Heat and humidity mostly. Bale was good in that game though, pretty much everything we did well on attack came from him
Bale booing continues | Declining?
- Thread starter Theafonis
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
He's a crock. It's as simple as that.
At this stage i would take him for free on a pay as you play base.
If he'd taken care of himself as well as Rooney, he'd have lasted till he was at least 31.
Is it really the same though?
Bale seems to have been unlucky with injuries more-so than him not looking after himself.
Became an average player
Welsh Kaka
I swear there will be a thread on here in the 2027 summer transfer window with people saying they'd still take him.
I don't think he is done.The season is very long and he can be important.
According to the press the club and the doctors consider that he is fine, as well as the recovery times and the work of the preseason, so has to be a problem of confidence.
Sometimes it seems that he is afraid in some play situations, even touching his calfs several times during the games.
A couple of goals and some weeks without pain and injuries and he will get rid of the external pressure.
I do not say that he suddenly becomes a superlative player but he will not be as bad as the last few months.
Another issue is his role in the team during these four years, which although has been good, has not been exceptional and has never caused much enthusiasm among fans.
Perhaps the shadow of Cristiano was too long, or he was too overprotected or not used correctly in the field. In any case during the absence of Cristiano rarely left the feeling of being able to replace him.
According to the press the club and the doctors consider that he is fine, as well as the recovery times and the work of the preseason, so has to be a problem of confidence.
Sometimes it seems that he is afraid in some play situations, even touching his calfs several times during the games.
A couple of goals and some weeks without pain and injuries and he will get rid of the external pressure.
I do not say that he suddenly becomes a superlative player but he will not be as bad as the last few months.
Another issue is his role in the team during these four years, which although has been good, has not been exceptional and has never caused much enthusiasm among fans.
Perhaps the shadow of Cristiano was too long, or he was too overprotected or not used correctly in the field. In any case during the absence of Cristiano rarely left the feeling of being able to replace him.
His fitness has played a major part of that. During that span Bale looked totally unstoppable where and In terms of goals and assists to minutes played he mostly he has come close lets take a look
Luis Suarez Best 3 Seasons
2014/15: 16 goals 14 assists 2180 minutes played. 72.6 minutes per direct goal involvement
2015/16: 40 goals 16 assist 3150 minutes played. 56.25 minutes per direct goal involvement( I don't even think Messi or Ronaldo has hit this ridiculous number and had it not been for Ronaldo's existence he would have won Ballon D Or that year with Bale as a runner up)
2016/17: 29 goals 13 assists 2865 minutes played. 68 minutes per direct goal involvement
Gareth Bale Best 3 Seasons
2013/14: 15 goals 12 assists 2073 minutes played. 76 minutes per direct goal involvement
2014/15: 13 goals 9 assists 2582 minutes played. 122 minutes per direct goal involvement( his worst year at Madrid though Madrid as a whole that year wasn't very good)
2016/17: 19 goals 10 assists 1741 minutes played. 60 minutes per direct goal involvement
As you can see Bale has come somewhat close from a production standpoint, but even at that I don't even think its fair to compare Bale to a Suarez like season where in some instances the worlds best players haven't even managed to accomplished that, which says a lot about how criminally underrated Suarez is. (I would personally take him over most of the prime 90s strikers)
If you are surrounded by better players of course your performances are going to elevate. Suarez played with Messi and Neymar and as a result he had one of the best production seasons ever witnessed in modern times. Fact is that Bale has come through for Real Madrid in many key matches against big opponents when the stakes are high. He has contributed as much to the team as the team has contributed to him.
No Di Maria gets the slight edge because he was Madrid's main facilitator. Bale was a very dangerous forward but Di Maria was making things happen.
Wales as a team definitely stepped up but that dosen't mitigate the fact that Bale was clearly Wales best player that year and they wouldn't have gotten past group stages if it wasn't for him.
The first time he played without Cristiano it was against valladolid at home. Scored a hat-trick. In general the first 3 games he played without Cris(november-december 2013) were very encouraging. Problem was, he was constantly getting injured. Second half of the season, the few times Cris was missing, instead of stepping up he tended to defer to Di Maria(along with the rest of the team). That was kinda worrying. He even let Di Maria(who had just gotten back from an illness, had lost like 5Kg in two days and really should not have been playing that game, except Cris was out and Carlo decided he couldn't leave him out too) take that penalty against dortmund...
He them didn't play particularly well against barcelona in the Copa, though he did score the winner. Again though, Di Maria was the star of the team...
