This alone should tell you why he's our biggest problem. He's our record signing, meant to be at the peak of his powers, earning one of the highest wages in the squad yet spends 80% of the season unavailable. It's very telling that he's still unable to take the baton from a near 33 year old Ronaldo as the talisman of this side. If Ronaldo was more a 'normal' player and didn't produce the kind of form at 32 that he did at the tail end of last year and was actually playing like his age; then we'd be in hot water and not won anything since Bale really should be that guy by now. And your point about 2 league goals is an interesting one. Yeah, he has same amount of league goals as Ronaldo but he's not exactly gonna improve on that or contribute from the hospital bed. Yeah, Ronaldo has been bad but at least at near 33 he is still always available and can start scoring at any moment. Bale won't be doing that from the comfort of his hospital bed. I know which one I'd be more pissed about.
while I think Bale injury is a big issue for us, I dont think he is our "biggest" problem, his injuries are a problem , no one can deny that, but this season, we have other issues more important than Bale, Benzema in my opinion is our biggest problem, the fact that Morata had to go because he was not getting anytime over this guy, and now same issue, match after match this guy SUCKS, yet gets to play 80+ min ... that just doesnt make sense to me, zero, but back to Bale, I hope he recovers fast.
He is our problem because we couldn't push for Mbappe nor push for James and/or Morata to stay because of him. Had he left in the summer, he would've instead have a player who could've contributed to our attack which seems to have forgotten how to score
James hates Zidane on a molecular level. I don't know why people think he'd stay regardless of the situation, the guys family was posting insults to Zidane on Twitter the night the team was celebrating the champions league trophy. Other than that, bale or not, there is no way we're paying 16 mil. net wages to a 19 year old. Need to wake up and smell the coffee. We're "fiscally responsible" now. The time where Pérez sent the money in cash and bought Figo are long gone.
Marco Asensio will be available as he rejoined the squad this Monday. Bale is out of the Dortmund game. He'll miss out on the Borussia Dortmund game in midweek and is expected to be unavailable for the Sevilla clash at the weekend too, but the Welshman is hopeful of being back in time for the Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. The semi-final of that tournament will take place on December 13, ahead of a potential final on December 16, and the forward hopes to be able to take part in both games and to help Los Blancos towards a sixth world title.
No Borussia, Sevilla perhaps if he decides to go kamikaze again and injure himself again. If he has any braincells then he'll get eased into the CWC.
Zidane could have made some amends by inlcuding James in the CL final squad and making him one of the substitutes. That move alone would have satisfied James (any players) desire to play, win, and win titles. That kind of show of intent would have gone a long way towards rectifying the situation. Instead he gave minutes to a player who hadn't played in months and whose agent has routinely shit on the club, teamates, and fans. And before you tell me about how Bale has no control over what his agent says and does, I'll remind you, that you just criticized James' mother and wife for getting a little emotional that their man got the proverbial slap in the face in the biggest game of his career.
James was subbed a few weeks prior saying "go f*** your mother" to Zidane while walking out. It's on tape actually, go see it. Apparently Zidane told Florentino James is not on his plans anymore after that. It's not up to the coach to coddle up to a disrespectful player. James should have apoligized but always doubled down on social media and international breaks. F*** him for disrespecting Zidane, and f*** everybody who thinks Zidane should get on his knees and beg a guy who was out drinking midweek and cheating on his wife. If James would have the attitude of a Carvajal, he'd be on top of the world right now.
^ I don't recall that event being discussed here at all. Are you making stuff up again? I remember him getting frustrated when substituted once just like Isco was a few matches before that.
He was subbed and said "why can't i finish single match here? motherf***er". It was after the Leganes match and Zidane said that he understands that James is mad about his situation. After the club assembly meeting, where Florentino spoke about James and Morata, there were reports that it was after this match that Zidane told him that James isn't in his future plans.
