Funny thing about Gareth Bale is that when he moved to Real Madrid he said he was happy now that he had other players to share the burden with, not being the only one to carry the team.
Gareth Bale is...The most expensive player ever?!
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Yeah, if that poor man had a few million quid in bank account.
Come off it. Lahm and Hazard are not better than Bale. Robben is probably on par. There aren't many more players better either. If he played for us I'm sure opinions would differ.
What? Robben has clearly been the better player in the last few years, possibly Bayern's star performer. It's no slight on Bale, mind. Robben is 30 and should be at his peak, Bale has likely yet to hit his.
Why does whether he plays for Man Utd matter? It's not like any of the players he named are from your club either.
All of Ronaldo, Benzema, Isco and James have been better than Bale at Madrid this season.
Can't agree, from what I've seen Bale and Robben are extremely similar players, performance wise I don't think there is much between them. The suggestion in this thread that Robben is head and shoulders above Bale is wrong. All I'm saying is that if you look at Bale and Robben side by side they are on par as footballers.
He is not correct about Robben being better than Bale, but there is some truth to him saying that he would have been praised more if he was United player. For example take a look at Rojo and Mangala. Both look like terrible defenders, still excuses are made for Rojo, some even have him as a contender for a future United cult hero, whereas Magala gets no reprive for being new to the league.
Robben has been comfortably better than Bale in the last 18 months regardless of whether they're 'on par' talent wise or not.
You're more likely to watch him every week and not just highlights now and again, giving you more evidence to form a sound opinion and not just jumping on the bandwagon, Lahm being a prime example. Fans also have biases. If Bale played for us I'm sure that opinions of him would change, I'm confident that thats a fair statement to make.
Fair enough that's your opinion. Mine is that Bale and Robben have performed at a similar level. Nothing more to say on it really.
I refuse to accept him as a footballer until he takes off that fecking headband.
Bale is much more a highlight player than Robben. Both can decide games with a moment of brilliance but very rarely has Bale been a constant threat throughout games the way Robben has been in most of the games throughout the last 18months.
Okay, that's true that opinions would change in the way you both said. That wouldn't make Bale a better player though, it just means people would overrate him because of their bias. Don't agree with the highlights thing though, every Real Madrid match is televised so I'm sure there's plenty on here who watch the majority of their matches - I know I do.
0 points for Gryffindor.
Just to clarify. I'm not arguing that Bale is better than Robben. He is definitely better than Hazard though, hopefully we can all agree on that.
I'm sure TheShedEnd won't agree 
I don't either to be honest, but they're pretty close.
I don't either to be honest, but they're pretty close.
I'd rather have Hazard than Bale (Or Neymar for that matter)
Bale is not definitely better than Hazard on the evidence of this season. A strong argument could be made for either player being superior to the other, more-so for Hazard has to be said. But there isn't a comprehensive conclusion to be had.
For one Hazard has better defensive work-rate this season than Bale. Then he's more of a rhythm setter for Chelsea, has more touches of the ball on weighted average basis and has completed more passes (51 vs 29 - a lot similar to Ribery for Bayern 2012/ 2013 in this sense), has completed more dribbles (7.1 vs 2.5) and key passes (2.5 vs 1.1). One area where Bale pulls ahead is in terms of the final product (8 goals, 4 assists in 1338 mins) vs (7 goals, 3 assists in 1756) minutes but that's not a massive differential in his favor.
If we were to talk about the last 3 seasons then yes, Bale is better but Hazard has really improved under Mourinho and right now I'm not sure which one I'd rather prefer.
Last 2 or 3 seasons Bale was better but this season id have to say Hazard although there's really not much between them.
No I wouldn't, Di Maria joined and everybody started saying he was Real Madrid's best player last season and that he is a top 5 player which I don't believe is true. I'm not biased when it comes to Manchester United players.
We should go all out for Bale if, as expected, Reus ends up in Madrid
If Reus went he'll end up on the bench, he is also quite injury prone. Madrid do not need him, nor do I believe they want him.
Bale hasn't been performing (not even close) to Robben, Hazard, Aguero and others, even in his first season at madrid
Well, he did score a tap in in the UCL finals, which Madrid were bound to win anyways in the overtime and that goal where he dribbled Bartra. But he simply hasn't been influencing games as a top5 player should. Trust me, I watched a whole lot of Madrid in the last 2 seasons.
In the EPL he did great, but honestly, EPL has too much space which is perfect for him and teams are lagging behind tactically imo.
Well, he did score a tap in in the UCL finals, which Madrid were bound to win anyways in the overtime and that goal where he dribbled Bartra. But he simply hasn't been influencing games as a top5 player should. Trust me, I watched a whole lot of Madrid in the last 2 seasons.
In the EPL he did great, but honestly, EPL has too much space which is perfect for him and teams are lagging behind tactically imo.
As wingers go, it's currently 1. Robben; 2. Hazard; 3. Bale; 4. ... . In my opinion.
All ifs and buts now but had Ramos not equalised Bale would have been the first player to be hung out to dry back in Madrid, even ahead of Ronaldo, such was his poor performance and bad first half miss.
