Gareth Bale has yet to reproduce anywhere near the form that he showed seven years ago as a Tottenham player or anything like his best Real Madrid form.
There are a variety of reasons why with that is and one of them is not that he is no longer good enough, I refuse to accept that just yet.
Let’s have a quick look at why we have yet to see Bale at his best, even if that best is no longer the Bale of old.
Barely any football in over a year.
This cannot be underestimated, some players can hit the ground running after a long time on the sidelines but most cannot and Bale appears to fall into that category, in better words, he still needs time.
Played out of position
Jose Mourinho has hardly played Bale and when he has it has not always been in his best position, he has been moved all over the place including a stint as a right-back against Leicester City. Bale needs a good run in the team playing in his best position. It is not rocket science.
No pre-season
Yes, the same could be said of most of the team but remember they played last season and most played international games, Bale did not and so his fitness levels were always going to be a lot lower than his teammates.
Injuries
Bale turned up injured, he also picked up a fresh injury with Wales and he has since been “unwell” this all creates chaos with preparation and sharpness and you cannot ignore the debilitating effects that constant injuries can have on a player as they strive to get back fit.
New environment
Forget Bale at Tottenham from seven years ago because this is a whole new set up- for him, it is a completely different Spurs to the one he left for Real Madrid, new stadium, new training facilities (just completed when he left) new management, new teammates and so on. Players need time to adapt to new surroundings, not all of course, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is like a duck to water but Tanguy Ndomeble needed time, different players, different conditions.
Conclusion
When Bale has settled into his new surroundings, is fully fit, played in the right position, given time to develop a partnership with Son Heung-min and Kane and playing regular then we will see the Gareth Bale that we have all been desperate to see since his return.
If we do not then so be it, time to call it a day but right now, it is far too early to write the Welsh wizard off.
Bale is not even half the problem when as a team we played almost 360 minutes of football in our half. Locelso is the only player to score a goal in the last 4 or 5 games other than Kane and Son. We do not have a stable #10. Tanguy recovery at the position is too slow on defense. There are no real linkup if it is not Kane and Son which are usually goals, but do nothing much for the overall game, like holding onto the ball for large spells. Yes. I said it, we need Harry Winks behind or next PEH so he can take the ball from Dier and Toby otherwise we are dropping long bombs down field with nothing to show. We are defending a cleaning sheet which in a twisted way helps the opposition than us. Winning 2-1, 4-2 or a 2-2 showed the willingness to score not defend a clean sheet with the hope of knicking one until we made an error and end up losing 1-0. That is us right now. That has nothing to do with Bale.
I couldn’t agree more with this assessment, let’s put the contentious issue of what Bale is costing to one side as I have to do with all players, I believe like others a run of starting games is the only way to judge him, and he hasn’t had that.
On the other hand, I think we could have an issue here with how the manager views his players, there is something in Mourinho’s character that appears to decide almost instantaneously how he judges them, they must conform to his methods or your out and you don’t come back, and he does have form for this.
All managers have to make judgements on players, but I’m beginning to think it’s more of a personal thing with this guy, I’m not sure what Dele did wrong at the start apart from being “lazy”, but he is humiliating him now. I understand what he did with Rose as that was self inflicted, and you can understand he favours certain players to others like any manager does, but I don’t get the Dele situation.
Whatever happens in the season I hope Mourinho brings a long awaited trophy, that’s what matters most.
Our next run of games are against easier opposition so now is the perfect time to give him a run and see if it works out…
I think Bale should be given a run of games now to see if he can get match fit and find a position and balance that works with Kane and Son. Only then can a true evaluation be made as to whether he can become a valuable addition. I would like to see him on the left in front of Requilion banging in some crosses for Kane and Son to get onto. I would also get Son and Bale to switch sides a couple of times during a game to unsettle the full backs of opponents. We were all excited about an attacking line up of the three of them and yet they have never really played together consistently yet. His general fitness levels must now be ok. He needs match sharpness and to find his most effective position. Bale is a world class player. he may have lost some pace but there is still a quality player in there. He is two years younger than Vardy and Jose needs to adopt a more offensive approach and utilise Bale.
Sensible post instead of knee jerk reaction reporting.