On the latest episode of Stick to Football, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Jill Scott, Roy Keane and Ian Wright are joined by former Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, and Wales star Gareth Bale for a look back at his remarkable career. Bale opens up on the reality of playing for Real Madrid, the pressure of the famous badge and what it was like sharing a dressing room with Cristiano Ronaldo. He reflects on his rise to superstardom at Tottenham, revealing a move to Manchester United was on the table twice, and discusses Champions League glory, leading Wales on the international stage and life after football, including his spell in MLS and what keeps him busy today.
00:00 Intro
09:37 Real Madrid Spotlight
26:02 Ronaldo’s Relentless Drive
38:33 Spurs Breakthrough and Career Choices
50:27 Spurs’ Current Troubles
54:51 United Links
57:31 Wales
01:13:31 Retirement and Life After
01:25:20 Quickfire Questions
Key Quotes:
Bale on his experiences at Real Madrid…
“A lot of players go to Real Madrid and it’s all glitz and glamour and I was never like that. I just wanted to play football and go home and be with my family. I would never want to do interviews but I had to sometimes. I didn’t want the circus around with it. I think for Real Madrid I don’t think that was enough for the fans. I was stubborn and I didn’t want to change but if I played the game a bit better, I would have been less targeted by the press and the fans.”
Bale on his playing relationship with Benzema…
“Generally, everyone got on well. In the changing room we never had any issues. I got on well with Karim, he was very quiet and was more just with Varane who were the French boys and he would just keep himself to himself. We never had one argument and we played well together. He was the one that was gluing it all together and the focal point. It just seemed to all work together. When I went there it was the final jigsaw to the puzzle of that team and we had a bit more balance.”
Bale on working with Carlo Ancelotti…
‘I would say his main thing was the respect he got from when he was a player and people would respect that and work hard. At Real Madrid you can’t just fob it off. Carlo’s man management was the best. If you weren’t playing, he would make you feel like you’re still his best mate and when he needed you, he’d be like you’ve got to be ready and you’d just be ready. He just had this amazing ability just to keep everybody together happy and just willing to do everything. There are a few tactical things that he does, it’s just not so much.’
Bale on his progression as a player…
“I always just thought I’m this kid from Wales – why am I here. I always felt like I had to prove myself and I think that probably made me the player that I am today. Whatever level I got to I felt like I had to keep proving myself to everybody. Even when I got there, I was like I’ve still got to keep proving it, so it made me stay at the top a bit longer.”
Bale on choosing his next club after Southampton…
“At Southampton, United and Tottenham came in for me at the time. United came in with a lower offer and Tottenham came in with more money. I had to turn down United to go to Tottenham. I was thinking if I go to United, I would probably be going to get loaned back, and I don’t know what’s going to happen. If I go to Tottenham, they said I’m going to play. I felt at that time I was doing well in the championship, and I was ready for the next step so I trusted my ability to go to Tottenham to play and then I could potentially go to a Real Madrid.”
Bale on Tottenham’s current struggles…
“I would say money. They don’t pay as much as United and you look at the wage bill it’s lower. Buying a 50-million-pound player it’s not what it used to be you must be spending 80, 90, 100 now just to get a good player. They need that bit of a gamble, from a business point of view they’re maybe not willing to do it. I don’t know how they’re doing financially but it seems to be that for me that’s probably the biggest issue they just don’t sign the proven player.”
Bale on conversations with Manchester and Real Madrid…
“I spoke with David Moyes, but my heart was set on Madrid anyway. I had something in place with Daniel Levy more of a gentleman’s agreement because he didn’t want to sell me to a rival. We had that gentleman’s agreement even though he made it very tough like he does. It was a gentleman’s agreement, so it was more just that, but he stayed true to his words. I didn’t go down the wages route with United. It didn’t go that far they offered more money to buy me and a player, but I didn’t really get any legs. I had my heart set on it [going to Real Madrid] so once I spoke to them, they reserved the number 11. I spoke with numerous people at the club, I knew Modric the year before who went there which helped me.”
Bale on whether his national achievements meant more to him than his club accolades…
“It’s tough because if you choose one, you’re going to annoy someone else, so they were both great but they’re different in different countries. I think we were 119th in the world when I first signed, we got to 7th which for a country of 3.3 million is brilliant. What we did and what we built and more the friends and the friendships was like again I didn’t feel any pressure because I’m playing with my mates. We were just all on the same page. We had the confidence. I think we were so good defensively as a team we felt especially in 2016 around that era just before, just after that we were watertight if we were losing a game, it was by one maximum, but we always knew we could nick a game nick a result against anybody.”
Bale on the pressure playing for Wales…
“I never felt the pressure. No, I just loved playing for Wales. I think the one thing for us is that we grew up together. We were kind of all playing together through those age groups, so you grew up with everyone. I said about the Euros you feel like you’re with your mates and you look forward to meeting up now. We had a good spine, and the rest would do a great job. There was no ego we would come and turn up even though I was at Real Madrid it didn’t matter if I played for League 2 or Real Madrid it was like we’re all the same.”
Bale on retiring early…
“I tore my disc in my back when I was 18 at Tottenham. I played my whole career with that, and I had a lot of calf injuries which was due to my back. I never came out and said this when I was playing. I’d have an injection in my back to calm it all down and you go through all these things in your career. It got to a point where I guess a lot of people do in their career do you keep going for what reason. I didn’t want to just keep going for the sake of it and the people always say you don’t want football to leave you before you leave football. It was the right time, and it was a few years prior that I was probably ready but then you try and make things stronger, but it just caught up with me and the thing with my father’s illness I wanted then to be closer to home and what was happening with him.”
Bale on his experiences in the MLS…
“I loved it and I wish I went over a bit younger when I had more physical ability. I thought it was very different from Madrid. I still remember my first, one of the first games, we lost the game and they accept that you’re going to lose. It’s a bit more family orientated, the stadiums, it’s not like that horrible chanting where they absolutely abuse you. Everything’s just a bit more laid back but they’re still as professional as anything. Amazing athletes. It’s just a shame that there’s maybe not the money in the MLS to attract the younger player. I think that’s probably the biggest issue with the MLS to try and make it bigger is you can’t get someone in their prime at 25, 26. Unfortunately, it seems to be at the end because the money’s not there. If the money’s there, you’ll attract players.”
Bale on the World Cup…
“I think it’ll be big. I know a lot of people say that it’s going to make soccer, football in America bigger but a lot of fans these days I feel like they support a player. It’s not necessarily going to make them support teams, but it will make the sport bigger there. I don’t think it’s going to have such a big an impact as people say because they just don’t have the finances like an NBA or NFL must just throw money and get the best players there even though I know it’s American-based sport. If you want to make football bigger in America, you must make it bigger and more exciting and better. Where it was when I played preseason years ago, there’s a massive difference and it’s on a progression. It needs that financial side.”
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