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.
Gareth Bale retires | Begins his golf career next month
- Thread starter Pexbo
- Start date
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?
It's disappointing, sure, but doesn't take away from how good he was at his peak.
One of the Worlds highest paid golfers
And the rest of your post ...
Eh? You can say the exact same thing about Rooney. Rooney did virtually nothing in his last 7-8 years. Even his last 3 or so years at united he was doing not a lot of anything notable.
Last 7-8 years, given he left in 2017that takes you back to 2009/10
He would have had a Balon'dor if Messi and Ronaldo weren't around. He was just unfortunate to be around in that time.
He was just that good.
He was just that good.
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
One of the few players that I felt was destined for United and it never happened. Not that he'll mind like.
At his peak everything he did was absolutely brutal. Unbelievable player.
At his peak everything he did was absolutely brutal. Unbelievable player.
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.
While Ronaldo was there, it was Ronaldo. As soon as Ronaldo left, they went all in on Modric who promptly won it. They later did the same with Benzema who was the latest member of that team to win a balon dor.
It was a stacked squad and the chances of Perez and co campaigning for Bale rather than any of the rest was low.
Won alot at Madrid and played a big part in those successes but Ronaldo's presence means he was never as appreciated. You always got the feeling with Ronaldo at Madrid that he made sure (very successfully) that it was about himself.
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.
I also like to think that despite winning the title by 13 points last year with Bale scoring just the 1 goal in his 5 appearances, the opposition were so demoralized at the thought that Real could afford to leave such an immense talent on the bench that they gave up.
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.
Personally I think he would have been more of a great if he stayed on the wing instead of trying to become poor man’s Ronaldo and bulk up and try to be a finisher centrally. Bale at home against Inter in 2010 is some of the finest traditional wing play I’ve seen this century, he was still effective but the bulking probably caused injuries and made him less thrilling, aside from a few big moments.
He's massively overrated on here based on
1. Being British/Welsh
2. A few iconic big game moments for Real Madrid
Consistently never put it together apart from 2 seasons at Spurs due to injury/golf
Fantastic player when he could be arsed/fit I guess. Internationally gave his all for Wales but wouldn't rank him as a top 20 player based on international performances over his career.
He wouldn’t have Suarez Neymar and Robben had better chances at a ballon d’or if Messi and Ronaldo weren’t around.
I remember watching a lot of the Wales games at the millennium stadium when he first came into the team at 17, we couldn't even fill the bottom tier with attendances of about 10,000. While the rest of the team trudged off he would be doing a lap of the stadium applauding all the fans, always gave 110% for the country and inspired the best spell for Wales by a long way with Euro 16 and finally qualifying for the World Cup after so many years. I always wished he signed for us instead of spurs but ultimately it probably helped him become the player he did, I don't think he would've had the first team opportunities with us that he was given at spurs so early on, coming into that 07-08 team. I think some people forget just how good he was for spurs that season before Madrid signed him.
Very high on my list of non-united players I've admired.
Very high on my list of non-united players I've admired.
At his very best, there's only Messi I would have above him in a one-off game. He had that big-game mentality that made Rooney and Gerrard so appreciated by their fans. Cracking player!
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.
A few iconic big game moments for Real Madrid? For two years before he went to Real Madrid he was the best player in the PL and then followed that with 4 or 5 excellent seasons in Spain. A return of over 100 goals for Madrid is not a few iconic big game moments but if you want to reduce it to that then he was the decisive player in 2 of their CL wins and also scored the winner in the Copa Del Ray. The dippers think their entire squad should be enshrined as the finest team in history for winning the CL once.
His international performances need perspective too. Wales qualified for 1 world cup and 0 European Championships pre Bale. He was the driving force behind back to back Euro qualifications and getting Wales to the Qatar World Cup. Messi, Ronaldo, R9 etc. never faced the pressure of knowing that they were the only player capable of carrying their country to a majot tournament, they always had teammates who could get the job done if they had an off day but Bale could never afford an off day. Wales performance in Qatar is essentially what Wales without Bale look like, I know he was there but his body was gone, and it is not a pretty sight so I would say for his Herculean international accomplishments alone he is one of the greatest to ever play the game.
I'm searching for the white text...
Excluding Giggs which British player has a better trophy cabinet than he does?
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.
One of the best offensive players of his generation and one of the most clutch players in recent times. Even helped tiny Wales make a historic run during the 2016 EURO's and helped qualify them for the recent World Cup after decades upon decades of not qualifying.
