Gareth Bale | Golfer, ex-Footballer, Elbower of racists, ***********, Golf Ambassador, Bar Owner, Real Legend, Defibrillator

SadlerMUFC said:
So it's correct because it's what the majority says? Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe the majority says that because it's a popularity contest and the majority isn't really looking at the facts? Bale is directly involved in 9 goals in finals. I had to combine Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo to beat him and make it 10. But they are the legends and Bale isn't? Go on, tell me more about how the majority is right and this isn't a popularity contest

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Why bother watching games if all that matters are numbers

#SofaScore4Live #OptaEnjoyers #BrunoFernandesTheGOATofMidfielders
 
SadlerMUFC said:
So it's correct because it's what the majority says? Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe the majority says that because it's a popularity contest and the majority isn't really looking at the facts? Bale is directly involved in 9 goals in finals. I had to combine Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo to beat him and make it 10. But they are the legends and Bale isn't? Go on, tell me more about how the majority is right and this isn't a popularity contest

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Slow down there buddy. Bale is in no way shape or form “a legend”. He has great ability but a poor mentality. It’s insulting to compare him to players that actually want to play football and not golf.
 
Wolf1992 said:
Why bother watching games if all that matters are numbers

#SofaScore4Live #OptaEnjoyers #BrunoFernandesTheGOATofMidfielders
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Numbers probably tell you more than watching will to be fair, which is why the sport is currently ran through numbers, and not just football, every sport..... but they need to be used in context, those comparisons lack context.
 
SirReginald said:
Slow down there buddy. Bale is in no way shape or form “a legend”. He has great ability but a poor mentality. It’s insulting to compare him to players that actually want to play football and not golf.
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I see you have swallowed the Spanish media Kool Aid. Bale wants to play and it is an absolute nonsense to claim a player with his achievements is not a legend. I am not talking about ranking him along with other legends but you do not know him to be able to claim he has a poor mentality. His lack of appearances at Real since the last CL win are mostly due to the selection decisions of the Manager and it is hardly his fault if Real blocked him from leaving when he had agreed a transfer and Zidane wanted him gone. If you played for a club where the Manager did not want you in the team but the board would not let you leave would you be happy about it? Of course they would have let him go this season but having trashed his value over the preceding two seasons and in a post COVID world he had no options available.
 
Quite a few of the Madrid players of that era are overrated due to their CL feats.

I’d say only Ronaldo, Kroos, Marcelo, and maybe Ramos are actual all time greats. The rest are in the top tier, but not the absolute best like their accomplishments would have you believe.
 
In a one off game at his absolute peak, Bale would be in my top 5 of all time Brits probably. Like someone else said though he bloomed quite late and faded very early when he shows in these one off games he still has it. Madrid has been a weird combination of the perfect and not so perfect move for him. He has GOAT goal moments (Copa Del Rey and CL finals) and a bunch of trophies to back up his time there but you feel at another club he could have personally achieved more.
 
He'sRaldo said:
Quite a few of the Madrid players of that era are overrated due to their CL feats.

I’d say only Ronaldo, Kroos, Marcelo, and maybe Ramos are actual all time greats. The rest are in the top tier, but not the absolute best like their accomplishments would have you believe.
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modric
 
He'sRaldo said:
Quite a few of the Madrid players of that era are overrated due to their CL feats.

I’d say only Ronaldo, Kroos, Marcelo, and maybe Ramos are actual all time greats. The rest are in the top tier, but not the absolute best like their accomplishments would have you believe.
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Good picks but Casillas, Alonso, Modric, Varane and Pepe are all time greats from that era too IMO
 
Zen said:
Numbers probably tell you more than watching will to be fair, which is why the sport is currently ran through numbers, and not just football, every sport..... but they need to be used in context, those comparisons lack context.
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Eye test matters, otherwise scouts wouldn't watch games to sign players, they would just look numbers and stats.

And yes, context matters for numbers.
 
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Cascarino said:
Don't think Bale comes close to Zidane.
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Barely anyone thinks he deoes. The bigger question is whether is as good as his Spurs compatriot Modric and I'd say a huge no to that one as well. Modric is among the greats in CM. Bale is among the really good wide players. He's really not among the best players of this Madrid generation and outside their core bracket of key players. Let alone compare to Zinedine fecking Zidane.
 
Genuinely would not surprise me if there are multiple Premier League teams, including us, in for him in the summer
 
SirReginald said:
Slow down there buddy. Bale is in no way shape or form “a legend”. He has great ability but a poor mentality. It’s insulting to compare him to players that actually want to play football and not golf.
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Exactly...he's not a Madrid legend. Is that because of his performances? Nope. He's clearly been better for Madrid than these other 3 legends. So why isn't he a legend? Because it's a popularity contest and has absolutely nothing to do with footballing ability or what he achieved on the field. Madrid didn't deserve Bale...
 
