Real Madrid: 3 reasons why Gareth Bale is the best option at RW

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Real Madrid’s Welsh forward Gareth Bale (L) and AC Milan’s French defender Theo Hernandez vie for the ball during the international friendly football match between Real Madrid and AC Milan at the Worthersee-Stadion in Klagenfurt, Austria, on August 8, 2021. – Austria OUT (Photo by Johann GRODER / various sources / AFP) / Austria OUT (Photo by JOHANN GRODER/APA/AFP via Getty Images) /

Gareth Bale played well in Real Madrid’s friendly vs Milan

Okay, I know it’s not best to predict a season off of a single friendly; I know. But, if that’s the sample size we get, We’ll have to roll with it. Gareth Bale had a great half against Milan. He looked good, comfortable on the right and had some freedom to roam with the ball centrally. He tried to create chances for Luka Jovic and Rodrygo, and in general was doing really well to link up with the attack and midfield.

The Welshman also swapped wings a couple of times and whipped in a few dangerous crosses. If this is any sort of indication to what we’ll actually get from Bale, I think he’d be a good fit.

As I said, he was trying to do things with the ball centrally, which isn’t something we got to see from him all that much under Zinedine Zidane, especially after the 2015/16 season. He took a few shots from long range, a couple were on target, a couple were not. But, I loved seeing him showing the intent to do stuff like that and not be afraid of the outcome. This was a rare occurance a couple of seasons ago.

One of those central runs in behind the defense is what won him the penalty as well. True, the penalty wasn’t great, by any means, but it was so refreshing to see him actually be involved in the passage of play.

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