Real Madrid: It’s sad to see the current Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale arrived at Real Madrid with a lot of promise as the excitement for his signing was probably only beaten by the excitement Madridista’s felt for Cristiano Ronaldo. Bale arrived as the most expensive player in the world and he was ready to prove himself on the biggest stage, which he did multiple times before going down a steep downward path which saw him not even be called up for the game against Manchester City.

Reports have suggested that the Welshman asked Zinedine Zidane not to call him up because he knew that he wouldn’t play but in the end, the fact that the manager was completely okay not calling him to the game means that he’s so low in the pecking order that regardless of the situation of the match, Gareth Bale won’t play. When you combine that with the fact that Zidane simply isn’t a fan of the forward, Bale simply made things easier for the manager.

As someone who can say that they have been a massive fan of Bale for the past few years, I have defended him whenever I was able to. He was (and maybe still is) a special talent who offered a lot to the team. Even when he was correctly benched for players like Rodrygo Goes or Marco Asensio who were performing better than him, it was still easy to defend him and lean back on a statement such as “but he will help us whenever he is called upon, we have seen it countless times.” Then Gareth Bale went to war with the media and things took an even uglier turn.

Bale is a somewhat quiet individual as his infamous agent, Jonathan Barnett, is the one who holds the microphone in that relationship. It was good though because regardless of the hole that his agent dug for him, Bale’s quietness in the background always gave him an opportunity to come out and deny anything or fix his image.

There is no way back for Gareth Bale at Real Madrid

However, the player decided to take a different turn; more of a “passive-aggressive” route: He started acting as though he was “sleeping” on the bench and made obvious gestures to show that he simply does not care anymore. This is all coming after Zidane played him and Bale simply didn’t do well enough. Instead of aiming to prove himself and do everything in his power to get more minutes on the pitch, he decides to mock the media and people watching.

If you want to make a quick comparison, compare Bale to Mariano Diaz who was asked to leave and told that he won’t get any minutes. Instead, he stayed and even though he barely got time on the pitch, he fought during every single second. His efforts were rewarded with a goal against Barcelona. Bale got more minutes than Mariano and wasn’t able to take advantage of it at all.

We have found ourselves saying this every summer but I do not see any way back for Gareth Bale. Zidane is expected to stay as the manager and therefore, mending that is almost impossible. Bale will need to find a solution and even though his agent continuously says that there is nothing wrong between the manager and player, everything else proves otherwise. Bale may be happy in Madrid but he doesn’t seem happy at Real Madrid and that’s what it all boils down to.

At 31-years-old, the player still has the necessary requirements to play for a good English club – the reason I say this is because the British media still love him and defend him. A change of scenery and going back to where he can feel more comfortable can bring out the best of the player from now until the end of his career. Of course, his wages will be a lot lower but it’s something that he will need to accept if he has any chance of retiring positively in football.

It really is sad to see what has happened to Gareth Bale. The player has gone from possibly being one of the greatest to ever play the game to being mocked and joked about whenever his name is mentioned. It’s true that he had many opportunities to change that but unfortunately, things haven’t gone well for him whatsoever and it will be extremely interesting to see how everything plays out for him during this summer.

If he truly decides to stay at Real Madrid for the remainder of his contract, things won’t end well and they will definitely get a lot uglier from here.

Gareth Bale really could have been one of the world’s best but injuries and his attitude put a very, very dark shadow on that.