Bale has definitely been better than Hazard up until this season where Hazard is having his strongest campaign and Bale is having his worst. He also won the PFA player of the year twice (to Hazard and Aguero's combined 0) so he has definitely been putting in some strong league campaigns which have been better than theirs and he has done more in the CL knockouts than both Aguero and Hazard combined. Both are playing better this season than Bale but Bale has been much better previously than he has been so far this season and has done it on the biggest club stage (CL knockouts), something which Aguero and Hazard have not done (yet). I do not doubt that they are capable of such a task (performing in the CL knockouts), but the simple fact is that they have not yet and Bale has (heck even his Inter performance tops anything they have done in the CL so far). To say "Bale hasn't been performing (not even close) to Hazard, Aguero" is ludicrous (unless you just mean this year) and it is funny how you downplay Bales performances in the EPL because there is more space and yet that is where both Aguero and Hazard are currently plying their trade.
Fair enough, some solid points made concerning Bale, Hazard and Robben but if we were offered 1 of the 3 then I'm taking Bale every time. When Hazard has a season in the league as good as Bale's last I may revise that opinion, not to say that he isn't a great player though.
yadda yadda.. to me player rankings comes down to : When players receive the ball, what do they do with it? Robben, Aguero, Hazard are far ahead of Bale in that category.
Bale is better than Hazard imo.
Bale's been great. But on the subject of his PFA awards, his first was an absolute farce as far as I'm concerned.
I would agree with this. It's marginal, but yeah, I think he's better.
And Robben, Aguero and Hazard do not? Bale is a big reason our counter attacks (he took our counter-attacking game to a whole new level last year and is much more deadly in regards to counter-attacking and playing on the right wing than Di Maria was) are so deadly and why Madrid are, as you have said "stacked". I agree that Robben is better. He has achieved much more in his career and to suggest Bale is better would be very wrong. Call me crazy, but to me player ranking comes down to what they have actually done and what stage they have done it on. Bale was considered to have been more consistent and to have played at a higher level than Aguero and Hazard in the Premier league (hence his two PFA player of the year awards to their combined total of 0) and has done it in the latter stages of the CL (which they have not yet done).
As for your question "When players receive the ball, what do they do with it?". Well, when playing in a forward role for Tottenham (a team fighting to get into the CL) he got 30 goals and 11 assists in all competitions and in the league he got 21 goals and 4 assists (being one of the highest chance creators in the league which shows his teammates did not take the opportunities that he provided for them so his low assists tally is not down to him being incapable of creating chances and his increased assist tally at Madrid shows this) which is a greater league campaign and season than anything Aguero or Hazard have been done so far (backed up by his campaign being good enough to win him the PFA award, something which they have yet to achieve). When we look at how they have performed and on what stages they have performed on so far in their career then it is Bale who is in the lead at the moment.
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So you are saying if you are building a team, you'd pick Bale ahead of Aguero? Thats ludicrous to me.
I could care less about winning big titles right now, since the players are still young. You'd also pick Inzaghi ahead of Ronaldo because he won the champions league? Truth is, Bale was having a mare against Atletico and scored a tap in. He's not better than Kun effing Aguero because he pushed a ball into the net.
I could care less about winning big titles right now, since the players are still young. You'd also pick Inzaghi ahead of Ronaldo because he won the champions league? Truth is, Bale was having a mare against Atletico and scored a tap in. He's not better than Kun effing Aguero because he pushed a ball into the net.
That's just laughable statement, at least in Aguero's case, I wouldn't comment on Hazard.
I guess Scott Parker is better than Hazard and Aguero too.
So many obscure points I do not know where to begin
I never said that. We are talking about who has been the better player, not who you would build the team around.
So I assume you are talking about what you think the players are capable of achieving then, rather than what they have actually done so far. So basically your argument is based on pure conjecture and guesswork of what level you think these players will go onto play and what they will go onto achieve.
Another thing that I have never said. Must you keep creating arguments based on nothing but your imagination. Everything you post seems to be based on conjecture or guesswork. Ronaldo has been more impressive than Inzaghi in the WC also I should add.
Indeed he was having a "mare". He created a few oppurtunites himself which he did not take however he also set up two goals for Ronaldo vs Bayern, scored and set up a goal vs Dormund, and scored twice vs Schalke. Far more than either Aguero or Hazard has done in the CL latter stages so far, I am sure you would agree. His strongest campaigns in the Premeriship were considered by many to have been more impressive than either Hazards or Aguero's and hence his tally of two PFA player of the season awards to their combined 0. So your original statement "Bale hasn't been performing (not even close) to Hazard, Aguero" is just wrong. If you think they are better than Bale then fair enough and they are certainly playing better than him now but over the course of their careers Bale has certainly not been "nowhere near".
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Hazard above Bale? Bold argument... Lahm I haven't watched enough, but I haven't been all that impressed whilst watching him. Rumor tells me I'm wrong though.
Fair enough, I think you present good points. But it is a matter of opinion in the end of it, and I just think Aguero, Suarez, Hazard, Robben and a few others are better footballers than Bale.
You'd be correct.
What has Hazard done to be labelled a better player than Bale? Serious question.