Even if you cannot make out the face
behind the windscreen of the club Audi, you know it’s Gareth Bale
turning into Real Madrid’s Valdebebas training complex; the use of the
indicator is the tell-tale sign.
It’s debatable whether you would signal in Spain if you wanted to cross three lanes of motorway and make the next exit; much less the harmless turn up the hill that leads from the gaggle of autograph hunters to the privacy of the first-team players’ training facilities.
It’s a little early for Bale to have lost his British driving manners. And it’s still too early to judge him after an injury-interrupted first five weeks in Madrid, although his £86million transfer fee will be in sharp focus in four days’ time when he faces Barcelona in his first Clasico.
Supporters like what they have seen so far. That 60-minute debut against Villarreal included a goal and one sprint down the right wing clocked at 25mph, not far off the speed reached by Usain Bolt.
Saturday night’s 14-minute cameo against Malaga included what the Barcelona press described as ‘Bale’s first dive’, a collision that won Real a penalty.
The debut came too early, and at a price. It was later reported he had a ‘discal hernia’, an injury often referred to in English as a slipped disc, and one that, in top athletes, usually needs surgery.
Madrid have been understandably twitchy about the injury, issuing a denial saying the player had a ‘small chronic protrusion’ between two vertebrae.
Club doctor Carlos Diez insisted a protrusion would not automatically worsen and become a hernia that needed an operation.
Former Real Madrid club captain Fernando Hierro was on hand to declare he played for years with a protrusion.
The plan for now is clear — make sure Bale is flying for the Clasico. If he comes through a substitute appearance on Wednesday night against Juventus, he will start against Barcelona.
No team play with a higher defensive line in La Liga so no side are, potentially, more susceptible to those explosive runs from deep. Bale could justify his price-tag in one afternoon on Saturday, certainly as far as Florentino Perez is concerned.
The Real Madrid president has been under pressure ever since breaking the world transfer record to sign Bale. In a fascinating insight into how players are bought at Madrid, he recently told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser that ‘you didn’t have to be a genius to see how good Bale was’.
Perez confirmed that from watching Bale score spectacular goals every week on the two pay-per-view channels that show five Premier League matches every weekend he decided he was what Madrid needed.
Yet others have begged to differ. Jorge Valdano used to buy the players at Madrid before Jose Mourinho had him removed. The former sporting director sees Bale’s arrival as problematic for Real Madrid’s current coach.
‘Carlo Ancelotti is still looking for his best team. You have to fit Bale in somehow but it will not be easy,’ says Valdano. ‘What made Bale’s price so high was his attacking capacity and his goalscoring. Ancelotti has to get the best out of that, but the two wings are currently occupied by [Angel] Di Maria and [Cristiano] Ronaldo.’
Di Maria scored twice in Madrid’s last Champions League game, cutting in from the right to shoot left-footed just as Bale is expected to do. The Argentine threw in a loveheart goal celebration for good measure and scored again at the weekend.
Di Maria will not keep Bale out of the side but his form demands his selection too, so Ancelotti is really being tested. Both could play either side of a more central Ronaldo on Saturday.
‘It is reminiscent of when David Beckham arrived,’ says Valdano. ‘He was a good right-sided midfielder but that is where [Luis] Figo was playing and Beckham ended up as a central midfielder, a position that was much harder for him. I am curious about the solutions Ancelotti comes up with.’
But Bale has received a boost from the greatest player ever to wear the No 11 shirt for Real Madrid.
Celebrating his 80th birthday on Monday, Paco Gento said: ‘We are going to win our 10th European Cup with Bale. He is a great player, a phenomenon. He will honour my No 11 shirt. We just need to be patient with him.’
Off the pitch, Bale looks set to rent the house previously occupied by Kaka. Some supporters have suggested it be cleansed by a priest of any unhelpful spirits before he settles in, such was Kaka’s misfortune on the pitch during his four-year spell at the Bernabeu.
It was still seen by Madrid supporters as a better option than moving partner Emma Rhys-Jones and baby daughter Alba-Violet into Mesut Ozil’s old house.
The less said about the new Arsenal midfielder the better.
Supporters have questioned the decision to sell him and buy Bale for twice the price. President Perez would argue Bale’s star quality makes him worth it.
In two years’ time the club renegotiate their television deal. The two companies with the broadcasting rights have suffered sizeable losses in subscribers with Spain gripped by economic crisis so it is difficult to see the annual 140m euros currently earned being improved upon.
If income starts to drop, Madrid’s €541m debt will begin to weigh heavier. Part of Bale’s job is to convince television companies at home and abroad that the product is still worth paying for.
Back last summer, when Perez was day-dreaming about all those spectacular Bale goals, he would also have been thinking about the huge poster of him that hung in New York’s Times Square advertising the launch of BT Sport.
‘We have taken the figurehead of the Premier League,’ was his proud boast when Bale signed. On Saturday the world will be watching as Bale gets his first run at Barcelona.
‘I think Gareth is probably the fastest player in the world at the moment,’ said Usain Bolt recently. ‘I will help him with his sprinting if he wants.’
For now, both player and club want to avoid another £86m false start. A satisfactory run-out against Juventus; and a ‘Taxi for Alves’ (or Adriano) against Barcelona and a difficult first five weeks will be instantly forgotten.
It’s debatable whether you would signal in Spain if you wanted to cross three lanes of motorway and make the next exit; much less the harmless turn up the hill that leads from the gaggle of autograph hunters to the privacy of the first-team players’ training facilities.
