If Gareth Bale can stay fit, he will be key to Real Madrid’s title fight

Gareth Bale will be key to Real Madrid‘s title fight this season, but only if he can stay free from injury.

Gareth Bale is a curious case. His time at Real Madrid has been a mixed bag – phenomenal at times, average at times, and horribly irrelevant at times. For a player who was brought in to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s successor, both in the team and at the Balon d’Or podium, he has just not lived up to expectations.

His run of injuries hasn’t helped his case either. Every time he seems to be getting back into form, some injury takes him off the radar again. He has not been bad, mind you, he has been decently good (exceptional at times). It’s just that Madridistas expected so much more, both on the field and within the dressing room, from him.

This year, his pre-season was bad, to say the least.

He did not score, had minimal impact on the run of play, and was looking like a lost puppy. The critics and fans were quick to pick on that, and most people branded him a liability for Madrid; an expensive one at that.

However, given how things have played out in the last few weeks, Madridistas can hope again. Here is why a revitalized Bale could be the answer to Real Madrid’s troubles this season.

Positive Start to the season for Bale

He has started the season on a positive note.

With 3 goals and 4 assists, he has been the most involved player in terms of contribution towards goals. While his finishing at times has left a lot to be desired, things are looking up for Bale. Particularly against Dortmund, one could see streaks of vintage Bale – pace, power, and precision. If he can maintain this momentum and build on it further, he could be lethal again for Madrid.

Prime of his powers

Gareth turned 28 a few months back, typically an age where players enter their peak having matured over the past few years.

He has seen it all at Madrid in the last 4 years– language issues leading to isolation, massive swings in form leading to fickle fan behavior, coaches coming pre-maturely and leaving in the same fashion, glorious wins and abominable losses, transfer speculations, whistles, Ronaldo’s perceived bitterness, everything. There is nothing more they can throw at him that he hasn’t seen before. He is now in a position to take it all in his stride and conquer his demons.

There is nothing more they can throw at him that he hasn’t seen before. He is now in a position to take it all in his stride and conquer his demons.

His game has evolved since he joined Real Madrid, and so has his demeanor. This mental toughness is what is needed to succeed in a club as demanding as Madrid.

Bale is THE second forward after Cristiano

Let’s accept it, Real Madrid have been caught napping in the transfer window.

They have a real issue in the striker position, with Karim Benzema as the first-choice and Borja Mayoral as the backup. No real replacement was brought in for losing the goal-scoring abilities of James Rodriguez, Alvaro Morata, or Mariano Díaz. It has shown in the lethargic performances in front of goal.

Nothing can be done about that situation until January, except for looking for solutions from within.

And Gareth Bale is again the answer here.

From what we have seen so far from this team, they play their best when the midfield is dominant. Whether a 4-4-2 or 4-3-1-2, Madrid should play with 2 upfront. One of them will be Ronaldo, hands down.

The other one should be Bale, not Benzema. If he can continue this form, Bale has a lot more to offer as a forward than Benzema. And thankfully, Ronaldo seems to be enjoying playing with Bale. He has been generously passing to Bale as well, which is a very positive sign given their perceived aloofness and lack of connection.

2016/17 was an aberration, this season will be different

Last season’s goal-scoring pattern was an exception for Madrid. Pretty much all outfield players scored in some way shape or form. Goals came from anywhere and everywhere, Madrid could get by without a consistently dominant or consistent front three.

It’s excessive to expect that to repeat this year, or in other years. Madrid were lucky last season to salvage situations in last minutes. That luck was missing in the three matches where they dropped 7 points. They must resort to the norm, of having at least two world-class, consistent goal-scorers up front.

FC Barcelona have Suarez and Messi (and Dembele, if he lives up to the hype), PSG have Neymar and Mbappe, Chelsea have Morata and Hazard, Atletico Madrid have Griezmann and Costa, Manchester United have Lukaku and Zlatan, and Juventus have Dybala and Higuain.

All are top-notch teams who will be contenders for the Champions League and have at-least two quality forwards. Bale needs to take that role for Madrid, alongside Ronaldo.

Both need to share responsibility. And Bale should shoulder more of it early on so that Ronaldo can keep some gas in the tank for the business-end of the season.

When in doubt, Real Madrid should have clear channels to pass the ball to, instead of hoping for a Ramos header or an Asensio wonder strike. That does not happen every day, and has not happened in crunch situations this season so far. Almost all supremely successful teams in the past have had phenomenal forwards, Zidane needs to remember that.

Conclusion

Gareth Bale still has a lot more to offer to Real Madrid.

He is only 28, which is almost hard to believe since he has been glorified and written off multiple times during his time with Los Blancos. Madridistas are hoping for the Bale of Euro 2016 – a powerful and pacey beast wreaking havoc for defenders.

But as I write this, he is again down with an injury. He missed the home match against Espanyol and latest reports confirmed that he is going to miss the most crucial World Cup qualifiers for Wales – against Ireland and Georgia. Unlike Real Madrid, he is the superstar for Wales; they were relying on him to carry them to Russia, that looks to be an uphill task for them now.

What is it with Welsh players and injuries – Ramsey at Arsenal and Bale at Madrid? We can only hope that this is a minor concern for Bale, which he can recover from soon and get back to being the beast that we all know he can be.

If he stays fit and carries on this early season form, this could be his season, where he can again stake his claim for Madrid’s throne.

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