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| Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo |
Gareth Bale would be assured legendary status if he played anywhere
else. For his first season alone, he should be guaranteed a lifetime of
goodwill.
He has found in the last 12 months, though, that life with Real Madrid
isn’t like anywhere else at all. A defining goal in the Champions League final?
A stunning effort to beat Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final? It stands for
nothing if the locals - who love to find a scapegoat - turn on you.
And that is what has happened to Bale. Watching from the sidelines on
Wednesday night, as Juventus destroyed Real’s hopes of retaining the Champions
League, I saw a player who was timid and lacking confidence. The spark that
made him so scintillating to watch had gone.
To get it back, he should return to the Barclays Premier League this
summer. Never mind what some people are saying about sticking it out in Spain
for the sake of British football - this is about a young lad’s career. He would
not be taking the easy way out. Who benefits from him being unhappy?
A move home would make sense on a number of levels, not least as while
Cristiano Ronaldo is there, scoring a goal per game and dominating the agenda,
Bale - no matter what he does, not even after a debut campaign that included 22
goals and 17 assists - is in a fight he will struggle to win.
Ronaldo does not want to be upstaged and will always be Real’s main man.
I don’t know him but I don’t get the sense he is putting an arm around Bale’s
shoulder or looking after him in the dressing room. Why? Look at how he sulked
when Bale took a goal off him against Levante in March.
Does Bale have to put up with that? The more Ronaldo
sulks when Bale does something he doesn’t like, the more the Bernabeu crowd will
react with fury. That was evident when he missed a glorious headed chance
against Juventus with the score at 1-1.
Being an £86million player in Madrid means you are gauged differently.
Whether he likes it or not, Bale will always be measured against Ronaldo,
Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo, other world-record signings who produced magic
just when it was needed.
These past two years will have been a culture shock for Bale, who is
clearly down to earth and quite shy. Life at Tottenham couldn’t have prepared
him at all for what has hit him in Madrid, where the expectation is to win the
Champions League or La Liga - or both - every year.
Had he moved from Manchester United, Liverpool or Chelsea, it would
still have been a massive step but on Wednesday I saw how the pressure was
having an impact. He was passive and, though he looked more likely to score
than Ronaldo, he couldn’t stamp any authority on the contest.
The Bale I played against demanded the ball and made things happen with
his explosive pace, strength and aggression. He had football arrogance but not
once did I see him demanding his team-mates give him the ball against Juventus.
His personality should have come to the fore.
Perhaps life is just too different for him. He understands Spanish but
has not yet given an interview to the Spanish press in their language and,
given how long he’s been there, you have to wonder whether that would change
next year. But it would be good to see him come home.
First, we have lost too many top players - Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and Xabi
Alonso to name three - to La Liga in recent years and getting Bale back would
reclaim some balance. We want box-office players and he would immediately
become the Premier League’s No 1 performer again.
His influence in La Liga might have dipped but in 30 games, he has 13
goals and nine assists - compare that to Eden Hazard, our double Player of the
Year, who in 36 games has scored 14 goals and provided eight assists. The
difference is minimal.
Second, he would automatically improve whichever team he went to. If
Chelsea decided to show interest and he went to Stamford Bridge, nobody would
catch them in the race for the title next season. Equally, if the Manchester
clubs signed him, they would be right back in the hunt.
Nobody could suggest, either, that he has failed. Bale has won four
medals for Madrid.
Of the players who have left the Premier League to join them, such as
David Beckham and Michael Owen, only Steve McManaman has enjoyed anywhere near
the impact of the Wales international.
Playing for Madrid, it must also be said, does not suit everyone. Do we
regard Kaka, Arjen Robben or Wesley Sneijder as being poor players after a bad
time in Madrid? No chance. Robben and Sneijder, remember, won the Champions
League after they moved on.
Still Real say Bale isn’t for sale and their all-powerful chairman,
Florentino Perez, likes him. Meanwhile, Jonathan Barnett, his agent, also
maintains Bale will not leave but that will not stop speculation raging about
what happens next.
Should he get the chance to come back to the Premier League, he must
grab it with both hands. His achievements with Real are there for all to see.
Now it would be good to see him playing with happiness again.
Moyes should stay put
So the end appears to be approaching for Sam Allardyce at West Ham. With
his contract up at the end of the season, Saturday’s game against Everton looks
likely to be his last at Upton Park.
If – or, perhaps, when – West Ham sever their ties, I think it will be
extremely harsh. Allardyce has done everything asked of him by his employers
over the last three years, from winning promotion to the Barclays Premier
League, keeping them up and then getting them re-established.
David Moyes appears to hold strong claims to replace Allardyce. He
remains highly-regarded with his fine work over 11 years at Everton a true
indication of his managerial abilities, not nine bad months at Manchester
United.
But would that be right for both parties?
West Ham fans, for starters, are craving to see some mavericks in their
team, players who will make them look forward to go going to games once more.
Moyes, meanwhile, is not a carbon copy of Allardyce but he is not the most
expansive, maybe something Hammers fans want, and wouldn’t fill his squad with
entertainers.
Moyes would be better served having another 12 months in Spain. It is a
great experience for him taking on Real Madrid and Barcelona and that will also
give him more time to put his departure from Old Trafford behind him.
The United job is just like managing England: scrutiny follows those who
have held the post and if Moyes was to come back to West Ham and lose a few
games early on, the attention on him would be bigger than if another man was given
the job. Neither he nor West Ham need that right now.
This week I'm excited about... an epic Champions League final
It was nice to get my hands on the best trophy in club football
once again this week in Madrid and Thierry Henry felt just the same.
Winning the Champions League is something that never leaves you and it
would be fantastic to see my old team-mate Luis Suarez cap a brilliant first
year in Barcelona in the best possible way against Juventus on June 6.
There is a part of me, however, that is torn. As the countdown begins to
the final in Berlin, I have been thinking more and more about Gianluigi Buffon
and hoping that he gets to put the gloss on his own extraordinary career.
The goalkeeper has been an emblem of Juventus in the modern era. I would
have loved to see him come to the Barclays Premier League at some point but he
showed Juventus tremendous loyalty by staying after they were relegated to
Serie B in 2006 after a match-fixing scandal.
He could have followed Lilian Thuram, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Fabio
Cannavaro out of the club but he stayed and his contribution on Wednesday night
was significant, not least when he made a fine save to deny Karim Benzema.
I would happily raise a glass if Buffon does go on to complete his set
of medals.
Bale have to leave madrid
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