I was going to write a short tactical analysis of Spurs vs Real Madrid, then I realised there are people who are infinitely more experienced and qualified than me who’ll do a better job of it than I ever would. I did, in the few moments that occupied the intersection between the period of time in which I was watching the game and the period of time in which I was still entertaining this ludicrous idea, notice the attacking responsibility thrust upon Gareth Bale by the countless long cross-field balls barely finding their way into his path. With the media hyperbole and early one-dimensional (though fairly effective) tactics from Tottenham, one might think that Gareth Bale is a world-class player. Surely not? And if he is anywhere close to being so, can Harry Redknapp take any of the credit?
Years ago, even months ago, I was publically ridiculed for claiming that ‘Gareth Bale will be world-class one day’, not exclusively by non-Spurs fans either. I do, however, recall one person tentatively backing the various cases I made, most of them blaming Harry Redknapp for his lack of progress thus far. This was the same person I phoned at half-time of Inter vs Tottenham, when they were 4-0 down, to poke fun at and sarcastically comfort with ‘it’s alright though, Bale’s on the pitch, he’ll save you’. The night before, we’d been sat together watching Arsenal vs Shakhtar, where I’d been putting forward the claim that Bale is a little bit special to a Leeds fan and a Swindon fan, both of whom quickly concluded that I was talking nonsense. Thing is, I was right. Almost, at least, I wouldn’t get too carried away with the media hyperbole. However, Bale did score a hat-trick at the San Siro; he has become the main threat of a side who battled their way in the Champions League quarter-finals and is collectively feared amongst right-backs across Europe. Give me some credit at least.
I feel an examination of my past footballing claims is required, before deciding whether Harry Redknapp can take any credit for Bale’s metoric rise. It’s perhaps these claims that lead to little credence being given to my protestations that Bale would stand out at the highest level. The level of truth in a particular claim I’ll examine is irrelevant to me, the claim is one I’ll defend even now, its very root is the making of the football fan I am today.
Bored of listening to the endless boasts of how brilliant then Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo was, I decided to be rather controversial; to make a claim so clearly absurd, but passionately defensible. ‘Matt Le Tissier was better than Cristiano Ronaldo is’. At the time, Ronaldo hadn’t yet hit his stratospheric heights and was competing with the likes of Frank Lampard for the greatest goal tally, rather than competing with other-worldly talents like Lionel Messi. It wasn’t the most ridiculous claim, not if (as a young impressionable child) you were starved of football in a household with terrestrial and nothing other than a gifted Matt Le Tissier Unbelievable VHS to satiate your insatiable appetite for football. No one else I knew had seen it. They couldn’t identify where I was coming from, watching Manchester United win on TV every week is numbing to the realities of football. Whereas watching Southampton struggle for survival [or my hometown team lingering in the lower leagues] (Marian Pahars needs a mention, albeit a brief one) far too often, with wins rare and good wins even more so; watching Unbelievable naturally led to Le God worship. The fact that my peers couldn’t understand meant that my eye for talent was questioned, but I’d been brought up on Le Tissier; I knew talent when I saw it.
The masterful play of a precocious 17 year old left-back, acting as playmaker for a side reaching the Championship play-offs isn’t something you quickly forget. Despite the misleading tag as ‘set-piece specialist’ he quickly acquired, a brief moment watching him play quickly showed that there was much more to him than that. I don’t even need to say too much; Bale ran the show in the most enjoyable season for a Southampton fan since reaching the FA Cup final. He was entirely crucial to everything Southampton did that season; his and Kenwyne Jones’ tactical targeting by Billy Davies in the play-off semi-final first leg prevented him from making waves with Saints in the Premier League. Davies’ brutish Derby side quickly dispatched the fulcrum of Southampton’s attacking power, yet they still only managed to squeeze through the the play-off final, a task that likely would have proved impossible if not for Jones’ replacement Leon Best’s best efforts for the Rams.
With Southampton’s promotion charge thoroughly thwarted, it was clear Bale was moving on, to Spurs he went for a sizeable fee. He made an impressive start, but progress was quickly halted by injuries and an unfortunate 24 game streak of appearances in which he didn’t taste league victory didn’t help his case either. It can’t have helped his confidence, nor could the fact that Harry Redknapp was almost ready to ship him out to Nottingham Forest on loan before injuries took their toll and Bale was required for first team duty. He played well. He continued playing well. He’s still playing well. Playing in a confident creative side playing attacking football for a sustained period of time helped Bale; Harry Redknapp’s man-management of him up until that point clearly did not, if it weren’t for injuries, he’d have been on the scrapheap as David Bentley and Giovani Dos Santos find themselves now.
Redknapp can take credit for the environment in which Bale has flourished, but Bale’s flourishing in it is accidental, a stroke of luck caused by injuries rather than an orchestrated masterplan by the Tottenham manager. That’s as much as he can rightfully take credit for; the rest goes to Bale’s natural talent, evident from his time at Southampton. A talent like Bale, a talent like Le Tissier, they could make it anywhere (and so I’ve argued many times), such talents given the right environment (could this apply to Fernando Torres?) will always prosper and succeed. And it takes talent to spot such a talent… and with my overuse of the word ‘talent’ throughout this, I’ll argue that’s one talent I possess (with creative writing probably not being an element of the set of ‘my talents’).
Rishi Modha 