Glass Dragons Still Breathe Fire - The Gareth Bale Thread

James was incredibly consistent considering he was appearing in less than half the games and "should" have lost form due to his sporadic playing time. I mean he was literally up against a manager dead set on ruining his career and still never played a bad game under Zidane.

Bale was inconsistent on various levels but if for no other reason he was inconsistent due to injuries.

 

And Bale has more than lived up to those expectations in spite of being ridiculously injury-prone. More so than what Zidane (as a player), R9, Figo & Beckham ever did and some of their are viewed as all-time great RM legends.

 

A lineup of with R9, Zidane, Figo, and Beckham [+ Raul + no DM + no bench) should tell you all you need to know why the team was not successful.

I mean we were regularly counting on the likes of Pedro Munitis and Raul Bravo to rescue us and that just wasn't going to cut it.

Fact is Bale has never played at a level above peak Zidane or R9, not for one game or one season and not in a Madtid shirt.

He was however part of better overall teams like in 16/17 where he was a total non factor on one of Madrid's best ever teams that won a double and repeated CL; or 17/18 where again he was a complete non factor until the final and was "given" the opportunity those players never had (and was totally unappreciative about it).

 

Gareth Bale on his summer of uncertainty at Real Madrid...

🗣" If you want answers maybe you need to ask the club" pic.twitter.com/ykKLckaiLN

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 5, 2019

"I understand I was made more of a scapegoat than most." 😒

Gareth Bale admits he is "not playing happily" at the start of the 2019/20 season, following a turbulent transfer window where he came close to leaving Real Madrid

Read our full exclusive here: https://t.co/WtnfejdLPu pic.twitter.com/e0ghmGMDoD

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) September 5, 2019

🎙️ Gareth Bale: "Football is my biggest passion, golf is just a hobby. We all have hobbies."

"I don't care about criticism, I avoid reading everything because they really don't know what they are talking about." pic.twitter.com/BYlwvzPYpw

— Infinite Madrid (@InfiniteMadrid) September 5, 2019

Lots of interesting comments from Bale

 

I don't really blame him.The club dealt with the whole situation extremely poorly, starting of with giving him a new contract. He's content with his position in football.

There are so many British players with big reputations but small trophy cabinets. This guy has won everything at the biggest club in the world and has played a significant part in those successes. He simply does not care anymore and there is literally not much more he can achieve in his career.

 

What annoys me about the Bale situation is his and many others refusal to understand that the Bernabeu was harder on him than the others because he was suppose to take over the mantle from CR7. His wages certainly indicate that but his play did not.

He had been treated like a superstar galactico since he stepped foot in Madrid and heralded to take over for Cristiano. The time comes and the guys bombs badly. Of course fans are going to be pissed. I'm glad he is playing well but at the end of the day he is unreliable.

 

Bale wanted to be the main star of the biggest club in the world. He wanted to be untouchable and the centerpiece.

To now complain about being the scapegoat is silly because he feels different rules apply to him.

He can't enjoy the good, but discard the bad. He asked for it.

 

Bernabeu will be disappointed if they expect someone else to be another Ronaldo including Hazard. Ronaldo type players comes around every 50 years. Last season several starters were a mess and there was no stability starting from the most important position which is the coach. Majority of the players were underperforming except Benz, Reguilon and Vinicius. Bernabeu has booed Ronaldo more than 5 times at least so players shouldn't take that personally.

Anyways, RM will have to find a proper structure and consistent team effort if we are to succeed again. Can't expect another Ronaldo to hide the weaknesses anymore(like CL 17-18 and still league season was bad). Bale can contribute in a good team. I feel that'd the same even for Hazard. He won't work any magic if 6-7 starters are below par and he himself can start underperforming then. He had Conte and Mourinho's defensive stability and Costa's goals when Chelsea won 2 leagues. They have also had some really terrible seasons when things were similar to RM last year.

 

He never asked for Ronaldo to be sold. He has always praised Ronaldo and his agent also said the same last season.

 

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I wonder which foot he’s going to score the CL winning goal with this season? Perhaps another header?

 

“Golf is a hobby like anyone else would have a hobby. There is nothing wrong with having a round. People make a lot of it but a lot of footballers play it and it’s one thing I really enjoy. It keeps me calmer off the pitch and gives me time away from football, which is nice.”

Bale was also quick to provide some context when quizzed on whether this ranked as the worst time of his career. The 30-year-old referenced his early days at Tottenham Hotspur, when he came close to joining Nottingham Forest. “It’s obviously not been great [this summer],” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s the worst time of my career. I remember not playing for a year under Harry Redknapp.”

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/sep/05/gareth-bale-very-happy-called-golfer-real-madrid

Sheva, Kane, Rooney, Tevez etc have been playing Golf during their pro football days as well. Spanish media have had a weird obsession about Bale playing Golf ever since his RM move. It's like they'd rather have him party during free time lol.

 

Bale is in good spirit, and James is too.

ZZ must set his ego aside and get the best out of these guys, there are too much quality to waste.

 

Who said he did

 

That would refute the point that he wanted to be the main man and centerpiece, wouldn’t it?

 

If we want someone who can just “contribute in a good team” can we lower his wages to what we pay say............ Luka before his Balon d’or boost then?

 

When Cristiano left... how would it?

 

I have always been one to say that we can’t rely on Bale to be our talisman. However, I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to suggest that that is what he wanted and expected. I do think he considers himself a Galactico level player that should start regularly, but not to expect him to be Cristiano.

 

Just like Pogba.. players are not at fault for how much money clubs are willing to throw at them.. those negotiations were carried out by their agents and the clubs..
James did not cost 80M but Flo paid that because that is what his agent demanded after his great WC14 performance...
Suarez cost the same and he was actually worth it, becoming a more valuable player for Barcelona.. best striker in the world at that time, and a different level from James.

Bale had a great season with Tottenham ..everything after that with regards to how much money he earns is all on Florentino..

Fans can’t resent Bale for Flo’s incompetence when negotiating his salary.
It was Flo who, based on Bale’s salary, made Bale comparable to CR7 in the eyes of the fans. Why would he earn more than Benzema for example?

Bale should have never gotten that ridiculous fat pay check when we first got him back in 2013 to begin with .. James, in comparison, never earned anything close to that sum and he is also a highly marketable player.

 

Bale had Carlo fired and Rafe hired with the explicit purpose making him the centerpiece of the attack and star of the team by playing him as a #10. We all know how that ended.

Last season, somewhat out of necessity, Bale was again given the opportunity to be the star of the team, and again he failed to stay healthy but more importantly he failed to perform at the level needed and expected for the "star" of the team, a designation which he wanted to be.

 

Comparing anyone but the midget with Cristiano is absurd. No one should expect any player in the whole world to perfom even close as him, anyone who though that'd happen can only blame theirselves. But yea, alot of people expected him to perfom as good or better than Neymar for example, who was pretty much his direct rival, bought at same transfer window (and "cheaper") for our rival club, i even remember the Bale x Neymar discussions in first season, sadly after first one we saw who made a better deal :/

 

Based on what? On that Times square poster?
I don’t really see anyone making the claim that Kane is as good as Neymar or even Aguero for example..
I still don’t get the hype..
people were fooled.

 

Maybe I'm reading too much into it but sounds like he's throwing shade at the club.

I can't help but feel like the wheels are gonna come off at some point regarding the whole Zidane/Bale/James thing, especially since they are going to be competing against each other while Hazard and Benz will continue to be untouchable no matter their form.

 

You mean the goal that secures us a CL qualification spot in the last league day?