Time for China I guess.
Or maybe a full career shift to become a Golf professional player.
Or maybe a full career shift to become a Golf professional player.
Gareth Bale | Golfer, ex-Footballer, Elbower of racists, Philosopher, Golf Ambassador, Bar Owner, Real Legend, Defibrillator
- Thread starter horsechoker
- Start date
RM may just pay his last year of the contract in the summer to get rid, what would be next, retirement and become a full-time golfer? A few years in China/MLS?
Contract now looks a Bargain compared to £2m a week elsewhere.. At least. Wondering if he's thinking his agent have asked for even more now 
?
?He is completely finished.
I don't know how so many got excited at his return. It was obvious from his final 2 seasons at Real, that he is completely finished.
I don't know how so many got excited at his return. It was obvious from his final 2 seasons at Real, that he is completely finished.
The only excuse I can think of and I'm scraping the barrel with it is motivation. He was playing fairly regularly for Madrid (regarded as the biggest and best club in the world by many, where he won multiple Champions leagues), getting paid an unbelievable amount of money to barely playing for them while still getting paid that money to now playing for a Spurs side that is battling for CL qualification. Only the absolute top professionals can motivate themselves to go through that pattern and still be at the top of their game and I don't think Bale is that guy. He's nearing retirement age and I think in his head he already has a little bit.
I’ll hold my hands up on this one, I was all for bringing him in on loan and felt we missed out when he went to Spurs.
Definitely dodged a bullet, he’s completely done-for.
Definitely dodged a bullet, he’s completely done-for.
He was always going to be very rusty but he's had 6 months to get fit and show some sort of will to come back. It's not there. Not sure he will even bother with the MLS/China move. Get his final paycheck from Madrid and call it a day.
He's won a lot, scored amazing goals but it's starting to get sad now.
He's won a lot, scored amazing goals but it's starting to get sad now.
What for, if we have to pay his full wages he can spend a year at home
He’s been a joy to watch in his career and it’s quite sad to see him finish like this. Should have gone out early like Cantona, but can’t turn down that insane salary I suppose.
Title change
Funny how you change the title when you said this.
I told you not to think too much.
*shrugs*
Will he be playing golf in India with @GlastonSpur?
Not sure York could afford his wages, tbf.
I'm actually going to give credit to Woodward for avoiding this.
same here. I would never have signed him for a fee but I thought it was a win win on loan. there’s really no point having a loan who never plays. Everyone arguing for months that we’d be better if we just played Bale, what’s the point of signing him etc etc and then we finally do and he’s absolutely crap and it’s not like we weren’t warned! Bullet and all that drama dodged
Bale vs Trump
Never seen such a deteriation in a player. Yes he's 31 and past his peak but what we are seeing now is just painful to watch.
Crazy he’s only 31, he’s playing like he’s 37.
Woeful appearance today.
Why did you stop him going to China a few years ago? Terrible idea in hindsight.
Wouldn't surprise me if Levy is the one behind bringing Bale back to the club. He probably picked him to start today as well.
I suspect that he simply lost his passion for the game and the professional game in particular. It happens and sometimes great athletes retire early, in this case he decided to take all the paychecks that Madrid owe him.
Mourinho has a history with this sort of thing. Alexis at United, Falcao at Chelsea.
Naah don't agree, even as bad as he was!
Asensio got injured, we lost a summer derby 7-3 and Florentino got cold feet
Since he was 29!
I havnt seen too much of him tbh but looking over his stats they are not that bad for Spurs. 624mins in all comps, 4 goals, it's ok, not great, and certainly not worth his wages. But people here making out like he should be playing for Dag and Red. Traore has 1239mins for 1 goal. Lucas Moura, 890mins 5 goals and 1 assist, pretty much on the same sort of level in regards to output as Bale, and much better than Bergwyijn.
Having said that Spurs have the option to just ship him back to Madrid at the end of the loan, which will probably happen as he is not in any way validating the ridiculous wages he is on. If he was on say 80k a year, sure, keep him around. 600k a year he is having a laugh.
