Gareth Bale

[Beast]

So the most expensive footballer ever will never be part of a world cup or euro.Go figure.

Go figure.. how many Euro's & World cup did George Best play in ? how many World cups did Di Stefano play in ? how many World cups did George Weah take part in ?

how many World cups & Euro did Ryan Giggs , Ian Rush & Mark Hughes took part in ?

... childish dig... just because you come from a weak national team doesn't make you any less great as a player , it's a team sport not an individual one

 

[AnfieldEd]

Go figure.. how many Euro's & World cup did George Best play in ? how many World cups did Di Stefano play in ? how many World cups did George Weah take part in ?

how many World cups & Euro did Ryan Giggs , Ian Rush & Mark Hughes took part in ?

... childish dig... just because you come from a weak national team doesn't make you any less great as a player , it's a team sport not an individual one

You never know Wales in the future could make a world cup or euros in the future. They have a decent crop of players in each area of the field. Williams and Davies in defence, You could argue that they have a better midfield than England even! With Ramsey, Allen, Ledley and Bale in midfield!!! Bellamy up front. So not out of the realms of impossibility that Bale could play in a tournament in the next 10-12 years.

 

[BarcaGirl]

Looks like Zidane confirmed that Bale indeed cost €100M.

 

[CatalinR10]

Looks like Zidane confirmed that Bale indeed cost €100M.

Source ?

 

[Paganinisrvnge]

Go figure.. how many Euro's & World cup did George Best play in ? how many World cups did Di Stefano play in ? how many World cups did George Weah take part in ?

how many World cups & Euro did Ryan Giggs , Ian Rush & Mark Hughes took part in ?

... childish dig... just because you come from a weak national team doesn't make you any less great as a player , it's a team sport not an individual one

I agree with this. It's disappointing that we'll never see Bale at a world cup and never got to see Giggs at one. I wonder how national team affects the status of players in peoples' eyes in terms of being one of the all time greats. For example, I feel that Messi still has pressure to lead Argentina to a world cup win in spite of some poor defense and bad management over the years where as if he were from a weak footballing country such as Canada or something then people wouldn't be as adamant about it.

Hypothetically, if Bale became better than Messi and Ronaldo; would there be pressure on him to AT LEAST carry Wales to qualify for a world cup and maybe make a run before establishing him as a true great?(for the record I don't think he'll ever achieve the heights of these 2 and I'm someone who likes Bale)

 

[Beast]

I agree with this. It's disappointing that we'll never see Bale at a world cup and never got to see Giggs at one. I wonder how national team affects the status of players in peoples' eyes in terms of being one of the all time greats. For example, I feel that Messi still has pressure to lead Argentina to a world cup win in spite of some poor defense and bad management over the years where as if he were from a weak footballing country such as Canada or something then people wouldn't be as adamant about it.

Hypothetically, if Bale became better than Messi and Ronaldo; would there be pressure on him to AT LEAST carry Wales to qualify for a world cup and maybe make a run before establishing him as a true great?(for the record I don't think he'll ever achieve the heights of these 2 and I'm someone who likes Bale)

Messi case is different because he is coming from a great football nation with a huge shadow on his shoulder called Diego Armando Maradona (who for my money is still the best ever player to grace any football pitch )
It is a pressure of course but when you see who Maradona had as side kicks and what Messi has the later wins..Messi will always be expected to lead Argentina to a world cup
the same way Maradona did.. especially when his side kicks includes Higuain, Di Maria, Aguero , Mascherano , Tevez , Lavezzi etc... who are by far a much better team than the one Diego had
Bale on the other hand doesn't have that legacy nor expectancy .. It's Wales.. if they make a World cup or a Euro great for them.. if they didn't it's ok no one is expecting it .. because you know that at best they will crash out in the group stages
Ronaldo expectancy also to reach the WC or Euro if they could compete and make from the group stage kudos for them.. there isn't much winning heritage like Argentina , Brazil , Germany , Italy , France and recently Spain

 

[Catorce]

Messi case is different because he is coming from a great football nation with a huge shadow on his shoulder called Diego Armando Maradona (who for my money is still the best ever player to grace any football pitch )
It is a pressure of course but when you see who Maradona had as side kicks and what Messi has the later wins..Messi will always be expected to lead Argentina to a world cup
the same way Maradona did.. especially when his side kicks includes Higuain, Di Maria, Aguero , Mascherano , Tevez , Lavezzi etc... who are by far a much better team than the one Diego had
Bale on the other hand doesn't have that legacy nor expectancy .. It's Wales.. if they make a World cup or a Euro great for them.. if they didn't it's ok no one is expecting it .. because you know that at best they will crash out in the group stages
Ronaldo expectancy also to reach the WC or Euro if they could compete and make from the group stage kudos for them.. there isn't much winning heritage like Argentina , Brazil , Germany , Italy , France and recently Spain

About Messi: It's just the Dutch national team. Usually good attackers and attacking midfielders, crap defense and keepers. We did have a great generation with De Boer, Stam, Van Der Sar etc at the back, but those days are over. As long as the back isn't sorted out in Argentina, Messi won't be able to carry his team to a WC victory.

Football has become more and more complex these days also, what players do now is way more advanced than 30-40 years ago. I am not getting into the argument of Messi vs Maradona, but I am of the opinion that it is increasingly harder to carry a team on your own compared to the times of Maradona, let alone the times of Di Stefano, Pele etc.

