Soccer, Primera Division News:
Strange things have been going on lately on the Santiago Bernabeu, as Real Madrid’s most expensive player, Gareth Bale has been receiving a large dose of criticism from the team’s fans. Some sections of the stadium booed him in some of Los Blancos previous matches and this has raised the question whether this is the end of Bale’s stay on Bernabeu? Even though the situation is not perfect, the answer is no.
Statistically, Bale has been scoring at the same pace as last season, with one goal in every two games he has played. He has been an important part of Madrid’s success and good form this season, which leads us to the main question – why have the fans criticized him? Well, the answer is easy – everybody has been thinking that Bale has been acting selfish on the field, not passing the ball when he has to. There have been a couple of times this season, when Bale chose to shoot, rather than pass the ball to his teammate, Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo’s angry outbursts on the field have made the whole situation a lot worse than it really is. If we look into the statistics we will see that the Welsh hasn’t been as selfish as everybody thought – Bale has passed to Ronaldo 52 times, 9 of those passes turning into assists. On the other hand Ronaldo has passed the ball to Bale 46 times, only one of those passes becoming an assist. The numbers show that the player from Wales doesn’t really deserve the negative comments that he receives.
Nevertheless, he isn’t the first footballer of such caliber that receives critics from the fans – Iker Casillas has been also booed this season, while Karim Benzema has also been criticized a lot of times during his career. The Frenchman, though, has made a very good comment regarding the critics he receives – “I am at a big club and there is always a lot expected of me. I am a Real Madrid striker and that means I have to score in every game. That’s the way it is,’ Benzema was quoted as saying by AS. I was booed last season. Iker Casillas has been booed. All of the great players who have played for Madrid have been booed: Ronaldo, [Zinedine] Zidane… For me it’s not a problem. I will continue to work hard to change the situation. We’ll talk about what I’ve won when my career is over. I play for a huge club. I know there is a lot of expectation.”
Furthermore, Carlo Ancelotti defended Bale in one of his post-game press conference after he was asked if he thinks the Welsh player is being selfish during the matches – “Bale being selfish? Gareth is doing everything he can to help the team. The Bernabeu also applauded him two or three times last Saturday.”
As a conclusion it can be said that it’s hard to believe that Gareth Bale will leave Real Madrid just because of some criticism. He is a magnificent player that will surely find a way to overcome this challenge and prove his critics wrong.
Primera Division: Gareth Bale called "ball hog" and booed by fans - is this the end of his stay on Bernabeu?
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