Bale with a "normal" bulging disc

yeah.... nice job Flo

perez... why

Shouldn't we wait for an official report ?

http://www.marca.com/2013/10/12/futbol/equipos/real_madrid/1381555858.html

Unnecessary transfer. We really didn't need him.

Madrid made a commentary on this right now and it sounds better, but not great. Madrid's communiqué says:

"El jugador Gareth Bale tiene una pequeña protrusión discal crónica, que es sumamente frecuente entre los jugadores de fútbol y que no impide en ningún caso el normal desarrollo de su actividad profesional."

Translation: The player Gareth Bale has a small protruding disc which is chronic, that is a frequent condition for football players and that doesn't impede in any manner his professional activity.

I'm sorry, but a chronic bulging disc is not normal no matter what Madrid says.

A chronic bulging disk is not only abnormal but the kind of injury that will hurt him for the rest of his life

100 mil well spent

Yohan Modric wrote:Unnecessary transfer. We really didn't need him.

but we needed Isco to replace Ozil

Bale was and is needed because other than Ronaldo we don't have players who can win matches.

Isco wasn't bought to replace Ozil. Perez doesn't really have a transfer strategy. He just buys players randomly.

However Isco for me was more of a Di Maria replacement.

In terms of Bale, we don't need 2 match winners in order to win matches. In fact we would win matches if we sold Ronaldo and bought another WC player.

Bayern won the CL without a Messi or Ronaldo. Same with Inter. Dortmund got to the final, Chelsea won it in 2012 and Man Utd got to the final in 2011.

Yohan Modric wrote:Isco wasn't bought to replace Ozil. Perez doesn't really have a transfer strategy. He just buys players randomly.

However Isco for me was more of a Di Maria replacement.

In terms of Bale, we don't need 2 match winners in order to win matches. In fact we would win matches if we sold Ronaldo and bought another WC player.

Bayern won the CL without a Messi or Ronaldo. Same with Inter. Dortmund got to the final, Chelsea won it in 2012 and Man Utd got to the final in 2011.

Isco was bought as a Di Maria replacement ? Is Isco a winger ? Can he play on the right ? No. He was bought because he is the best Spanish talent out there, but we had the best AM in the world.

I guess it's easy to replace a player who scores 60 goals a year

Isco did play on the wing for Malaga and Spain u21s, so he could have in a 4-2-3-1 here.

However Perez did buy players without thinking how they would all fit in tactically.

In terms of Ronaldo, we don't need someone who scores 60 goals a year to win trophies. It's not like his 60 goals wins us the treble every year.

i prefer di maria instead anyway

If anyone actually pays attention to how Isco plays, MTs comment makes perfect sense.

Isco is a top talent and I'm glad we signed him. But doesn't play like Ozil nor do I see him try to even pass/create like Ozil.


As for the Bale signing... I called it (as did a few others). We didn't need him and this signing is looking to turn out to be a Kaka type of signing, mark my words.

For the 100th time, Kaka 2.0.

Well-played Spurs.

The most expensive footballer of all time etc etc.

Gareth has something Kaka doesn't.. British grit.. Don't count him out just yet

Thanks for the Ozil transfer, btw guys. Who knows where we'd be right now without him

It could actually work out in Isco's favor. Isco is much better suited to play as a forward than as a CM... doesn't have the passing vision. I'd try Isco in the front 3 and play a midfield of Khedira-Alonso-Modric.

http://futbol.as.com/futbol/2013/10/12/primera/1381592451_103237.html

Is this saying that Flo Perez was not informed of the condition by Sanitas? My gawd Sanitas, what are you doing!!!

Direct interview with a Sanitas executive too...

&^$#

I don't expect much anyway, regardless of medical complications. Even if he managed to be the best player he could possibly be, would he really lift the team? I have my doubts.

I feel as though this opens a glimmer of hope for Jese, who may actually get some playing time while Bale remains sidelined. That's really the full extent to this news to me.

Isco will not replace him, it will me a massive waste sticking him on the right to be a forward. There's a certain subtlety and patience required to be a central midfielder, which Isco has demonstrated in spurts. These are traits that come with consistency in a certain role, which is not something Isco has enjoyed.

Carlo's stoicism will embed him with these qualities sooner than you expect, he adapts to new roles quickly.

You didn't expect much... from a 100 million signing?

I was under the impression we all didn't. I expect someone who will improve slightly, and plateau when he is unable to extract more out of his limited talent than he already has. I still expect it.

Perhaps these complications reduce an already low ceiling...but that isn't of much consequence. Neither is what happens 5..6 years down the road.

Paying 100 million doesn't change who Gareth Bale is, it doesn't suddenly embed him with talent or make him a player who is going to inspire the team. Usually, the latter are what creates the price tag, but in this case they didn't.

Regardless of him being injury-prone, or not, I believe that Bale relies more on his speed than CR7, for instance has ever done. I really wonder how Bale will perform when his speed doesn't give him an edge anymore. I hate to compare him to Kaka, but he, too, experienced a massive drop in performance after he realised that he couldn't effortlessly just run past players anymore. In Kaka's case, he excelled in other aspects than just getting past players, but his overall performance still went downhill at a relatively early age. I'm curious to see how Bale will perform when outrunning his opponent(s) becomes more difficult, or even out of the question.

Kaka lost his speed at an early age because of injuries, and except that incredible speed he was neither the physical beast Ronaldo and Bale are or as hardworker as the latter.