If he were called Garethé La Balé people would drool over him.

If you don't like Bale then in my opinion you're anti-English.
 
Bale ruined everything for himself at Madrid by not shaving his head. Zidane made it clear in training that Gareth was making him sad by flaunting his beautiful locks in his face and yet Bale dug in even to the extent of persevering with the man bun in 2022 when it was last vaguely fashionable 5 years ago. What a parasite!
 
Gandalf said:
Bale ruined everything for himself at Madrid by not shaving his head. Zidane made it clear in training that Gareth was making him sad by flaunting his beautiful locks in his face and yet Bale dug in even to the extent of persevering with the man bun in 2022 when it was last vaguely fashionable 5 years ago. What a parasite!
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Almost, but not quite. In truth, Zidane despised him for not being proud of his balding spot at the top of his head which Bale was covering up with the man bun.
 
SadlerMUFC said:
Exactly...he's not a Madrid legend. Is that because of his performances? Nope. He's clearly been better for Madrid than these other 3 legends. So why isn't he a legend? Because it's a popularity contest and has absolutely nothing to do with footballing ability or what he achieved on the field. Madrid didn't deserve Bale...
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he outstayed his welcome there. He should of done a Ronaldo and left at the top.
 
Bale obviously isn't anywhere near Zidane and even further away from Ronaldo (real/original). He isn't better than Figo either. *

As for how successful his Real Madrid career has been, that's more worthy of debate. But if you're going to base your arguments exclusively on his g/a contributions - and use these to compare him directly to other players without any context - well, there you go: you get this thread, I guess.

* Incidentally, that is close to what I would say about Giggs as well. Or rather, prime Giggs. The latter is a player you can compare Bale to - and it isn't obvious who is better there. Again, if we're talking prime. Giggs obviously destroys Bale completely on longevity and overall career trajectory.
 
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Let's ask some actual Real Madrid fans, why don't we?

@giorno @Iker Quesadillas @Madridista2000

Gareth Bale, best British player of the modern era? Better than Beckham, Rooney? Better player for Madrid than Figo, R9, Zidane? What is your opinion?

Edit: Has he exceeded expectations?
 
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Chesterlestreet said:
Bale obviously isn't anywhere near Zidane and even further away from Ronaldo (real/original). He isn't better than Figo either. *

As for how successful his Real Madrid career has been, that's more worthy of debate. But if you're going to base your arguments exclusively on his g/a contributions - and use these to compare him directly to other players without any context - well, there you go: you get this thread, I guess.

* Incidentally, that is close to what I would say about Giggs as well. Or rather, prime Giggs. The latter is a player you can compare Bale to - and it isn't obvious who is better there. Again, if we're talking prime. Giggs obviously destroys Bale completely on longevity and overall career trajectory.
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It’s a shame how many people like you can’t read properly in this thread.

Nobody is saying he is better then them players overall.

The initial discussion was Bales time at Madrid and some posters were making it out like he has just about justified his transfer fee.

He has clearly exceeded expectations.
 
Chesterlestreet said:
What do you base that on?

Given that I've a reading comprehension problem, I'd ask you not to use any big words.
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:mad:

information has already been posted on the previous pages detailing why.

I would advise you to READ the past couple of pages.
 
Tottenhamguy said:
I would advise you to READ the past couple of pages.
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I'll consider it.

It doesn't immediately strike me as particularly great reading, though, to be honest.

I was kind of hoping for a tl;dr kind of answer - but I don't blame you for not obliging if you've answered the same question a million times already.
 
Tottenhamguy said:
It’s a shame how many people like you can’t read properly in this thread.

Nobody is saying he is better then them players overall.
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To be fair, i have read this thread and the last pages have been monopolised by SadlerMUFC literally posting a picture of stats and arguing that Bale has been been than R9, Figo and Zidane and others saying he is better than Giggs, Scholes, Gerrard etc in one off games with only Rooney to compare.
 
horsechoker said:
If he were called Garethé La Balé people would drool over him.

If you don't like Bale then in my opinion you're anti-English.
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Anti-English? Because there’s people who don’t like Bale.

Firstly the man is Welsh.

Secondly I don’t like him but I admire his ability. If his mentality and ability matched then I would simply have no opinion of him.

He plays victim to the media far too much for my liking. Some of it is unfair but some of it isnt. He rejects it and hasn’t tried to improve himself as a person. That’s what ai don’t like. He is essentially a modern day Winston Bogarde (with ability) at this point. It’s very nice Martyring yourself when your on 300k a week.
 
He is a great matchwinner and that's fine. But he is nowhere near the level people are portraying him to be, but it's expected with bias included considering that the majority of people here are from UK/Wales (and fair enough, everyone overrates their won).

