Gareth Bale: Getting better and better

He was labelled a ‘curse’ which would anchor the club to the depths of the league table after he and Tottenham went 24 games without a win when he played. But how the curse has lifted!! Gareth Bale has been an unmitigated sensation this season and the Spurs will have to stave off overtures from the best clubs in the world this summer if they want to see him in their colors next season. What makes him so lethal?

It’s simple really. He’s just too bloody quick!! He blindsides defenders in the blink of an eye, leaving them scrambling in his wake. It’s like trying to follow the vapour trails of a sonic jet. Sometimes you just know he’s going to take that trademark heavy touch and sprint after the ball like the defender isn’t even there, but what can you do?! Just knowing isn’t enough, sometimes all you can do is watch and admire.

It would be an iniquitous defilement of his footballing talent to just say that he is fast. I mean, cheetahs are fast, so is Walcott, we don’t put them up on a pedestal and mention them in the same breath as Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. Bale is different. He’s the complete package and absolutely unplayable on his day. Remarkable physical and technical ability, aerial prowess, an eye for goal and a wicked left foot. Add all this to lightning pace and you have some of the key ingredients which make Gareth Bale the phenomenon he is today.

Earlier this season, he was getting a lot of stick about his ‘diving’ problem. He has been booked for simulation three times this season and five times in total since the start of 2012, more than any other player during that period. Many labelled him a diver and insisted that Bale was part of a growing number of players who go to ground too easily. Many came to his support, saying that at the pace he runs, any sort of slight contact would throw him off balance and force him to adjust his movement and go to ground sometimes, to avoid injuring himself. He also had a few injury spells towards the end of last year. It hasn’t been easy, but he has come back with more spirit and hunger, and is really living up to his potential this season.

As frightening as it was to see him burst down that left flank and fire in a blinding cross, AVB has played him in a more central role in the Tottenham set up this season. Being an orthodox winger, he may miss wiping chalk from under his boots after a game, but he’s revelled in his new role. He’s a licensed hit man now, free to move all over the pitch. With Bale attacking the goal more directly now, it’s no wonder that he’s getting more goals. The number 11 has notched up 23 goals this season in all competitions, with 15 in the Premier League. He’s a threat from long range, his favorite left foot is launching ballistic missiles honing into the corners of the net. Get too tight he will skip past you like a gazelle, give him space and he will punish! His set pieces have been sharp this season too. The deliveries from corners and freekicks played into the box have been of the highest quality. But when he decides have a crack at goal, you can’t really argue with him.

He’s perfected a technique over hundreds of hours of practice which is being touted as the superior blend of Ronaldo‘s and Beckham’s techniques. The ball reaches it’s peak height right above the wall before dipping and swerving into the net. It has such power, whip, dip and precision that you can hardly blame the keeper who’s often left sprawling in the grass. All in all, he’s been the real deal this season, and Tottenham better hope they can qualify for Champions League football next season if they want this Welsh dynamite on their roster.