Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is a pundit I find myself agreeing with a lot of the time. However, last night after the Leicester City match, the former Chelsea star said that he believes Gareth Bale is still suffering from lack of game time at Real Madrid, and a continued lack of game time at Tottenham.
Jimmy’s quotes carried by The Sun sound reasonable enough, but just how long does a player get to find their feet in the Premier League, when on a one season loan?
I take a view here that Bale isn’t the problem, and that the core issue is who bought him. At a million pounds a month in salary going out the door, in the midst of a pandemic, which shows no signs of slowing, Bale is an excruciatingly expensive overhead.
My only question was, whose idea was this? And the answer from a source close to the club was ‘Levy’s’.
Can Bale be returned in January?
We’re paying a million quid a month for the privilege of slowly getting Bale ready for whoever he plays for next season.
It’s clear he’s not a starter for Mourinho, can’t do the defensive side of things, he prefers Bergwign and Lucas so a very expensive fifteen minute per game player. Shirt sales will need to be through the roof.
I think one still has to allow Bale a chance in the domestic cups and in Europe. Candidly that involves making allowances for the fact that right now he is not up to the level of physicality and defensive capability to start or to feature regularly at the Premier League level.
There is also a delicate PR aspect to this one, for Levy, for the club and for Gareth himself. Even if it was the right thing to do, there is no way that Gareth is being cut in January. Even not renewing his loan option for next year will involve a ‘mea culpa’ on Levy’s part and humiliation for Bale, if it happens.
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.