at their prime? Putting injuries aside it’s bale for me and it’s not close. He had absolutely everything in his locker. Real shame that he never came to United
Prime Bale or Prime Salah?
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Salahs great strength is his consistency so I agree. Peak Bale is better but you'd rather have Salah in your team cause he's more guaranteed.
Stats isn't everything but just a cursory glance over their stats from their best seasons;
Bale in 13/14 - 22 goals 19 assists
Salah in 17/18 - 44 goals 15 assists
Bale was exceptional. A freak of an athlete and the last couple of years at Spurs and first couple of years in Madrid where he put it all together he was damn near unstoppable but I'd be pretty comfortable in taking 17/18 Salah over the 13/14 Bale.
Yeah, Salah scores like crazy, but I just enjoyed watching peak Bale more.
And if Cristiano had 70 per cent of his actual talent.
Definitely Salah over a season. In a one-off big game you might pick Bale because he had amazing physical talents - immense pace, incredible acrobatics and power as he demonstrated. But week to week, game to game, Salah's much better. Bale was never as consistent as Salah.
Yeah sure, me too but the question who was better.
Not every player has their ‘prime’ at the same age.Wasn't Bale golfing in his prime
It’s Salah. Bale was better to watch, but Salah is more effective.
The guy has never gotten fewer than 20 goals a season in all comps at Liverpool. His lowest PL goals tally in a single season is 19 — Bale only hit that number (or higher) in a league season twice.
The guy has never gotten fewer than 20 goals a season in all comps at Liverpool. His lowest PL goals tally in a single season is 19 — Bale only hit that number (or higher) in a league season twice.
Bale could win you games by himself, Salah is just a very good finisher but you could mark him out of a game rather easily and has been done by many a defender.
Agreed in terms of a full season. Also think Bale has better highlight goals and big game presence. See Copa Del Rey final goal + CL final bicycle kick.
Would Salahs numbers be the same if he had Ronaldo on the other wing, I’d fancy Bale would’ve continued dominating the Prem if he’d stayed
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Bale had a better prime. He was basically Ronaldo lite and was the most exciting player in the league during his last season at Spurs imo.
Salah beats him for consistency though.
Robben is similar to Salah in that he was just so consistent, averaging like 0.8 G/A per game for like 7 years in the Bundesliga.
edit: It was actually more like 10 years for Robben.
Not looked at the stats but I think Robben was less prolific than Salah also? Also playing in an easier league. So while Bale has the highest peak, if you’re ranking them over an entire career I’d say
1. Salah
2. Robben
3. Bale
Salah beats him for consistency though.
Robben is similar to Salah in that he was just so consistent, averaging like 0.8 G/A per game for like 7 years in the Bundesliga.
edit: It was actually more like 10 years for Robben.
Not looked at the stats but I think Robben was less prolific than Salah also? Also playing in an easier league. So while Bale has the highest peak, if you’re ranking them over an entire career I’d say
1. Salah
2. Robben
3. Bale
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Prime Bale if i could take him just at his peak.
If we're talking in a real team over the course of their career then Salah.
But Prime/Peak Bale was a different animal to Salah. He would and did win games single handedly in a manner few players have ever been capable of (remember those goals vs Inter Milan where i think he was playing at left back?). Not to mention he literally came to a CL final half fit, having played feck all and just won the game. At his peak (which was probably end of spurs/start of madrid?) he was just a force in the same way peak ronaldo or peak suarez were. Just unplayable. He could beat 4 players or he could smash it in from 30 yards out and the power and accuracy of his shots is something Salah has never had.
(I'm not dissing Salah btw - he's a ridiculous player in his own right and like I say, i'd take Salah for United over Bale any day of the week)
If we're talking in a real team over the course of their career then Salah.
But Prime/Peak Bale was a different animal to Salah. He would and did win games single handedly in a manner few players have ever been capable of (remember those goals vs Inter Milan where i think he was playing at left back?). Not to mention he literally came to a CL final half fit, having played feck all and just won the game. At his peak (which was probably end of spurs/start of madrid?) he was just a force in the same way peak ronaldo or peak suarez were. Just unplayable. He could beat 4 players or he could smash it in from 30 yards out and the power and accuracy of his shots is something Salah has never had.
(I'm not dissing Salah btw - he's a ridiculous player in his own right and like I say, i'd take Salah for United over Bale any day of the week)
Both in their prime? Bale. I feel Salah is very overrated.
