Gareth Bale is...The most expensive player ever?!

Great player, great goal, for me not going down and beating the man was great and makes it special to me and a two fingered salute to today's diving t**ts.

Can we not just enjoy it?
 
Twitter going on about this wonder goal. ...just saw the goal and he outpaces one defender and pokes the ball past the keeper....so wheres this wonder goal? No amazing dribbling past several players, no fantastic long range shot....incredible that the British papers will do anything to hype up their own

Pundits in Spain have said that there has been a big reaction to the goal over there. I also saw Xabi Alonso and Ancelotti's comments, hardly a case where "the British papers will do anything to hype up their own".
 
Great player, great goal, for me not going down and beating the man was great and makes it special to me and a two fingered salute to today's diving t**ts.

Can we not just enjoy it?

Gareth Bale on a crusade against diving, I've heard it all now. :smirk:

Aside from that pedantic comment though, I agree that it's a great goal to enjoy.
 
It was a great goal ffs. The moment, the opponent and the importance of it makes it even better. Some bitterness on display here...
 
Has anyone said, Ronaldo's against Fulham is better ;)?

But it's Cup Final, and against rival, make Bale's more special.
 
He allegedly ran the 100 metre sprint in 11.4 seconds as a 14 year old.

I ran 100 meters sprint 12.1 with a hand clocked timer, couple of times I think I had done 11.9. But that's when I was 16. Half a second faster is a big time difference though. The man is a supreme athlete. I can run 100 quickly but over 200 I'll struggle, but Bale seems to get faster with a headstart. I'd be interested to know his timings on 200 or if he ran 100 with a head start.
 
How many players in world football score goals like that as regularly as bale does? Considering it is so easy?
 
How many players in world football score goals like that as regularly as bale does? Considering it is so easy?

More than the pace he displayed, what impressed is how he kept control of the ball while decelerating when inside the box. He had one touch in particular that made the difference between overrunning the ball and keeping it in his range.
 
I ran 100 meters sprint 12.1 with a hand clocked timer, couple of times I think I had done 11.9. But that's when I was 16. Half a second faster is a big time difference though. The man is a supreme athlete. I can run 100 quickly but over 200 I'll struggle, but Bale seems to get faster with a headstart. I'd be interested to know his timings on 200 or if he ran 100 with a head start.
Well most footballers don't have the speed endurance to execute a good 100m as obviously all the most important stuff is over the first 5-10 yards. There is little value in training speed endurance over 100-150m and, as such, most players would crash and burn in the latter stages of a 100m and 200m where it is all about decelerating the least. Bale looks like he could do a good 100m though because of his impressive top speed and ability to maintain it and leave defenders, not so regularly embarrassed by pace, in his wake.
 
I don't know why incredible speed and excellent balance on a run that started form his own half leading to match-winning goal in what will possibly be Madrid's biggest game of the season is somehow seen as unimpressive. The entire pub I was in was in disbelief that he'd managed to score that goal (in that moment) at least. Pure speed, power and balance is as much a sight to behold as a rocket shot from 30 yards, IMO. It's genuinely stunning running power on show from Bale there. Considering the occasion and where he picked the ball up, it's easily a more spectacular goal than the one against Schalke (for example).
I'm just reading through the thread now. Many seem to find a way not to give bale any credit I think.

Probably because they predicted he would be a flop.
 
brilliant player. He was the perfect United style player and we let him get away. :(
 
When he went to Madrid I thought he would flop, I thought he went too early in his career, how wrong I was, he is only going to get better and will be truly word class.
If there is any truth in the rumours that we bid for him and let him go, the ones that let him go should be pissed with themselves.
 
brilliant player. He was the perfect United style player and we let him get away. :(

I agree he'd be good for us. Don't think we should have paid that money though, as much as I would have liked him. It would have been reckless.
 
brilliant player. He was the perfect United style player and we let him get away. :(
Yeah I agree with that he would've been fantastic in our team.

I've enjoyed watching him play right from the first time I saw him years ago with Tottenham, when he was still a fullback, and I have to say over the years what has impressed me is his dedication to his work and his progress. A lot of people make fun of him mimicking Ronaldo, and it's a bit cringeworthy at times, sure, but there's one thing I feel he definitely shares with CR, it's his professionnalism and his will to always get better. Therefore, I don't really worry for him, he's got a true winner's mentality and he'll have a great career. Being able to leave his comfort zone (the PL), to go to La Liga (which isn't exactly a frequent move from British players), to do well right from his first year despite the price tag and score such an important goal... well kudos to him, that's already a great achievement.
 
