‘Gareth Bale is one of us’, Zinedine Zidane insists

“Gareth Bale is one of us”, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane insisted as journalists continued to query him about the noticeably bad relationship between him and the Welsh forward.

Since the beginning of the 2019-2020 season, Gareth Bale has never had it with any manager as bad as he has been having it with Zinedine Zidane. The trend got worse when the Spanish La Liga returned from the three-month coronavirus break. He has only played 100 minutes of football since 14 June 2020, out of a possible 810 minutes of football action.

Besides that, in the entire outgoing season, he played only 20 matches in all competitions mostly as a substitute. He has managed to play about 599 minutes of football out of 4,140 minutes. In the minutes he had the opportunity to play, he scored three goals and made 2 assists.

Though the quality of Bale and the threat he poses for opposing defenders can not be doubted, most Real Madrid supporters and critics of the Wales football icon can not stop questioning his commitment to the team and his football career.

This criticism started when he suddenly discovered a huge passion for playing golf. Zinedine Zidane felt Bale ought not to take playing golf so seriously when he is still a professional footballer contracted to a club as big as Real Madrid. The French tactician felt it was a distraction to his football career. Most fans of the club felt the same way about Bale’s love for golf.

Hence, Bale decided to send a message to the club when his country qualified for the then Euros 2020 which has now been postponed to 2021. In the message, he and members of his national team stood behind a flag with an inscription which read: “Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order”. The message did not go down well with the supporters of the club as he began to get their boos whenever he plays for the club.

When people thought that Bale would have settled his differences with the club and Zinedine Zidane during the coronavirus break, it has become obvious that the relationship has gone too bad to be repaired.

On Friday, he was everywhere in the news for using his mask to cover his eyes and pretended that he was sleeping when the manager failed to use him as one of the 5 substitutes in their 2-0 win against Alaves.

He was also pictured laughing sarcastically when the manager made his last substitution in the game. A picture also surfaced showing bale using imaginary binoculars to watch the match in the stands.

“My God, what a question, man! We think about tomorrow’s game, and Gareth the same”, Zidane said when asked for his opinion on Bale’s behaviour. “He is one of us. You try to put things between us but you won’t be able to.

“Every day you ask the same. You can, you have the right to ask, but everyone here is united. We all think the same way, Gareth, James (Rodriguez), everyone here. We all want the same thing.”

Gareth Bale should leave Real Madrid – Berbatov

A former teammate of Gareth Bale at Tottenham Hotspur Dimitar Berbatov has advised Real Madrid to release Bale so that he can stop disrespecting the club. The retired football star said he couldn’t support the antics the 31-year-old former Tottenham star has been displaying.

“Gareth Bale is in the headlines again for pretending to sleep in the stands when he found out he was going to be an unused substitute,” Berbatov told Betfair.

“When I saw it I couldn’t believe it. I watched him put his mask over his eyes and pretend to be asleep. I cannot support that. It is unprofessional and disrespectful to Real Madrid.

“Madrid need to find a solution to the Bale saga. It’s not good for Bale or the team.”

Before it got sour

Bale joined Real Madrid on 1 September 2013, for a then-world record transfer fee of €100.8 million, overriding the previous record fee of €94 million the club paid for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.

Bale played an important role in his first season at Real Madrid, helping the club to win the 2013–2014 Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League, scoring in both finals. The following season, he won the UEFA Super Cup and scored in a third major final to help the club win the FIFA Club World Cup. Two years later, he was a key player in another Champions League run, winning the 2015–16 title and being elected to the UEFA Squad of the Season. He was also a finalist in the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.

His current contract with the club which earns him £600,000-a-week will expire on 30th of June 2020.