adminLONDON. — For all the words that will be written about Gareth Bale after his world record transfer to Real Madrid, his career so far is a fairly simple one to surmise — he used to be an awkward left back that cursed his Tottenham team, now he is a phenomenon.
It is admittedly a simplistic summary. There is plenty within that period that could be scribed in glorious detail, words dancing from the page about the goals, the runs, the highs and lows and his trademark (and now, actually, trademarked) celebration.
But the prevalent narrative remains — Bale was an ungainly teenager who failed to win his first 24 league games with Tottenham Hotspur.
Now he’s won a similar amount for them on his own.
How and when this happened is up for debate, such was the speed of the transformation. It was as if he was struck by an erethral object from the skies, like the origin story of a lycra-clad superhero.
The far less interesting reality is that Harry Redknapp deserves credit for moving Bale further up the pitch, a decision vindicated by Bale’s remarkable performances in the 2010/11 Champions League, particularly against Inter Milan.
Bale would score 11 goals in 2010/11 and followed that with another 13 the season after. But the arrival of Andre Villas-Boas in the summer of 2012 saw Bale entrusted with a freer position behind the striker.
A return of 26 goals suggests it was a touch of genius from the former Porto manager, and underlined the fact that Tottenham had a rare talent in their side.
There was mutual admiration between Bale and Villas-Boas. Bale appreciated the freedom to cause panic, while Villas-Boas appreciated Bale’s versatility in playing across the front three.
After Spurs’ 2-1 win over Newcastle United in February, Villas-Boas spoke of his adaptability: “He’s enjoying his football through the middle,” he said.
“Today we started as we finished the game at West Brom, with Bale on the left. We gave him the same freedom obviously when the player feels good about the position, he enjoys it more, and he was able to provide that second goal with his individual brilliance.”
This brilliance was demonstrated by Bale’s hat-trick on Boxing Day away to Aston Villa, which came with the Welshman featuring heavily on the left-hand side.
Due to a striker injury crisis, he moved up front for the aforementioned game against West Bromwich Albion and scored the only goal of the game.
He stayed central for Spurs’ 3-2 win against West Ham in March, and after scoring two goals he would move there permanently. This adaptability will come as a relief to Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, who now must decide how to utilise the Welshman.
It is some lump of clay to mould. Bale is a 6-foot-plus footballing machine, with shoulders approximately six feet wide and a shot that could have brought down the Berlin Wall. He combines unerring confidence with unwavering consistency: ball meets foot, foot flies towards goal and the world fawns. Sound familiar? It will to Ancelotti.
In Cristiano Ronaldo, he already has that sort of player — a player capable of playing either on the left-hand side or through the middle. — Telegraph.
Online Reporter