There's a difference between 'wasnt exactly good' and 'did nothing'. Especially if you're going with a 7-8 period. Last years he wasnt exactly good, true but 7-8 years is a bit of a stretch don't you think.
Depends on the knowledge, if people have forgotten him in a few years time the knowledge about the game was never there. He has won 5 CL and is probably the best welsh player of all time.
Would you (and others who criticise his early-ish drop off) say the same about George Best, who left United as a 28 year old as they were relegated and next turned up at 4th division Stockport County?
And the rest of your post ...
Rooney retired in 2021 his last 7 years takes you back to 2014
I'm including Rooney's time after United in that 7-8 years, he did not hang up the boots when he left Manchester United. He played for Everton, D.C. United, and Derby. Like I said Rooney only retired in 2021, it's like on this forum as soon as he left United he retired, that is certainly not the case.
I've probably said the same at some point, but the truth is it's hard to say. He's never come 3rd for the Balon d'or, and might not have won as many CLs if Ronaldo wasn't around. I'd say his level is similar to peak Robben/Ribery, and is generally correctly rated.
I and everyone else thought you were referring to his United career
While he carried the team in the 2014 and 2018 UCL finals, Madrid always campaigned for an individual player within the team for the baloney dor.
He would've campaigned for him if he ever performed to the level Benzema achieved after Ronaldo had left. Remember he was supposed to be the main guy in their attack after 2018 but he didn't step up.
The bolded line isn't even up for discussion, go look at how many goals and appearances Bale had when Madrid won La Liga while he was there.
Quantity isn't always what counts. In 2016-17 he scored only seven goals after missing half the season through injury but they won the title by 3 points and considering he scored a couple of match winners they could easily have finished in 2nd place without him.
He wasn’t that good, he was never the third best player in the world. At Real Madrid he wasn’t really consistent enough and drifted in and out of games. Had good highlights though.
He's massively overrated on here based on
He wouldn’t have Suarez Neymar and Robben had better chances at a ballon d’or if Messi and Ronaldo weren’t around.
I would actually argue he gets underrated on here because of the bolded part due to the British tendency to want to cut down our own when they do well. If he was Brazilian there would be no debate over his status as a modern great.
I'm searching for the white text...
Maybe Bobby Charlton as he won the league, World Cup and European Cup? Then individually a World Cup golden ball and a Ballon d’Or. Giggs and Bale don’t have the World Cup, depends on how much you rate it as essential.
Exactly, Nobby Stiles also has the league, WC and EC, Bale and Giggs are from a small country that have never had and probably never will, a chnace to win the WC - that doesn't take away from their achievements and nor should it dininish from the ones who did
Well 5 CLs more than make up for a world cup I'd say. Especially given that winning one with Wales is pretty much impossible.
Absolutely. But these days everything is about final third moments in cup completions namely the Champions League it seems. At that Bale was excellent. However he's one of those players who aside from those moments was a pretty basic player at times and surrounding by a truly great team - at times he made that final third impact as he does well but at other times his general often stuck out as being really sub par. It's like how Rooney was much greater than his stats suggest , Bale was basically his stats with the rest just there for dressing. Fine stats and a man of many good moments of course and hence he was an excellent footballer.
Not many given Real Madrid are CL specialists and that was their second best European era. But if we're focusing only on Europe then that's true for all RMs squad members from these past years.
Yes, using team trophies won as an key argument for individual ability/performances is an oxymoron by large. There have been many passengers for clubs like Barça, RM, Bayern and Man Utd (Ferguson era) that have amazing CV's in terms of team trophies won but who were far from being all-time greats in terms of talent.
Yes I don't reduce players to just how well they performed in big games. It's a factor but it gets inflated by others.
I could be wrong since I was only a teenager at the time but IIRC he chose Spurs because they offered a far easier route to the first team, doubt he would've gotten much first team football at United considering how good that squad was TBF.
He was the best player in the Premier league when he left Spurs and scored a boatload of goals for Madrid, plus it's not like Wales were consistently qualifying to international tournaments before he arrived. He's got the performances, trophies and personal accolades to be considered one of the best of his era whether he's British or not.
Which was 1 season for Spurs (great player before that obviously, Maicon is somewhere having nightmares still)
well signing I suppose!For his first 4 years there he absolutely was but did miss a lot of games through injury in that 4th year which was when Zidane began playing Isco alongside Ronaldo and Benzema. Zidane felt the team was more consistent with Isco although less exciting and so the following year there was a lot of tension as Bale was on the bench a fair bit and it was a very fractious season in general, they failed to defend the La Liga title and the Spanish media and fans complained about the style of football although it ended with the 3rd CL win of the 3 in a row and that bicycle kick.
I’m not really arsed who the fastest player was/is when judging best ever British player
George best was the best player arguably for Man Utd, and won world player of the year
