IS BALE BEATEN

Is Bale Beaten

Gareth Bale, an excellent footballer, an amazing young talent and a bubbly personality had condemned him to be one of the best and most popular footballers in the world during his spell at Tottenham. However, his inconsistent form and selfishness on the pitch has caused a selection of the Real Madrid faithful to vent unfair criticism towards him and make his dream transfer to into a transfer from hell. 

Bale started the 2014-15 season in decent form and aided Real to win the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla, which was his third piece of silverware since joining the club. This form continued and he later bagged his first goal of the season in a 4-2 loss to Real Sociedad and scored in the victory over San Lorenzo to win the FIFA World Cup. However this was when things went wrong. 

When playing against Espanyol Bale blitzed through their defence and had a decision to make. Pass to arguably the best player in the world or back his own ability and take it on himself. We all know what he should have done, but this is the decision that lost the majority of fans patience in him. A ring of boos bellowed around the Bernabeu stadium as his effort rolled wide and the frustrated Ronaldo pointed angrily at where the ball should have gone. But isn't this a bit hypercritical from a player who's almost being labelled as the arrogant selfish one. 

Bale cost the club a world record fee of €100 million, and needs to showcase his ability to get the fans approval, but how is he going to this without taking risks, without being selfish. Since this event against Espanyol Bale has been heavily criticised for not getting involved in the game enough, and by some commentators for being too safe. So what can he do? 

Like many transfers these days the price of the player often overshadows how they perform on the pitch, and it almost daunts the player knowing the extreme amount of pressure that's on their shoulders. Knowing your one of the most expensive players in the world must affect your performance, I just hope that his critics and the Real Madrid fans can get off his back because then you will see an improvement in his performances. 

On the other hand I am aware that if you are paying that much for a player you expect them to be able to deal with pressure,perform on the big stage and choose the right option when in possession. But this again brings up the main issue regarding football at the moment:money. Money along with the media is constricting young promising talent of their full potential. 

Thinking, back to the headline of this article 'Is Bale Beaten', we'll surprisingly no he isn't. Even though Bale has had to deal with this constant criticism from teammates, fans and the media as well as the hefty price tag that looms over him he's being able to deal with it. On match day 27 of the La Liga season Bale netted a brace to secure the three points for Real and answer his critics for the time being. After a surprising run of horrible results that has saw Reals chances of the La Liga title diminish and their Champions League dominance fade away, this win and Bale goals was vital in regaining the fans support.