If he said "jueputa" which is actually hijo de puta or son of a b***.. that is just like saying F*** k in Colombia.. My wife says this when she drops something on the floor and it breaks. lol
I posted the video. Whoever thinks the Zidane/James situation was a few isolated incidents is completed deluded. Zidane never really depended on him, and Asensio has so far covered for the loss more than adequatelly.
He didnt disrespect Zidane. He was pissed off for being substituted. This happens in football you know.. when did you start watching? When Bale joined Madrid? Lol
Di Maria did the same and Carlo allegedly took his head off behind closed doors. In the press, Carlo just said "we dealt with this". Christoph Daum woke up players at 3 in the morning in front of their house and had them take forest runs at night for similar incidents, so much for "when did you start watching?lol". It's funny that James' wife was all about "there is no problem between James and Zidane" in January, then around March (the time of the incident) the gloves were off and James' parents were joining in. It's pretty obvious that James and Zidane wasn't going to work out, i don't get this idea of working towards keeping a player who so clearly hated being there.
Your hyperbole has no limits. The Dimaria incident was different. He grabbed his b@$s as he was walking off the pitch . James incident was just like Isco and Morata when they walked off the pitch frustrated
In both cases Zidane approached the player, while he didn't give a damn about James. Especially in Isco's case the difference was night and day. He sees that he's frustrated and makes the approach. As they say in Germany he didn't even look at James with his ass.
He didnt care for James. Is evident. He didnt feel the need to integrate James into the squad because we already had too many players and someone had to leave. His mind was set even before the season started. I like Zidane and I think he is the best coach we can have but no one is perfect and there is always room for improvement.
While reading about James and Zidane is interesting, how does it relate to BALE exactly? and more importantly, why did MORATA leave because of BALE ?
So Bale is aiming to return for the CWC. At this point, you have to assume he's not playing significant football this season. This has been turned into a debacle by all parties involved.
So Zidane claimed to understand [why James was upset] but then throws him to the lions instead of you know being understanding. Okay. I think this whole Zidane is a legend so all the players respect him and he's a "players coach" and he's a skilled at "man management" was blown out of proportion when we look at the situation in hindsight. He came into a team that was loaded with talent top to bottom and primed to go on a run (like we saw with Carlo). The team was only in a bad position when he was hired becuase they had boycotted the idea of firing Carlo, hiring Rafa, and playing Bale as a #10. However in the present it is starting to look like the Mourinho scorched earth management style. He will show up against some 3rd division level team, put in a shift, and then his agent will tell us how all the team does is win titles when Bale plays. Then he will go back to the training table until there is another final to play in.
If your only example is James, then I'm going to stick with that opinion. There are other players that felt hard done by playing time from Zidane, but they all respected their roles, didn't speak to the media while they were here, and left on their own terms. Or maybe both Carlo and him are really good at what they do and that's what they achieved what top coaches like Mourinho and Benitez couldn't with a similar squad.
Really, i guess if eight points behind Barca in December is "covered more than adequately" then you are right. But Asensio wasn't a better player than James a year ago and he isnt today. It's good to know the standard for real madrid players is now "adequate." Not all players handle situations the same, but Morata left for pretty much the same reason which just goes to show a "good attitude" counted for nothing, and he recently gave an interviewing saying coming back was a mistake. Some players don't have the balls to say anything and let their agents do the talking.
Morata can say all he want, but because he kept his head and did his part, the club got maximum value for him. And because James complained and whined, we had to get pretty much the lowest value possible. Surely, you can't be deluded enough to think that James not being here is the reason we are 8 points behind. Because the last thing we need right now is another CAM.
I'd have to agree. We are struggling offensively and James could have definitely helped in that aspect, creating goals or scoring them himself. After all, very few players in the wortld produce as many key passes. But he wouldn't have made an 8 point difference. First and foremost, our BC is in horrible form, and second he would be on the bench and not playing so hard to make an impact from there.