The Play Bale! Mantra has begun to give me a headache. Some fans regard it as a pressing issue and these flames of discontent have been fanned by the likes of Harry Redknapp et al. calling for the Welshman to be given a run. Personally, I believe that Levy’s loaning of a lemon is the worst kept secret in football, and this is yet another stick with which to debase the Portuguese with.
If we remove from our minds the romantic twaddle surrounding Bale, the whole taxi for Maicon thing, and instead look at the 31-year-old’s last season for Real Madrid, then that is surely a fair point to aim for. It would be unfair to ask for more.
In Gareth’s last season in Spain, he made 14 starting line-ups, out of which he was brought on from the bench 4 times and subbed off on 6 occasions.
Zinedine Zidane managed to squeeze out just 2 goals and 2 assists.
Elsewhere, Bale’s numbers provide little indication he was still worth big bucks. Overall passing accuracy was only 78.8%. Long ball specialist? Not really he averaged 53.2%. Ah, but he bet he could still whip a cross in, eh? Only 36.4% of them were successful.
NB: None of these numbers are skewed, incidentally. Bale was managing to average 90-minutes per game.
So what’s the solution?
I’d be inclined to play Gareth in every single game, just to ram the reality home for those still struggling to appreciate the difference between a player that Real Madrid wanted to break the bank for, and the player Real Madrid had become utterly sick of.
Surely other players have the hump about him being top earner. Especially Harry & Sonny
I still believe he’ll produce.
Just to put this whole situation into context.
If Bale was playing well & playing most game at Real still, he would not even entertain the idea of coming back to Spurs, just as his botch of an agent was disrespecting us not long ago.
This one will go down in The history books as Levy’s folly.
Nothing more, nothing less.
I had no idea he was this bad.
New he had problems but this fraud in the dated top knot is a total waste of money and money it is all about for him.
Levy needed a break clause.
Another nail in his business genius reputation coffin.
Agree. As noted elsewhere, a punt worth taking but £250k out of the wage pool that could help keep Kane and Son
FA cup 5th round on a midweek evening?? What’s the world coming too?
I thought it when he signed and think it now. It was a punt worth taking. If it works and Bale is anywhere near his best we’ve got a world class player in the team. It it doesn’t work and it looks like his best days are behind him, we send him back. It’s obviously looking like the latter. It’s sad to see but the bloke hasn’t got it anymore. With his 4 champions league medals where’s the motivation for him at 31 to really get his head down and make a difference for the team. It might have been good enough for the Spurs he left 7 or 8 years ago. But not the Spurs of today. If he’s still interested in playing I think the MLS would be a good fit for him now
Like most supporters (not aware of the full facts,fitness,willingness to go the extra mile etc) was well happy he rejoined us,even if it was a Levy vanity project.I
ve seen enough now to realise that hes a bottle job,wage thief,going through the motions,without busting a gut,with the best view in the house passenger.It`s not going to come good eventually as it’s a mind set of his.Sad,but true.I never expected the typhoon that left for Real, but I don’t think anyone predicted how disappointing Bale was going to be. In his last season for Real, Bale’s relationship with ZZ and Club was in the toilet. That is why he couldn’t be bothered and his stats were terrible, right? Does this sort of thing just happen to us? Zlatan and Cavani set Utd alight, even Sanchez earned a deal at Inter. I wouldn’t mind if Bale was 37, but he’s still young enough to show his quality. I can’t wait for him to leave now.
There have been many players stealing money from this club over the years which shows the incompetence of those running the show, but with regard to Bale and his unfathomable wage there has to be an answer to this conundrum, because the situation is not doing anyone any favours.
The least Levy and Mourinho can do is find a solution to the problem, as they are not exactly being paid peanuts themselves.
From the outside, Bale trains and then sits on the bench because the manager puts him there, but if he is not good enough to start then surely he is not good enough from the bench, so get it sorted.
He looks like his backs gonna go at any point, don’t remember him having that weird gait before.
His decline tallys with his stupid haircut, the stupider the pony tail or bun the worse he become. Hark back to his short back and sides under AVB and all the form that came with having a proper haircut.
Kane take note, get your barnet chopped or risk ruining our season
You’re absolutely right H.This whole episode has been a total disaster from Levy’s point of view.It is yet another example of him involving himself in the aqusition of players when he has no knowledge on the subject.I don’t suppose Hitchens told him what a bad idea it was.Old Joe must be spitting feathers at the 1M being frittered away each month.Like you say ZZ must have known something.