Gareth Bale reminded all his many potential summer suitors of his quality on Sunday by clinching a late equaliser in perhaps the most talent-demanding club fixture in the world, scoring Real Madrid’s second to prevent Barcelona a huge win in the latest El Clasico.
It’s not the first time the Welshman has scored a big goal for the club that look set to part with him this summer either – in fact, big goals have been a defining trait of much of his career in Spain and England.
And yet, sharing his lofty physique, his power, his greasy metrosexual haircut and his susceptibility to injuries, the former Tottenham star is for all intents and purposes the world’s most expensive Andy Carroll, one that Manchester United could end up paying £80million for, selling a promising young player in Anthony Martial in the process, to sign this summer according to April reports from Mirror Football.
Of course, injuries have been a huge factor in both of their careers. Since initially signing on loan in summer 2012, Carroll – who was made a club-record signing a year later – has missed more Premier League games, 115, than he’s featured in for West Ham, 113. Transfermarkt, meanwhile, provide one of the more conservative estimates of Bale’s injury history with Real Madrid – 14 serious injuries in total, amounting to 66 games missed. Tellingly, he’s made more than 30 league appearances during just one of his five campaigns in the Spanish capital.
Just as there’s no question how effective Carroll can be when he’s fit though – he’s actually averaged one goal or assist every 170 minutes he’s been on the pitch for the Hammers despite often lacking match sharpness – there’s no question Bale is one of the most talented attacking players in the world, one who has only improved his technique and deftness in tight spaces since moving to the Bernabeu, and one who would theoretically be the perfect final piece in United’s forward jigsaw by occupying the role on the right-hand side.
But Carroll’s lack of fitness has caused as many problems as its solved for West Ham down the years, because they’ve not been able to rely on him for extended periods. He clearly requires a direct brand of service to maximise his physicality, yet attempts to build the team around those demands only forced the Hammers to try and replicate the same effect with less talented front-men, the likes of Carlton Cole, Enner Valencia and Modibo Maiga.
“Andy is the type of player he has such a big impact on our game that I will never give up on Andy Especially now. I don’t know what it was like before, what were the reasons for his injuries and absence. On the other hand, it is definitely no good to have a player that you count on in the pre-season and you put his name first or second and then you can’t count on him.”
At the end of the 2016/17 season, Slaven Bilic begrudgingly told reporters that he could no longer rely on Carroll, a statement that highlighted how, at this point in his career, the England international is essentially a bonus player – someone you can’t plan for or build around, but hope will be available at certain points in the season just when he’s needed most. He’s like that 84-rated player you pick up in a gold pack on FIFA Ultimate Team, who doesn’t match your team’s chemistry or formation but stays in the squad because he’s fun to bring on from the bench every now and then.
And that’s what injury problems have turned Bale into as well, a top-class player who will only be available, at best, for around half the time – someone to take advantage of when fit, but not someone to plan around or base a game-plan on. You can’t build a team around someone who misses as many games as he starts and while the Wales international is a far less idiosyncratic forward than Carroll in terms of style, he leaves his managers facing essentially the same problems.
How can any gaffer in the world devise a game-plan around someone with a 50% chance of being unavailable, who’a season could end with one overcharged chase of a lost cause and subsequent calf strain? Such naivety only leads to disappointment and potential disaster.
No doubt, Manchester United are one of the few clubs in the world who can afford that bonus player luxury. £80million wouldn’t even be a club-record transfer fee, so spending that sum on an entity as proven as Bale – even if they aren’t always fit – is hardly an improbable scenario. But that, in turn, would say a lot about the mentality at United; how much do they want to be a collective, compared to simply a collection of gifted players? Do they want to be a team like Manchester City, or the English manifestation of Real Madrid’s Galacticos?
Perhaps the overriding argument though, is that United can spend that money on someone else – someone younger, someone ever-present, someone truly reliable, someone who can become the heart of the team. Would you sign Bale this summer, Red Devils fans? Let us know by voting below…
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