Gareth Bale

[89Norcal]

Put a brilliant header past Lloris today. Top class

 

[abual3bed1]

Gareth " The legend " Bale has scored for 3 EPL teams this season. Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal. All in one season

 

[DonAndres]

He's in red hot form, but the English media are trying to hype him up as the big star of the EPL comparing him to Messi & Ronaldo, it's really rather lame.

Let's see him do it consistently please before it gets out of hand. It's already embarassing.

I agree. It's like what they did with Rooney a few seasons ago

 

[Doobs]

"Possibly the main man in European football this season" Yes Sky, absolutely.

 

[Karnivore]

Messi has been the best so far purely for his form before Christmas. From 2013 onwards it's clearly Ronaldo.

If Milan dump Barcelona out in embarassing fashion again next week and Ronaldo topples Man Utd, it aint going to be five consecutive Ballon d'Ors, no matter how many more scoring records he beats.

 

[darthvader7888]

Messi has been the best so far purely for his form before Christmas. From 2013 onwards it's clearly Ronaldo.

If Milan dump Barcelona out in embarassing fashion again next week and Ronaldo topples Man Utd, it aint going to be five consecutive Ballon d'Ors, no matter how many more scoring records he beats.

Well, if Messi scores more and wins La Liga while Ronaldo only wins Copa del Rey...

 

[ThwiX]

Yeah, Ronaldo will only have a chance on winning the Ballon d'Or if Real Madrid win CL.

 

[footyfan]

Well, if Messi scores more and wins La Liga while Ronaldo only wins Copa del Rey...

Then it will go to another player (possibly from the CL winning team, I don't think there will be any Chelsea level flukes this time). Either way, if Barca doesn't qualify for the next round, he's unlikely to win. Think about it, they've already voted for him 4 times. They're not gonna vote for him again unless he wins something more than the league with the team, especially considering his performances haven't been mind blowing like previous seasons.

 

[darthvader7888]

Then it will go to another player (possibly from the CL winning team, I don't think there will be any Chelsea level flukes this time). Either way, if Barca doesn't qualify for the next round, he's unlikely to win. Think about it, they've already voted for him 4 times. They're not gonna vote for him again unless he wins something more than the league with the team, especially considering his performances haven't been mind blowing like previous seasons.

Messi only won La Liga in 2010 and he still won it. Last year, he only won a Copa del Rey and still won the Ballon d'or. IMO, Messi should be able to win it again if he beats everyone in the individual stats (mainly goals scored), like what happened last year.

 

[footyfan]

Yes, but in previous seasons, it was always clear that he was the best player in the world because the way he played most of the games was outstanding. This year - not so much. He's just a little bit more than a goal machine this year. Obviously it's only been 2 months but still, if Barca are out of the CL, he won't have a chance to perform on the biggest stage.

These were the kinds of games he was playing in 2010:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CDRtuqwLwY (highlights are 0:38, 5:19, 7:00 and 8:10)

http://vimeo.com/59297495 (I was at this game!)

http://vimeo.com/59793639

http://vimeo.com/58819067

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/9927855/lionel_messi_vs_sevilla_hd_720p_30_10_2010/

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/9796958/lionel_messi_vs_real_madrid_hd_720p_29_11_2010/

 

[Deco 20]

If we're counting the whole season then Messi has definitely outperformed CR but CR probably edges it so far in 2013

 

[Paganinisrvnge]

Another great performance from Bale. Andre Villas-Boas has really taken Tottenham to a higher level and Bale is establishing himself as a top 15-20 player in the world.

 

[Doobs]

He's in the top 10

 

[Paganinisrvnge]

If he can lead Tottenham to a top 3 finish ahead of Chelsea and Arsenal then I would definitely put him top 10 regardless of what some angry posters on here may say. People on here who try to discredit Bale act like he was a nobody until 2 months ago. The truth is he's been a very good player for a few years now and unless you are living under a rock, you remember him demolishing Inter and Maicon in their 2 Champions League group stage matches. The difference is that now he's REALLY stepped it up and AVB is getting the best out of him.

 

[Ode to Django]

If he can lead Tottenham to a top 3 finish ahead of Chelsea and Arsenal then I would definitely put him top 10 regardless of what some angry posters on here may say. People on here who try to discredit Bale act like he was a nobody until 2 months ago. The truth is he's been a very good player for a few years now and unless you are living under a rock, you remember him demolishing Inter and Maicon in their 2 Champions League group stage matches. The difference is that now he's REALLY stepped it up and AVB is getting the best out of him.

how many times does that have to be repeated, against an unmotivated Inter side who were 4-0 up with all the space in the world to run into, Average form after that, hits a good run of form the past several weeks & suddenly 3rd best player in the world.

That's why it's annoying.