The fall and rise of Gareth Bale

For all you football fans that watched Match of the Day over the weekend, one goal would've taken your breath away - Gareth Bale's wonder volley in the 30th minute against Stoke. 


With Aaron Lennon on yet another mazey run and with, seemingly, nowhere to place the ball, he lofts a perfect pass across field to the waiting Bale in the far left corner of the box. However, instead of bringing it down, Bale executed an exquisite left footed volley into the far corner that no keeper would've stopped. This goal got me thinking about the career of Bale since he joined Spurs from Southampton in 2007.

Labelled the best young left back in England at the time and courted by the likes of Manchester United, Bale chose to join Spurs for a fee that could potentially rise to £10million. For the then 18 year old, this seemed like a hefty price tag for someone so young and it seemed like money wasted until January this year. Plagued by injury coupled with a record of 24 league games without a win whilst he finished the game, his career seemed more stop than start. Redknapp, this morning, admitted that Bale needed to up his game when he arrived stating "When I first came to Spurs, Bale was still a baby, he always seemed to be limping off the training ground every time he got touched" whilst going on to note that he spent more time with his hair than trying to improve his overall game (sounds like David Bentley syndrome to me!)

Redknapp's first move to aid the youngster was to bring him at the beginning of last season in the 5-0 demolition of Burnley to rid the record he possessed presumably to help build up his confidence. However, despite this chances still came rarely for Bale until January of 2010. With the African Cup of Nations on the horizon, Spurs' first choice left back, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, was picked to represent Cameroon in the competition before injury, ultimately, ruled him out. Bale had his chance and he grasped it, firmly, with both hands. Away at Leeds in the FA Cup was the game that really stood out for Bale as it gave him a real chance to test his physical and mental strength on a cold January night up in Leeds. An, almost, man of the match performance (Jermain Defoe scored all three goals in that win thus securing that accolade) led to fans up and down England sit up and take note of the re-emergence of Bale.

Since then, Redknapp has chosen to utilise him on the left wing rather than at left back and to destructive effect (just ask Michel Salgado and Paulo Ferreira) with his strength, pace and ability to whip in a deadly cross. Ultimately, Sir Alex Ferguson took note of his success and was hoping to lure Bale to Old Trafford as the successor to the original Welsh Wizard, Ryan Giggs. Fortunately, for us Spurs fans, Bale signed a 5-year deal to stay on at White Hart Lane so we can see yet more man of the match performances from The Welsh Wizard MK: II.

So, barring injury (again), Bale can easily become one of the worlds best left wingers. He has all the potential to reach the top and, with Redknapp still in charge, the sky is the limit for the talented lad from Cardiff.

Will write again when I get the chance.

Laters,

Macca