I'm just reading through the thread now. Many seem to find a way not to give bale any credit I think.

Probably because they predicted he would be a flop.

I think that is exactly it. It is no coincidence that those who continue to downplay every single thing he does are those who have consistently been putting him down since the very beginning of his career. In their heads, they don't want to be wrong.

It is funny the number of times that I have been ridiculed on here over my views on Gareth Bale (GS as well), from thinking he could play as a winger, to thinking he was better than Nani (or at least that the gap between the superior Nani and the 'kick and rush' Bale was not that big), that he was a big game player, that he could do it against small teams, that he had every right to try to emulate Ronaldo because that is the player in world football most like his playing style and that he was good enough for Real Madrid.

I think some of these people are still stuck in comedy Bale not better than Walcott or Brunt :lol: because he doesn't get that many assists mode.
 
How many players in world football score goals like that as regularly as bale does? Considering it is so easy?
Has anyone even said that it was an easy goal? I don't know about the others who said it wasn't a brilliant goal, but I was comparing Bale's goal on a scale of other solo goals and that's where his is just decent at best, IMO. If you compare it to most goals you see in matches, of course it's a superb goal.

Bale got past one defender, and his finish wasn't great, Pinto completely messed that up. Everything that I have seen about people commenting about Bale's goal was his top speed and how he withstood the weak challenge from Bartra. There have been several goals like that but to a much higher level, one of them being Robben's goal in 2010 against Schalke:

 
His acceleration after being barged outside the byline was breathtaking. The defender could not even come close once he took off. Only once when he decelerated in the box did the defender actually get in touching distance.

Is he quicker than Ronaldo with the ball?
 
I don't think anyone is saying that it is one of the best solo goals all time but people need to accept that it was a big goal at an important stage and against their biggest rival in a cup final. It wasn't special or anywhere near the kind of goal Giggs scored but the occasion and the amount of pressure he's on after moving from Spurs to one of the biggest club in the world. It really was amazing. Lets give the guy some credit. Not many players would be capable of doing that and that too late in the game.
 
All those having a go at Bartra for not dealing with him, this guy tries even harder to haul Bale down but he is just too strong. You'd have to trip him up probably because he's going to outmuscle any defender.

 
His acceleration after being barged outside the byline was breathtaking. The defender could not even come close once he took off. Only once when he decelerated in the box did the defender actually get in touching distance.

Is he quicker than Ronaldo with the ball?

Ronaldo would have just stopped once he was barged and thrown his hands up in the air. He would have just stood there with his hands on his hips complaining. Hard to say who is quicker with the ball really but in a pure sprint Bale would certainly win.
 
Ronaldo would have just stopped once he was barged and thrown his hands up in the air. He would have just stood there with his hands on his hips complaining. Hard to say who is quicker with the ball really but in a pure sprint Bale would certainly win.

That Ronaldo dig is completely unnecessary. Ronaldo has had far worse tackles and still carried on. Sure he does like to act the prima donna at times but nothing as bad as you suggest.
 
All those having a go at Bartra for not dealing with him, this guy tries even harder to haul Bale down but he is just too strong. You'd have to trip him up probably because he's going to outmuscle any defender.



Believe it or not but Richards has generally done a good job against Bale. Largely because someone like Bale will most of the time beat his man whoever he is up against so it's important to have someone equally quick and strong to recover against him.
 
Believe it or not but Richards has generally done a good job against Bale. Largely because someone like Bale will most of the time beat his man whoever he is up against so it's important to have someone equally quick and strong to recover against him.

Not even Richards would match his pace/strength anymore. He has since become an amazing athlete coupled with great ability
 
It was a great goal. if you didn't see the match and heard about the goal being great and watched a video of it you may not have though as much about it as you were expecting it. If you were watching live then you would have seen that goal come out of nowhere and that it came at a time when barca were on top and would have appreciated it more.
 
Fantastic player who will prove to be worth every penny of the fee - I have never doubted that.


Tragic to see us miss out on the, by far, best British talent to come through in the last ten years.
 
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Fantastic player who will prove to be worth every penny of the fee - I have never doubted that.


Tragic to see us miss out on the, by far, best British talent to come through in the last ten years.

Back when he was playing well for Spurs and we maybe could've signed him for a lesser fee, I wasn't too fussed over the prospect because Valencia and Nani were performing a lot better than they tend to do now. In hindsight though, it would've obviously been a great signing for us.