I told you. There are those that are SMALL TIME and other that are BIG TIME. There is arty and indie and there is BLOCKBUSTER and HOLLYWOOD. It doesn't happen all the time and you can never get the REAL in every match. But when you know a player has that in him, you have to do all you can to really make sure you can extract and unleash it at every given opportunity.
Benitez has realized the explosiveness of Bale that is unlike any other player in the Madrid team, and has wisely tried to free him up so that he can get the best out of him. In order to allow a player, who has the potential to get into beast mode, to unleash themselves is give them the free role which takes off the shackles and can make them score G's like Bale was able to do against Betis. Seeing that goal, I wasn't surprised, because this is what this Welsh man can do. And I have said this many times, football is as much psychological as it is physical.
By restricting Bale out on the wing, you are limiting his influence on the game. There are players like De Bruyne or Navas who are happy to be wingers and nothing more. That is what their football is about and they won't complain at all when they have been given that role. With Bale, when you saw how successful he was at Spurs, this was not him just being a winger. He would be out wide, then in the middle, just behind the striker, making runs into the box. His position was very malleable, and he was extremely effective in that way. Because he has played as a winger for a full season and has received so much unwarranted abuse for his performances, it will take a while until he can consistently bring the pain for Madrid. He was not on beast mode against Gijon, but Betis fell his true effect. It won't be a consistent train just yet, but if Benitez sticks with it, then I am willing to put a bit of cash down that it will yield the desired results for Madrid. Bale is a VERY effective player in the same sense as Muller. He just knows how to deliver and be at the right place at the right time.
The very key to winning a league or a cup or anything is building a team with ROLES. A mistake that managers make is trying to enforce their own ideology into a team and force them to all follow that one train of thought. That is nonsense and won't get you anywhere. It is all about having a team where each individual knows what their directives are and their aim to accomplish them at the end of every game. With the defenders, it's about maintaining concentration and restricting the amount of chances that the opponent can have. That is where Ramos has to cut out the mistakes and try and not go crazy and get a red card. Then with Modric, it's about controlling the game. Dictating the tempo and forcing the opposing team to do the chasing which will eventually tire them out.
Benzema has TWO directive in his role. Whether he likes it or not, it's two score G's. He's a striker and that is the unwritten rule to get that done. For James, he's the creator, and the midfielder that breaks forward to link the play. Cristina's ONLY job is to score goals. He is not required to do anything else. I don't want him to think, breathe or even make a noise. Just score goals and that's it. All that is needed. And as for Bale, he is to do whatever the HELL he damn well pleases. That's just how it is. Sometimes he can provide, or he can score or even just beat three or four players. Once everyone now knows their roles, it turns a bunch of ten individuals into an actual TEAM that can win any kind of game.
All roads eventually lead back to Bale. Every team needs that lynchpin and X-factor. Barcelona's is Messi, Bayern's is Robben but now it's looking like Costa wants that title. Your X-factor does not necessarily have to be your top-scorer, but it's just the dude that gets your team going and is the glue that sticks everything together. The key to football is a perfect and loving marriage between TEAM and INDIVIDUALITY.
HH
