Madrid: ‘Bale es fantastico’, Real Madrid’s interim coach Santiago Solari said, but still took him off in the 71st minute against 2-0 win over Real Valladolid, Saturday. It was also Solari’s first win at helm of the senior team.
Madrid were drifting towards a 0-0 draw at their Santiago Bernabeu home and, searching for inspiration, it was Bale’s number 11 that came up. He departed to whistles from the fans even if Solari, perhaps deliberately, spared him being replaced directly by Vinicius Junior.
Nevertheless, the 18-year-old came on two minutes later and made the difference, his shot deflecting in to give Madrid the lead. “Another day, Gareth will score,” Solari said. “And everyone will celebrate.” But those quickest to criticise Bale are circling again ahead of the trip to Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League Wednesday.
Support for Vinicius has been intense and Bale is seen as the one standing in the way. “Vinicius puts Bale in trouble,” read the frontpage of Spanish newspaper AS Monday.
This season, free of both injury and Cristiano Ronaldo, he started well, posting four goals and two assists from his first six games. But an adductor problem last month, combined with the team’s crash under Julen Lopetegui, disrupted his rhythm. He has returned but is still not fully fit and his performances have lacked edge.
In his last nine matches, Bale has been taken off seven times, five of those when his team were chasing a goal. Once, with the game at 0-0 against Atletico Madrid, he was replaced due to injury. The other four – while level with Athletic Bilbao and Valladolid, and trailing Barcelona and Alaves – the reasoning was less obvious.
Those calling for Vinicius to take Bale’s spot perhaps overlook the Welshman’s 24 goals in 41 appearances last season. Two of them won Real Madrid the Champions League final in May.
Vinicius, signed from Flamengo for 45 million euros in the summer, is a precocious talent but he has fewer appearances for Real in his career than Bale has goals since August. “Footballers cannot fight against what goes on around them,” Solari said.
“The media, the fans, they are excited about Vinicius and that is fantastic, but his virtues are as evident as his weaknesses and his age. He has had almost no time to mature.”
However, the European champions had a hard time this season in terms of player’s forms. Finding the right combination, and extracting more from Bale, is likely to be top of Solari’s priorities. Marco Asensio, who started against Valladolid, has been quiet while Isco is still regaining fitness after appendix surgery.
Discounting the Copa del Rey win over Melilla, who play in Spain’s third tier, four of Madrid’s last five goals have come from their left-back, central defender and an own-goal.
“It’s a very bad patch we’ve gone through,” said Sergio Ramos Saturday. But for Solari, the time is now. Beat Plzen on Wednesday and even a draw away to Celta Vigo this weekend might earn him the job until the end of the season.