Just a further confirmation of how stacked that RM team was. You had potential match winners in almost every offensive position and a great squad depth, great leaders on and off the pitch and managers such as Carlo and Zidane.
Surely Bale has to be in the conversation of best all-time British players? His pedigree in European football (CL) will most likely never be beaten. Of course it helps playing for RM and one of the best RM teams of all-time if not the best.
They have a special connection with that tournament and when they win it, they tend to win A LOT of CL's in a very short span time. This has occurred in each of their 3 successful CL periods. Who would have thought that a team that did not won a single European Cup/CL between 1966-1998 and just once between 1960-1998 (almost 40 years) could have 14 (!) European Cup/CL trophies combined in the span of 67 years of European Cup/CL football?
Anyway great player that likely could have been even better if not for his injuries and a very underrated part of RM's recent CL success. To me he outshined and outperformed C.Ronaldo in the CL finals that RM won alongside with Sergio Ramos if we look at it in combination. The win (2014) that kickstarted their CL run, was mainly the work of Ramos (obviously), Bale and Di Maria as I recall it.
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.
Team trophies are important factors if you are comparing players of a similar level/talent and who played for similar clubs that had the ability/opportunity to win those team honors to begin with.
I don't think that any sane Man Utd fan would claim that Shearer for instance was a worse player than OGS just because the latter has a far superior trophy cabinet. Gabriel Jesus is not 2-3 times the player that Kane is either etc.
Just a further confirmation of how stacked that RM team was. You had potential match winners in almost every offensive position and a great squad depth, great leaders on and off the pitch and managers such as Carlo and Zidane.
Surely Bale has to be in the conversation of best all-time British players? His pedigree in European football (CL) will most likely never be beaten. Of course it helps playing for RM and one of the best RM teams of all-time if not the best.
They have a special connection with that tournament and when they win it, they tend to win A LOT of CL's in a very short span time. This has occurred in each of their 3 successful CL periods. Who would have thought that a team that did not won a single European Cup/CL between 1966-1998 and just once between 1960-1998 (almost 40 years) could have 14 (!) European Cup/CL trophies combined in the span of 67 years of European Cup/CL football?
Anyway great player that likely could have been even better if not for his injuries and a very underrated part of RM's recent CL success. To me he outshined and outperformed C.Ronaldo in the CL finals that RM won alongside with Sergio Ramos if we look at it in combination. The win (2014) that kickstarted their CL run, was mainly the work of Ramos (obviously), Bale and Di Maria as I recall it.
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.
Team trophies are important factors if you are comparing players of a similar level/talent and who played for similar clubs that had the ability/opportunity to win those team honors to begin with.
I don't think that any sane Man Utd fan would claim that Shearer for instance was a worse player than OGS just because the latter has a far superior trophy cabinet. Gabriel Jesus is not 2-3 times the player that Kane is either etc.
Last edited:
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.
For Madrid he was incredibly inconsistent. Was he ever a starter for them in the way Ronaldo or Benzema was?
The one that got away. I remember all the hype he was receiving back in like 06/07 when we wanted to sign him but he chose Spurs, doubt he ever even joins Madrid if he initially joins United. One of the greats of his generation, his last few years at Spurs were as good as anything we've seen in the Premier League
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.
One of the truly world class, modern day players, when fit in my opinion. His record in big games and finals speaks for itself.
Which was 1 season for Spurs (great player before that obviously, Maicon is somewhere having nightmares still)
I think he's one of the best of his era. Not as high as many place him, but he's had a fine career.
6 month loan? 
well signing I suppose!
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.
Bale was nailed on to leave at the end of that year until Zidane quit and Ronaldo packed his bags for Juve at which point Perez refused to entertain the notion of Bale also leaving. Zidane returning less than 12 months later was of course the worst thing that could have happened from Bale's perspective and contributed greatly to the squandering of the last 3 years of his career in Madrid. In the world of what if, the possibility of Bale and not Ronaldo leaving in 2018 as had been widely expected is fascinating and I am certain is a source of real regret for all concerned.
I’m not really arsed who the fastest player was/is when judging best ever British player
Rooney was a first 11 player at Man Utd so had no reason to move
Bale was a bench warmer
George best was the best player arguably for Man Utd, and won world player of the year
Bale was not the best player at Madrid and hasn’t won world player of the year ?
he wasted his career with an alcohol problem and seems he couldn’t handle the celebrity status, bale choose to be a bit part player
"Well, Gareth. You've played all over the world during a great career. What would you say has been your favourite club?"
"I dunno, probably my 6 iron?"
"I dunno, probably my 6 iron?"