Football
ESPN staff 9y

Gareth Bale should be dropped by Real Madrid, 68.3% of fans believe

Gareth Bale is growing increasingly unpopular among Real Madrid fans, with a poll by AS showing 68.3 percent of fans want to see him dropped.

Bale has come in for increasing criticism in recent weeks, and after 46.1 percent called for him to be benched after the 1-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao earlier this month that number has now risen by almost half.

The poll asking "Would you keep Bale in Madrid's starting line-up?", which was carried about by AS.com and received 8,352 votes, was held after Real Madrid lost 2-1 at Barcelona in the Clasico at the Camp Nou.

In the first-half he played well and had a goal disallowed when Cristiano Ronaldo was offside in the build-up. The second half was a different matter, however, as he became absent and went completely unnoticed.

He made only seven passes, of which only two arrived in the last half-hour when Madrid had fallen behind for a second time. Lucas Silva, who came on in the 87th minute, made four passes in that short time.

Overall, Bale had the worst passing accuracy among all of the players who featured in the Clasico, with only 58.6 percent finding their intended target. This percentage dropped even further when in the Barca half, with the Welshman's success rate being 47.6 percent.

He gave the ball away 17 times, second only to Karim Benzema, and did not step foot in the opposition's area after the 46th minute.

Bale had his car kicked and punched by irate fans after the game, while AS.com chose not to even give Bale a rating for the game.

Marca wrote: "It's obvious [president Florentino] Perez has paid €100 million for someone worth €20 million."

Former Wales international striker Iwan Roberts believes it may be time for Bale to come back to England.

He told the Daily Mirror: "It can't be nice for him. He is still a young lad and if he is still getting the stick he has been getting over the last four or five months now, then he should come to somewhere that people appreciate him; to somewhere where the fans realise how hard you work for the side and the quality you bring to a side.

"I think if he keeps getting treated the way he is by some of the supporters and the media over there, he will want to prove a lot of people wrong. He has got a strong mentality and only time will tell but he doesn't deserve the treatment he has been getting.

"I do think he gets harshly treated in the Bernabeu - maybe it will take for Gareth to move away (for that to stop).

"Gareth has got the world's most expensive price-tag still around his neck. He has still scored 16 goals this season. He probably hasn't played as well this year as he did do in his first season at Madrid but as a Welshman, I know what he brings to the table."

^ Back to Top ^