Having said that Spurs have the option to just ship him back to Madrid at the end of the loan, which will probably happen as he is not in any way validating the ridiculous wages he is on. If he was on say 80k a year, sure, keep him around. 600k a year he is having a laugh.
I might be wrong here but I think he started playing regularly for Southampton at the age of 16. That combined with the type of player he was at his peak, the injuries he’s had , combined with the fact that he’s not passionate about football the way a Zlatan or Ronaldo is means it’s not too much of a surprise to see things go south for him at a relatively early stage.
This is why stats shouldn't be taken as gospel. His 4 goals have come against Lask, Wycombe, Stoke and Brighton. Brighton is the only one that really mattered.
It was only like one and a half year ago I believe. I never thought he would be finished at the professional. 31 is still an age where many top players are still playing at the highest level. It's sad to see such a steep decline of one of the finest British footballer in the modern era. Perhaps he himself knows he is done so he didn't mind going to China as well. The fanfare and hype he first signed for Real Madrid, being the most expensive footballer in the world at that time, comparison with Ronaldo and his current state is just sad to see.
Of course, he has nothing to play for. He has been at the biggest stage, scored winners in CL finals, won the La Liga and CL trophies and largely been at the pinnacle of the sport. The only thing left for him to be motivated by is his legacy which frankly not all players worry about.
He isn't a Pele or a Di Stefano that he needs to wring out every juice in his body to cement his position as a great in the game or to be able to look at himself in the mirror. He looks at himself all right and doesn't have any misguided notions of being the best in the game. He has enough money to not have to worry about the rest of his life and he is only putting in boots every week so that he can keep collecting his last few checks.
After this contract is over, he still may go to China or to the US as a prop for an upcoming club who can continue to pay him for the image of him being associated with them. Then he will bow out and go into the sunset enjoying his immense wealth for the rest of his days. I don't think he really gives a feck about what the world thinks of him at this stage.
UGHHHHHHHHH
It’s a bit insane that he was bought with an idea of eventually having him succeeding Cristiano... yet he has basically retired 2 years ago while Ronaldo is still going strong.
'Better than nothing' I was told in the summer
Kane gets £200k a week and was the highest paid player at Spurs. That was until Bale walķed back through the door. He's currently earning £600k a week. RM pay half of that, the rest Daniel Levy. Bale is doing nothing more than going through the motions. His body language says that. Zero intent in his play! No doubt Levy was behind the move to bring Bale back to Spurs. It's not paid off nor has his choice of manager. 2 very bold decisions that are having very negative effects on the club, fans and players. And its only the beginning!
I mean, guy was playing professional football since 16 in tough leagues, having many injuries. Its quite normal his body can behave older. Same it was case for Rooney.
The lesson from all of this, if a player looks like he is finished, if a player isnt scoring like he used to, if a player isnt assisting like he used to and is actively having arguements with his board/manager/coaches chances are he WON'T be back to normal once his manager/coach/board situation is resolved. We saw it with Sanchez and we have seen it with Bale. The excuse made for sanchez was that he wasnt interested in playing for arsenal anymore and that is why his performances were terrible for atleast 6 months - 12 months prior to his transfer. Bale much the same, terrible performances but oh if he leaves real he might refind form. No.
This is a lesson for all of us. Older pro's once they get off the train tracks, dont often come back on the train tracks
This is a lesson for all of us. Older pro's once they get off the train tracks, dont often come back on the train tracks
I agree to an extent that he’s been playing since he was 16 and his body just isn’t up to it anymore, however his attitude is really terrible it’s been like this for more than a few seasons as well. He was the guy sitting on the bench at Real using a face mask as night goggles ( I’m not sure what you call those things) and paying more attention to golf than football. It’s just a parody now him sitting on the bench picking up pay cheques and not even trying when he’s needed. A real shame his career has come to this but I have no sympathy for him because he doesn’t give a shit either.