What a pleasure it has been, over the past year, to watch the emergence of Gareth Bale—all the more so because it’s unlikely that the pleasure will last. Already the British press is scrutinizing him too closely, discerning immense significance in every blaze of success and every damp squib of failure—and not even failure, just games without scoring or setting up goals. Bale’s utter destruction of Maicon in the Champions League matches with Inter was followed by a loss to Bolton and a draw with Sunderland, and some of the same people who had just been claiming that Bale is the equal of Messi turned and (equally forcibly) chastised the world for making too much of a couple of games—only to have Bale come back with a brace against Blackburn, leading to a renewal of the Messi comparisons.
It’s enough to make a fellow seasick, and one wonders how well someone with Bale’s retiring personality will handle it: he’s been known to blush when being praised in interviews, and when told by Harry Redknapp, earlier this season, to take a few days at the beach, he went home to stay with his mother in Cardiff. All this is just the kind of thing that the British sporting press eats up like free bags of crisps, and would stand a chance of making even the most assertively outgoing among us a trifle self-conscious, but there may be one avenue of escape for Bale: he’s Welsh. This has spared Bale, and us, ten thousand reports comparing the innocent, clean-living, modest, and (relatively) late-emerging Bale with the crass, selfish, formerly prodigious, smoking-drinking-pissing-and-screwing Rooney. (Which is to say, we’ve only gotten a few hundred such stories.)
But leaving all this aside, as best we can, let me say it again: what a pleasure it has been to watch Bale these past few months. As something like an old-fashioned pacey winger in a game not dominated by pacey wingers—and a left-footer playing on the left, which is becoming kind of counter-cultural these days, given the influence of left-footers playing on the right and cutting in, a la Arjen Robben and Messi—he doesn’t see the ball a great deal, which causes the observer to gasp a bit and rise six inches off the sofa when he does get the ball in space.
Bale is a pretty big man—though the player-info sites I’ve seen all list him at 6 feet even, Redknapp says he’s 6’2″, and I believe ‘Arry. Bale’s bursts down the left flank are therefore thunderous in nature, which tends to paralyze opposing fullbacks, making him look even faster than he is. Adding to the effect is his ability to make slight changes in direction without losing pace: a defender leans two inches to one side and Bale is instantly past him on the other, looking absolutely jet-propelled—and he does this while keeping his head up and his eyes scanning the field. The precision of his crosses is wonderful in itself, but more impressive still, to me anyway, are his ability to pick out the right attacker to cross it to and the timing of those passes.
In the coming months I expect to see teams try to take away Bale’s left foot, to push him towards the center of the pitch where he has to use different skills and find different angles for his passes. If he can develop a cultured right foot, to coin a phrase, then he really will be among the game’s best. But right now he’s having a great time blasting down that left flank, terrifying defenders and giving his teammates every incentive to run as hard as they can to get into the box—because if they do, Bale will get them the ball. And if they don’t, he just might take it himself and score. What fun.
Of course, this is just one of several hundred things that Messi does to be dangerous, while’s it’s almost the only thing Robben does to be dangerous. But you get the point.
Read More: Gareth Bale, Tottenham
by Alan Jacobs · November 19, 2010
If Jordan Henderson is worth twenty million pounds, how much is Gareth Bale worth?
(ANSWER: enough to bail out Ireland single-handedly.)
“The precision of his crosses is wonderful?” He was 1/10 on crosses against Blackburn and Sunderland, 2/6 against Bolton, 0/7 against United, 0/5 against Everton.
He’s a one-dimensional player and he’s not even really good at that dimension.
When the spirit is willing, Robben can be dangerous in a variety of ways, as evidenced here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHrKOw0DLZI&feature=related
The reaction to the reaction that Bale has had sums up why it’s always better to be playing in a league that English speaking journalists don’t watch.
Someone like Messi is scrutinised nowhere near as much in the English press, hence people only pick up on his excellence, not his mediocrity.
Bale, on the other hand, has had two or three outstanding games this season, which has led to all his other performances being overly criticised.
@Tim Bale’s targets are Roman Palyuchenko and Peter Crouch. I’m sure if he were pinging crosses to Drogba or someone like that he’d have more crosses completed.
Perhaps one of the finest and evocative titled pictures to accompany an article? My friends and I think Beowulf when Bale is discussed.
Well chosen!
@Tim
They said Cristiano was 1d, and Nani too. The actual words were “one-trick pony.” Sometimes players can be so predictable yet no one does anything about it. For example – Messi cutting in onto his left foot. It’s so obvious when he’s going to do it and yet he scores every time.
@dth no pun intended?
@Tim
He’s created the most goalscoring opportunities of any player in the league according to an article in the Guardian last week, I’m sure if you tweeted OptaJoe he’d be happy to confirm this stat.
You might also want to tweet OptaJoe to ask him how long it’s been since your lot won a trophy, you must have run out fingers and toes to count on by now.
Good post, what’s interesting is that its not just Bale who has risen from the Championship to be a top Prem player have a read of The Championship, the ‘wonder kids’ shop window!
http://upper90magazine.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/the-championship-the-wonder-kids-shop-window/
@Patrick We all spam for page hits, for page hits, yes we all spam for page hits yes we doooooo.
@Matt it’s been just five years and if I count in leap years, just two, which coincidentally is the same number as your IQ.
Hope you enjoy the 50th anniversary of Tottenham having won the League! Judging by the way your club plays, it’ll be another 50.
@Matt They can’t be really quality chances when so many go begging.
There is definitely a slightly frustrating desire to point out his supposed weaknesses. Until he scored a few recently, I’d heard people citing his assists / goals record this season as ‘evidence’ that he’s overhyped.
Don’t put him in a fantasy football team then, but in the actual game it’s clear he’s a young player with a range of skills, and he’s getting better and better.
Even his ‘quiet’ games this season have seen him contribute, and he’s scored with his head, from late runs into the box, has a great free kick in his locker, really good close control to get out of a tight spot etc. etc. He’s not just a one trick pony as some say – he’s just got one blindingly good trick which means its easy to overlook all the other really good aspects to his game.
@Tim Ouch. So crotchety and this was before your lot went down to Spurs. Are you impersonating Arsene?
@Tim Lotsa Gunner tears there, bud. Don’t worry, we’ll beat you when you come to the Lane, too =)
@Tim http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_HitwU_ZFY
He had two amazing games against Inter. For people who have never played football, or truely watched it, you would overly criticize him. There is like one in a million chance that you play that well against every team you play. It’s pretty much impossible. He has so many aspects to his game already at the tender age of 21. He can run all day, he’s fast and quick, he can dribble, he’s left footed, gives pin-point crosses, can give one of the best free kicks, can head the ball, and defend. So all of you saying crap about him, go get a life.