Jamie Carragher believes that Gareth Bale is fighting an uphill battle at Real Madrid and ought to cut his losses with a return to Premier League football.
The final straw, the Liverpool legend claims in his Daily Mail column, came with the timidity he showed during Real’s Champions League elimination at the hands of Juventus and Carragher admits that Bale’s spark seems to have faded.
“To get it back, he should return to the Barclays Premier League this summer. Never mind what some people are saying about sticking it out in Spain for the sake of British football – this is about a young lad’s career. He would not be taking the easy way out. Who benefits from him being unhappy?”
Carragher points to the strained relationship between Bale and Real superstar Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the reasons that the Welshman has been scapegoated by the Madrid supporters.
“A move home would make sense on a number of levels, not least as while Cristiano Ronaldo is there, scoring a goal per game and dominating the agenda, Bale – no matter what he does, not even after a debut campaign that included 22 goals and 17 assists – is in a fight he will struggle to win.
“Ronaldo does not want to be upstaged and will always be Real’s main man. I don’t know him but I don’t get the sense he is putting an arm around Bale’s shoulder or looking after him in the dressing room. Why? Look at how he sulked when Bale took a goal off him against Levante in March.
“Does Bale have to put up with that? The more Ronaldo sulks when Bale does something he doesn’t like, the more the Bernabeu crowd will react with fury. That was evident when he missed a glorious headed chance against Juventus with the score at 1-1.”
And Bale’s obvious lack of confidence is a cause for concern in Carragher’s eyes, with the form of the ex-Spurs man wilting as the weeks go on and the Spanish column inches grow.
“The Bale I played against demanded the ball and made things happen with his explosive pace, strength and aggression. He had football arrogance but not once did I see him demanding his team-mates give him the ball against Juventus. His personality should have come to the fore.
“Perhaps life is just too different for him. He understands Spanish but has not yet given an interview to the Spanish press in their language and, given how long he’s been there, you have to wonder whether that would change next year. But it would be good to see him come home.
First, we have lost too many top players – Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and Xabi Alonso to name three – to La Liga in recent years and getting Bale back would reclaim some balance. We want box-office players and he would immediately become the Premier League’s No 1 performer again.”
