It’s a shame that Gareth Bale was once one of the best players in the world, but his career has just fizzled out and he’s in danger of only playing for Wales in the next year or two.
It doesn’t sound like there’s any chance of a team being able to afford to take him away from Madrid, so he’s faced with two choices as he approaches the end of his career.
He can sit back and improve his handicap, or he can do something that gets him back into the Real team.
A report from AS has looked at how he could reinvent himself and force his way back into Zidane’s plans, and it does make for interesting reading.
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In many ways it seems like they think he could simply become an instant starter again if he regains his motivation and tries harder, but there’s more to it than that.
They point to a lack of goals from the Welshman, and indicate that he was expected to step up and contribute more when Cristiano Ronaldo left, but he’s actually gone the opposite way.
In that case then goals could be key, so he needs to find a way of scoring more often. His main asset is his pace and it’s still frightening for any defender to face, so finding a way to utilise that is important.
If we presume Eden Hazard will play a bigger part next year, that should take some of the attention away from the other flank and that could open things up for Bale.
He can either find a way to find a ruthless streak from the wide right position, or he could even have an impact in a central role.
Karim Benzema likes to drop deep and that should leave space in behind for someone to rush into, and that would be ideal for Bale.
It’s not clear where he stands at this point and how much he’s going to play, but let’s hope he does find a way of getting back to his best.