Gareth Bale believed that by moving to the American League early last summer to defend the colors of the “Los Angeles” team, he would get rid of the problem of marginalization he suffered during his last years with the Spanish giant Real Madrid.
But a few weeks before the start of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the 33-year-old finds himself again marginalized in his new team in a scenario that has begun to take shape since his early days in California, to transform again into a hibernating dragon without a horizon to wake up.
When Bale signed for the US team, a Welsh family saw an opportunity for them to see their favorite star up close. In August, they traveled more than 8,000km to see him play against DC United and even raised the Welsh flag in the stands, hoping to catch the player’s attention, but in the end I saw him in practice and did some photo with him.
All the former Tottenham star can say to this family is “sorry, I didn’t play that day”.
This story sums up the complicated situation for Bale, who has a chance to win the American League title next Saturday and add it to his many titles with Real Madrid, but actually played no role in his new team’s ability to move up. on the podium.
bad record
In his absence due to a leg injury, his teammates defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2 in the derby that brought the two teams together in the second round of the playoffs, only to watch them only from the bench as they beat Austin 3 – 0 in the final of the West Region.
The Welshman, in fact, has no place in the offensive trio formed by the Mexican Carlos Vela, the Gabonese Denis Bouanga and the Colombian Christian Arango.
Because after starting his American adventure well by scoring two goals in his first four games, Bale has gradually disappeared from the radar and has only played 355 minutes in 12 of the 17 games his new team has played since his move in late June, equivalent to 30 minutes. per game.
It is certainly a bad record for a player who should be the main star of his new club and one of the most prominent faces of the American League, who is still looking for the polarization brought to him by stars such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and England’s Wayne Rooney, alone. to name a few.
In an effort to mitigate Bale’s failure on his Los Angeles venture, club general manager John Torrington recently said, “We viewed Gareth as a player we thought was capable of playing, recovering and able to help. the team. And I want to emphasize what he did. He helped us win a number of games when he was able to play. “
works hard
“It is a pity that some physical problems prevented him from playing a more important role. We hope he changes so that he can help us. He is working hard, he is a great professional.”
While he’s not among the highest-paid players in the league (his salary is estimated at $ 1.6 million this season, according to the Los Angeles Times, or $ 133,000 a month), it’s not worth mentioning what he did.
But the player does not harm his club, which not only achieves good sporting results without him, but is also reaping the rewards elsewhere, as sales of the Welsh shirt outnumber those of stars such as team-mate Carlos Vela and Mexican Javier Hernandez. (Galaxy).
In a way, Bale, the Los Angeles player, is very similar to the player he was at Real Madrid, except that there is a world that separates the American and Spanish leagues.
The fact that he has not been able to establish himself within his new team raises questions, and raises doubts about the abilities of the player, who has always suffered the curse of injuries during his career in leading his country to the World Cup finals. in Qatar, where he begins his journey on the 21st of this month against the United States, before facing Iran and neighboring England in the second round competitions.