 

[barcanuck]

Go figure.. how many Euro's & World cup did George Best play in ? how many World cups did Di Stefano play in ? how many World cups did George Weah take part in ?

how many World cups & Euro did Ryan Giggs , Ian Rush & Mark Hughes took part in ?

... childish dig... just because you come from a weak national team doesn't make you any less great as a player , it's a team sport not an individual one

Childish or not, Giggs, Rush and Hughes were never the most expensive player in the universe. Bale is the most expensive EVER so he needs to prove it for both national team and club.

 

[Beast]

About Messi: It's just the Dutch national team. Usually good attackers and attacking midfielders, crap defense and keepers. We did have a great generation with De Boer, Stam, Van Der Sar etc at the back, but those days are over. As long as the back isn't sorted out in Argentina, Messi won't be able to carry his team to a WC victory.

Football has become more and more complex these days also, what players do now is way more advanced than 30-40 years ago. I am not getting into the argument of Messi vs Maradona, but I am of the opinion that it is increasingly harder to carry a team on your own compared to the times of Maradona, let alone the times of Di Stefano, Pele etc.

Well yes & no due to the laws too... back in Maradona days you can easily get away with murder on the pitch ... Maradona himself was a victim when he was in Barca and we had to watch Van Basten brilliant career end shortly
While the tactical demand is a lot now , the roughness of the game was a lot harder considering you also had one less sub to make and less bench etc
As for Messi , still his teams is much stronger than so many teams.. if they can retain the ball and score more it's quite easy ..
Romero is an ok keeper .. they have some good defenders like Otamendi , Ansaldi , Garay... however as i said Messi is coming from a great football nation.. much higher than Holland who i omitted because the only highlight would be 3 finals , 1 Euro , 1 Semi , Holland infamous for internal flights but Messi is coming from a country that produced both Diego & Di Stefano , the former is viewed as god due to his WC success.. Messi must have it to override the golden boy... even if Messi club triumph override Maradona.. a WC is a WC .. ask Pele

 

[Beast]

Childish or not, Giggs, Rush and Hughes were never the most expensive player in the universe. Bale is the most expensive EVER so he needs to prove it for both national team and club.

I'm sorry you have no clue what you'r talking about , it depends on the nation to make an achievement on the national team level not the player..

One of those days.. a player named Denilson was the most expensive and before him (and probably before you were born ) a player called Lantini back when Silvio had the cash , oh and Di Stefano was by those days standards ..
.... it doesn't matter what he do with the national team , Weah is still viewed as one of the best ever strikers in the game and a golden boot winner...

 

[Meitux]

Childish or not, Giggs, Rush and Hughes were never the most expensive player in the universe. Bale is the most expensive EVER so he needs to prove it for both national team and club.

In your logic Messi may be not the best player ever because he may not win the world cup. But there again, in your logic if Argentina and him wins it and he doesn't have much influence on the winning there will be people like you bitching for it. It's a team game and one player (Bale) inside an average squad of players doesn't make the difference.. it's not that he'll be suddenly a good player only if his team wins, he may put great effort but it's a team game, it doesn't depend on one and only player.

And the price doesn't reflect Bale's abilities, he didn't choose that price. Because it's biggest transfer ever doesn't automatically mean that he may be someone who will carry a team on his own. It's stupid to demand outrageous things because of that kind of price.. the expectations are bigger but everybody knows as i said that this kind of a huge price doesn't reflect someones abilities but the team's needs.

 

[Irish_Cules]

Childish or not, Giggs, Rush and Hughes were never the most expensive player in the universe. Bale is the most expensive EVER so he needs to prove it for both national team and club.

That's ridiculous. Bale is the most expensive footballer in the world in club football, not international football. His price tag is in no relation to his international career so you can't use that against him. No matter how good Bale gets he will likely never play in a major tournament with Wales. He shouldn't be expected to do anything big on international level and that shouldn't be held against him. The reason we compare great player's international careers is because they tend to be from pretty good footballing countries that are expected to do well in international competition, which another useful factor when comparing these players. You can't hold it against a player if his national team is incapable of qualifying for major tournaments due to the poor quality of his teammates. If anything, he should be applauded for becoming such a fantastic footballer coming from a nation with such a small talent pool.

 

[barcanuck]

Hey hey so now we don't expect him to do dick all for Wales? People are watching his national team closely now more than ever, don't tell me you guys don't expect anything.

 

[Meitux]

Yeah so what? An individual performance doesn't mean automatically his team's success.. He may put a good performance but still his side won't win and apparently in your logic he's not a good player. It's a team game can you understand that? And no i don't expect so outrageous things that you think because of the price cause i already know that this price doesn't reflect his abilities.

 

[barcanuck]

Yeah so what? An individual performance doesn't mean automatically his team's success.. He may put a good performance but still his side won't win and apparently in your logic he's not a good player. It's a team game can you understand that? And no i don't expect so outrageous things that you think because of the price cause i already know that this price doesn't reflect his abilities.

Bale needs to get Wales close to qualifying not just be a bottom of the group national team now, the odds of Wales qualifying are low due to them being in pot 4 anyway but he needs to prove something on the international stage as well, more so than ever now that he's got the "most expensive tag" on him.