I just find it amazing how people support his not giving a feck about football and ruining his career in the process, I don't think I've ever seen player getting so much support for not giving a feck about his career, such a hypocricy when you read this thread and discussion about basically any other player in the world.

amolbhatia50k said:
Barely anyone thinks he deoes. The bigger question is whether is as good as his Spurs compatriot Modric and I'd say a huge no to that one as well. Modric is among the greats in CM. Bale is among the really good wide players. He's really not among the best players of this Madrid generation and outside their core bracket of key players. Let alone compare to Zinedine fecking Zidane.
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He is nowhere near Modric's level. Probably few tiers bellow him, it's not even comparable.
 
Suppose Flo had access to the knowledge of future events, but only limited to Bale's most clutch moments. The final against Barca, the 2 CL finals, and any other game of huge significance, if there were any. He doesn't see the rest of Bale's career, not even the controversies, he only sees the clutch moments.

Does Flo still pay £85m in 2013, knowing only the above? You bet he does, because Bale's contributions in these games were gigantic. It's exactly finals like those that perfectly characterise Flo and Madrid; winning the best titles and being the best in the world, with no time wasted in any other pursuit.

Bale is an indelible piece of Madrid history, no matter what Flo and the fans have to say about it
 
SirReginald said:
He plays victim to the media far too much for my liking. Some of it is unfair but some of it isnt. He rejects it and hasn’t tried to improve himself as a person. That’s what ai don’t like. He is essentially a modern day Winston Bogarde (with ability) at this point. It’s very nice Martyring yourself when your on 300k a week.
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If you are comparing him with Bogarde then you really have no idea what you are talking about. He hardly plays the victim at all let alone too much, he simply keeps his mouth shut most of the time as he is in a no win situation and frankly does not seem to give a stuff what the media in Spain say about him at this point. The post after the last Wales game was his first comment on the situation in over a year and if you read it he spoke in general terms about the impact negative press can have on athletes who are struggling but quite specifically again pointed out that he personally is not bothered.

Bogarde deliberately hung around for years refusing to move, Gareth has made several attempts to leave even getting so far as having a deal in place which Madrid agreed to and then changed their minds about at the last second. Madrid have made it impossible for him to leave and refuse to play him so what the hell is he supposed to do?
 
Gandalf said:
If you are comparing him with Bogarde then you really have no idea what you are talking about. He hardly plays the victim at all let alone too much, he simply keeps his mouth shut most of the time as he is in a no win situation and frankly does not seem to give a stuff what the media in Spain say about him at this point. The post after the last Wales game was his first comment on the situation in over a year and if you read it he spoke in general terms about the impact negative press can have on athletes who are struggling but quite specifically again pointed out that he personally is not bothered.

Bogarde deliberately hung around for years refusing to move, Gareth has made several attempts to leave even getting so far as having a deal in place which Madrid agreed to and then changed their minds about at the last second. Madrid have made it impossible for him to leave and refuse to play him so what the hell is he supposed to do?
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He doesn't speak but his agent did, attacking the coach repeatedly. Either he can't control Barnett or he uses him without showing his face.
Like the golf-themed flag thing, in which he appeared without being very "aware" of it.
The only option he had to leave was China, but the Chinese club did not want to pay. Barnett also said on several occasions that they had no intention of looking for a new team. That lack of interest was seen in the loan .It was Tottenham because only Tottenham showed interest
 
carvajal said:
The only option he had to leave was China, but the Chinese club did not want to pay.
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Which was understood throughout the negotiations and Madrid were happy to get his wages off the books and Zidane was ready to drive him to the airport. The club pulled the plug at the last second and now whine about being stuck paying his salary but it is all their own fault. The fact remains that he was willing to go so to blame him for still being there is completely false.

Of course there were no major bidders last year. Zidane left him to rot on the bench all season during 19/20 after the transfer was cancelled and then COVID hit so nobody was looking to spend big money in that window. Madrid got a chunk of his salary paid and a pretty decent loan fee from Spurs and he made the move. If he did not want to play as some are suggesting he would have said no thanks and stayed on the golf course.

I don't consider Gareth blameless in all of this but Madrid did an awful lot to create the current situation and yet the persistent narrative has been to try and shift all of the blame onto the player. He wanted out after the CL final over Liverpool but Perez would not let him go once Ronaldo and Zidane announced they were off, he wanted out again the following year and the club cancelled the deal and the year after that he spent the season out on loan. I don't get where this is Gareth refusing to play or being disrespectful to the club, it is just a horribly mismanaged situation where the club kept the player longer than they should have and his value has declined to nothing. I know all about that because United have been doing that for years with multiple players.
 
Tottenhamguy said:
It’s a shame how many people like you can’t read properly in this thread.

Nobody is saying he is better then them players overall.

The initial discussion was Bales time at Madrid and some posters were making it out like he has just about justified his transfer fee.

He has clearly exceeded expectations.
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@SadlerMUFC is, no?
 
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