should have ripped it up.
Bale is worth every penny guess how i answered that poll. What will the barca fanboys now say. Real Madrid is resurgent and the top club in all of Spain and Europe yet again.
I wouldn't say Bale was very bad, but it is a good point. I think he's been inconsistent, but good overall. He needed something like this though!