14/15 was bad, just outright bad overall
15/16 he was incredible. Few times Cris was out he pulled off wins out of his arse for us. Rayo and Real Sociedad away in the final weeks of the league come to mind. He also was great against city and atleti in the final
I think the biggest problem is Cris has shortened his range, and Benzema is Benzema, we never know what version we get, so compared to 2013/14 when he and Cris shared the job of linking midfield and attack and lead counterattacks, now Bale has to be the one who does it all the time. Add the fact we no longer have the midfield to play the kind of fast-paced, counter-attacking, ida y vuelta, type of football we played with Xabi and Di Maria in midfield, now we're a pure possession team, our attack is usually slow and ponderous, and Bale's just not made for that in the role the simultaneous presences of Benzema and Cristiano would require of him
@Obiorahking_ great post
I'm not even kidding. Injuries have eradicated his speed, and without his speed he's less than half the player he used to be.
Basically the same happened with Kaka post-2009. Milan robbed Real blind then, €67 million.
Anyone who spends over €50 million on Bale at this point is a fool.
(1) Corrected.
(2) I would argue that you can't compare and say that he came somewhat close as their stats aren't for the same amount of games, 23 for Bale and 35 for Suazer. in term of pure production, yes, but you can't discard the number of games played when making that statement.
Or i could say, player X managed 5 assists and 5 goals in 5 games. 45 minutes per direct goal involvement, he was more productive than both Bale and Suarez.
More like Welsh caca.
We dodged a bullet here.
Better then Giggs....right
Better then Giggs....right
cachu?
Think we may forget about Bale coming here.. He did say he would not like to hurt the Spurs fans by coming to another English club..
This is where the eye test comes in. Bale looked like an unstoppable force that year. Deadly finisher, deadly passer, couldn't get the ball off him, and worked his ass for the team. Had he played more I doubt his stats would have changed.
Thanks
Real and Bale desperately needed to cut ties over the summer. It was their last chance to cash in huge on him and he really needs a change of scene. Bale became a star as the main man in Wales and Spurs. He cant be happy being a hate figure among a team of stars. If he's got anything left in the tank, he needs to go the route of Robben or Sneijder.
Against the Mighty Apoel, he even can not fast-dribble a long the left line anymore. Everytime he got the ball, he just passed back again. Not even try to beat a player.
Even the slower Tony Kroos had his moment of deceiving Apoel's player.
Even if a club will to pay 40 millions, it is jut for his big name. Game-wise, he is really regressing.
Even the slower Tony Kroos had his moment of deceiving Apoel's player.
Even if a club will to pay 40 millions, it is jut for his big name. Game-wise, he is really regressing.
On Managing Madrid they seem very pleased with his performance.
He had some good 5-8 months before the Euros. He really upped his game back then.
But, if you ask me, even if he's on a good form, he's quite one dimensional, not that hard to play against him. Yes he has a decent shot, can outrun most players(or he could outrun most players) but that's kind of it. Also, he has quite weak tactical awareness when defending imo.
The only good argument is that he really finds the goals in the big games, which is a big plus these days. But I really don't rate him. You can't go to Madrid and be at your best for half an year, I mean, it's quite embarrassing. Even if it will sound a bit far fetched, I'd call him the poor man's Marco Reus. At least Reus really drags his team in those brief spells when he comes back from injuries. Bale seems to just stand in the way when he comes back.
I don't have anything personal against him but he's over hyped because he played in the EPL where you can park two cars in spaces between defenders and exploit the gap game after game.
But, if you ask me, even if he's on a good form, he's quite one dimensional, not that hard to play against him. Yes he has a decent shot, can outrun most players(or he could outrun most players) but that's kind of it. Also, he has quite weak tactical awareness when defending imo.
The only good argument is that he really finds the goals in the big games, which is a big plus these days. But I really don't rate him. You can't go to Madrid and be at your best for half an year, I mean, it's quite embarrassing. Even if it will sound a bit far fetched, I'd call him the poor man's Marco Reus. At least Reus really drags his team in those brief spells when he comes back from injuries. Bale seems to just stand in the way when he comes back.
I don't have anything personal against him but he's over hyped because he played in the EPL where you can park two cars in spaces between defenders and exploit the gap game after game.
That game where he destroyed peak Maicon was magical. He was a bonafide old school winger in those days, and a player I coveted enormously. Then he moved infield, became a shit Rivaldo clone with pace, and I lost interest. Now he's just a shit Rivaldo clone. Pace has gone.
Unless he declares he wants to sign for United. And then I might reconsider.
Unless he declares he wants to sign for United. And then I might reconsider.
Not sure if I agree, but that is a fantastic post.
Yeah, I based the entire "shit Rivaldo" on the fact he's gangly and left footed, and had a habit of being lazy but absolutely twating one in from 30 yards once in a while.
At least it's no worse than Renato Sanches being the new Davids or Anderson, based solely on his hair do.
He's madrid's Fellani. They love to hate him.
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