Salah for me, just an amazing allrounder and consistent. Bale had an amazing peak but also not as reliable as Salah
Bale
Bale's last season for Spurs was ridiculous. Salah has better numbers in his best season for Liverpool, but there was just something unstoppable about Bale at his best for Spurs.
Bale is a far better big game player. Salah more consistent.
Absolutely carried Wales above their level. Scored so many clutch goals for Madrid in the CL.
Absolutely carried Wales above their level. Scored so many clutch goals for Madrid in the CL.
Fit and in their prime is Bale every single day if the week. Hugely underrated player.
For a a 3-5 year spell though it's probably Salah due to his durability.
For a a 3-5 year spell though it's probably Salah due to his durability.
Yeah this is pretty much where I fall as well. It's really close, but yeah. Bale had a wow factor Salah doesn't have, but the latter is just more complete and consistent. Though Bale does have more high profile big game moments going for him
Different players for different systems. I doubt Bale would be as prolific in this Liverpool side as Salah.
For this United side it would be Bale all day long. Salah would struggle to hit the numbers he does now for us.
For this United side it would be Bale all day long. Salah would struggle to hit the numbers he does now for us.
It makes no sense actually You cannot just pick a fraction of time in an entire career. Any and almost every player has a time they played out of their skin and looked world class e.g Adama Traore vs Man City covid times
We can expand and include
Prime Kevin Phillips, Prime Ciro Immobile, Prime Diego Forlan (All European golden shoe winner) >>>> Any striker who has never won Golden shoe e.g Nistelrooy, Samuel Etoo
Bale was just an unbelievable big game player - when Wales in 2022 was trying to qualify for their first World Cup Final since 1958 ... Bale scored all 3 goals in the playoffs, 2 against Austria (2-1) and then the only goal against Ukraine (1-0). He could barely run and wasn't even close to match fit and he still absolutely dragged his country to the World Cup.
Salah has been much more consistent and had the better career, but if I get healthy Bale for a match I'm taking him 100 times out of 100 over Salah.
Salah has been much more consistent and had the better career, but if I get healthy Bale for a match I'm taking him 100 times out of 100 over Salah.
Tough call. Salah obviously the better overall player but Bale always showed up for the big games whereas Salah often goes missing. Over the course of a season I'd probably take Salah though.
You need a team to be creating chances for Salah.
Bale could win a game in his own
Bale could win a game in his own
You'd have to go for the lad that actually cared about the game, Salah. Bale could have been even better than he was!
Disagree with those saying Salah is a better all round player. I would say he has more game intelligence, positioning and slightly better finishing but Bale is better at pretty much everything else.
Salah can be extremely wasteful in possession but he often pops up in the right place for a goal, Bale had the ability to make his own goals regularly and had the knack of coming up big in important games. Way ahead in ability for me.
Salah can be extremely wasteful in possession but he often pops up in the right place for a goal, Bale had the ability to make his own goals regularly and had the knack of coming up big in important games. Way ahead in ability for me.
Salah's a better short passer. And quite a bit a better finisher I would say, and far more potent in the box. Bale only scored more than 20 goals in a season 3 times in his career. Salah's done it 7 years in a row now and the one before it was 19 goals.
but it's actually the other way around. Except for coming up big in important games, that's correct
That’s a fair point actually. We’ve seen how Benzema blossomed into a Ballon d’Or winner after Ronaldo left. It’s just a hypothetical though. I can’t give Bale points for what he might have done in a team without Ronaldo.
The idea that Salah does not have the ability to create goals on his own is hilarious to me. What player have you watched the past 7 years?
Exactly this. It is extremely hard to maintain high level for many seasons.
Salah for me.
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Bale was absolutely phenomenal and I’d even argue the best player in the PL since Ronaldo.
Bale
Wales and Egypt, both below average sides over the years. One player stood out as clear levels above his teammates, the other blends in with his average teammates. Its always a good indicator to identify a world class footballer vs a world class goalscorer.
But for the modern game its more valuable to have the more effective player over one that's more talented.
But for the modern game its more valuable to have the more effective player over one that's more talented.
The best player on paper yes. Their goalkeeper Gabaski was by far their best player throughout that tournament if you watched it. They got to the final off of being sound defensively and him being fantastic in goal. You bringing up Salah exemplifies my point. When he wasn't scoring, you couldn't identify who was the world class player in the Egypt side.