Despite winning four Champions League titles, scoring two of the most iconic goals in club history, and elevating the team to “best in the world” status upon being signed, Gareth Bale remains the most maligned player on Real Madrid. It seems like every other month, Bale is accosted by angry fans at the team’s facilities, and, more often than not, this seems to happen when the right winger is trying to get back from another injury.
It is as pathetic as it is embarrassing. Here we have Bale, a player in the twilight of his career who is leaving the club anyway, scapegoated by a few angry young men who need to find a new hobby to challenge their energy. Preferably something that actually benefits society and does not cast an entire fanbase in a negative light.
The truth is that as much as the media likes to fan the flames of hatred against Bale – even by positioning the club as angry with the player – most fans appreciate him. They agree with his agent Jonathan Barnett’s assertion that the actions of the fans who insult Bale are indeed “disgusting”.
And this is because most fans are rational, contrary to what the media may present to you. Madridistas, for the most part, understand that while Bale is not someone who can help the team in 2021-2022, he has given this club a lot over the years. On the subject of his lack of contributions, they also understand that his body is breaking down, and that is through no fault of Bale’s.
Gareth Bale has earned the right to be treated with the utmost respect
Like any professional athlete, Bale wants to be at the top of his game. Or at least useful. No athlete is content with sitting on the sidelines injured, regardless of the money coming in, which is the one fact people like to weaponize against Bale. But how can he be blamed for signing a contract he earned? If you would like to blame anyone, then go after Florentino Perez for not heeding Zinedine Zidane’s request to sell Bale and keep Cristiano Ronaldo.
Bale has earned the respect and support of Madridistas, even if he is not a key player. He wants to finish the final days of his contract in Madrid peacefully. For despite every amount of vitriol sent his way – and perhaps some of it was earned in 2019-2020 with his antics on the sidelines – he still loves the club. The city. The positives that mean more day-to-day than a few juvenile fans who do not understand the pressures or struggles of being an elite athlete at the end of your career.
So have some empathy for Bale and some self-dignity. The more you go after him, the more unappreciative and petty you look. And it is not a good look in the slightest, neither for you nor for the Real Madrid fanbase as a whole. Bale is the last of Real’s issues right now.
Whatever he can give is a bonus. He is just a veteran player, a superstar of an era passed, trying to rehab his injuries in peace and leave fond memories for both club and country before moving on to the next chapter in his life. Because, yes, there is life after football for these players. They are not robots, as much as a few immature fans would like to treat them as such.