It’s a little early for Bale to have lost his British driving manners. And it’s still too early to judge him after an injury-interrupted first five weeks in Madrid, although his £86million transfer fee will be in sharp focus in four days’ time when he faces Barcelona in his first Clasico.
Moment of truth: Gareth Bale's first Clasico is the most important game of his career
Supporters like what they have seen so far. That 60-minute debut against Villarreal included a goal and one sprint down the right wing clocked at 25mph, not far off the speed reached by Usain Bolt.
Saturday night’s 14-minute cameo against Malaga included what the Barcelona press described as ‘Bale’s first dive’, a collision that won Real a penalty.
The debut came too early, and at a price. It was later reported he had a ‘discal hernia’, an injury often referred to in English as a slipped disc, and one that, in top athletes, usually needs surgery.
Madrid have been understandably twitchy about the injury, issuing a denial saying the player had a ‘small chronic protrusion’ between two vertebrae.
Club doctor Carlos Diez insisted a protrusion would not automatically worsen and become a hernia that needed an operation.
Early promise: Bale impressed Real fans with his performance against Villarreal
Former Real Madrid club captain Fernando Hierro was on hand to declare he played for years with a protrusion.
The plan for now is clear — make sure Bale is flying for the Clasico. If he comes through a substitute appearance on Wednesday night against Juventus, he will start against Barcelona.
No team play with a higher defensive line in La Liga so no side are, potentially, more susceptible to those explosive runs from deep. Bale could justify his price-tag in one afternoon on Saturday, certainly as far as Florentino Perez is concerned.
The Real Madrid president has been under pressure ever since breaking the world transfer record to sign Bale. In a fascinating insight into how players are bought at Madrid, he recently told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser that ‘you didn’t have to be a genius to see how good Bale was’.
Bitter rivals: And Barca possess some of the world's finest players, including Lionel Messi and Cesc Fabregas
Perez confirmed that from watching Bale score spectacular goals every week on the two pay-per-view channels that show five Premier League matches every weekend he decided he was what Madrid needed.
Yet others have begged to differ. Jorge Valdano used to buy the players at Madrid before Jose Mourinho had him removed. The former sporting director sees Bale’s arrival as problematic for Real Madrid’s current coach.
‘Carlo Ancelotti is still looking for his best team. You have to fit Bale in somehow but it will not be easy,’ says Valdano. ‘What made Bale’s price so high was his attacking capacity and his goalscoring. Ancelotti has to get the best out of that, but the two wings are currently occupied by [Angel] Di Maria and [Cristiano] Ronaldo.’
Di Maria scored twice in Madrid’s last Champions League game, cutting in from the right to shoot left-footed just as Bale is expected to do. The Argentine threw in a loveheart goal celebration for good measure and scored again at the weekend.
Welcome headache: Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is under pressure to find room for Bale in his starting XI
Competition for places: Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Angel di Maria are Real's starting wingers
Di Maria will not keep Bale out of the side but his form demands his selection too, so Ancelotti is really being tested. Both could play either side of a more central Ronaldo on Saturday.
‘It is reminiscent of when David Beckham arrived,’ says Valdano. ‘He was a good right-sided midfielder but that is where [Luis] Figo was playing and Beckham ended up as a central midfielder, a position that was much harder for him. I am curious about the solutions Ancelotti comes up with.’
But Bale has received a boost from the greatest player ever to wear the No 11 shirt for Real Madrid.
Celebrating his 80th birthday on Monday, Paco Gento said: ‘We are going to win our 10th European Cup with Bale. He is a great player, a phenomenon. He will honour my No 11 shirt. We just need to be patient with him.’
Off the pitch, Bale looks set to rent the house previously occupied by Kaka. Some supporters have suggested it be cleansed by a priest of any unhelpful spirits before he settles in, such was Kaka’s misfortune on the pitch during his four-year spell at the Bernabeu.
Missed: Real fans are still questioning the wisdom of selling Mesut Ozil to Arsenal, where he has been excellent
Similar scenario: David Beckham first had to play in central midfield at Real because Luis Figo was on the right
It was still seen by Madrid supporters as a better option than moving partner Emma Rhys-Jones and baby daughter Alba-Violet into Mesut Ozil’s old house.
The less said about the new Arsenal midfielder the better.
Supporters have questioned the decision to sell him and buy Bale for twice the price. President Perez would argue Bale’s star quality makes him worth it.
In two years’ time the club renegotiate their television deal. The two companies with the broadcasting rights have suffered sizeable losses in subscribers with Spain gripped by economic crisis so it is difficult to see the annual 140m euros currently earned being improved upon.
If income starts to drop, Madrid’s €541m debt will begin to weigh heavier. Part of Bale’s job is to convince television companies at home and abroad that the product is still worth paying for.
Back last summer, when Perez was day-dreaming about all those spectacular Bale goals, he would also have been thinking about the huge poster of him that hung in New York’s Times Square advertising the launch of BT Sport.
Quick turnaround: Bale, with his girlfriend Emma
Rhys Jones and daughter Alba Violet Jones, is set to rent the property
Kaka (right) used to live in
‘We have taken the figurehead of the Premier League,’ was his proud boast when Bale signed. On Saturday the world will be watching as Bale gets his first run at Barcelona.
‘I think Gareth is probably the fastest player in the world at the moment,’ said Usain Bolt recently. ‘I will help him with his sprinting if he wants.’
For now, both player and club want to avoid another £86m false start. A satisfactory run-out against Juventus; and a ‘Taxi for Alves’ (or Adriano) against Barcelona and a difficult first five weeks will be instantly forgotten.
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