The Welshman has struggled to find form and much needed confidence in his second season at Spanish giants Real Madrid. Would a move back to the Premier League be the right move for Gareth Bale, or should he stick to Real Madrid?
Gareth Bale and his Real Madrid counterparts were knocked out of the Champions League after a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their semi-final against the ‘Old Lady’ of Italian football, Juventus.
Once again, Gareth Bale was used as the scapegoat for Madrid’s late departure. We have now grown accustomed to this happening, but when will it stop? Madrid made it surprisingly far in the Champions League, quite frankly much further than they truly deserved. They narrowly went through to the quarter-finals after losing at home 4-3 to Schalke in the round of 16. They narrowly scraped past a 10-man Atletico Madrid and they needed a moment of magic from Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo to help them through to the semi-finals.
The Real Madrid faithful have constantly looked for someone to blame when something is not going their way. But, as a fan, you should be supporting your team through thick and thin, not jeering every time they experience a hiccup.
One problem is the fact that Bale was so instrumental to the Tottenham Hotspur attack back when he was in England; he was their key player. However, when he came to Real Madrid, he wasn’t ‘that guy’ anymore, he had to play second fiddle to Ronaldo.
They are two very similar players, and that is exactly the problem. When Neymar, for example, was in the midst of joining Barcelona, Johan Cruyff said that he was bound to fail. “Two captains cannot captain one ship”, he was quoted saying, referencing Lionel Messi’s brilliance. But he was eventually proven wrong. However, in Bale’s case, we can clearly see his initial implications.
Bale has to always second guess himself, always look to see if there is a pass on. He is not used to this type of system, and he cannot play the supporting role; he needs to be the main man. And his team mates aren’t helping at all in regards to supporting him through his rough patch. The fans constantly take Cristiano’s side. Whenever he isn’t happy, nobody’s happy, so when Bale kept on making the wrong decisions, they turned on him. His confidence has plummeted to near extinction and quite frankly a move back to England does not seem so far off.
What now for Gareth Bale?
What Real Madrid fans are forgetting is that Ronaldo is 30 years old. He may well have reached his peak, and nothing can get better henceforth for the Portuguese. He isn’t getting any younger, and Real Madrid have always been a team filled with individuals or ‘Galacticos’. But one player usually takes centre stage. When Ronaldo leaves, Gareth Bale will have to be that man. He will be the one pulling the strings, the one they look to when they are in need of a goal. If he leaves, Real Madrid will not have only wasted €100 million on a player, but they will also look inferior to FC Barcelona’s formidable attacking trio of Messi, Neymar and Suarez.
The Galacticos really need to take Bale under their wing, and fast, before they find themselves looking for a replacement, for their replacement.
