Wales Bale #Search

 GARETH BALE:

“Real Madrid just prioritise the Champions League.

 You can feel it, the fans, the president is there a day before a game and you don’t want to let him down. He’s so in love with the game, he likes to be seen and he wants to make a legacy. It makes him the greatest president in Real Madrid history.”

“The ‘BBC’? We got on really well. Karim was really quiet, more with Varane and the French boys. We played well together, it all seemed to work together. It was natural, we didn’t do a lot of tactical work.”

“I just wanted to play football, go home and be with my family. I think in Madrid, they want you do to interviews and be a star but that wasn’t me. I did feel targeted by the press, more than I should have. But I didn’t change and stuck to myself.”

“Cristiano? He was more of a flair player in United. He started to transition into that goal-scorer 2/3 seasons after I arrived. He was so driven, he just wanted to score goals.”

“The hardest thing to do in football is scoring goals, Cristiano did that. Going into a game, you would always feel that Cristiano Ronaldo would score, and that was a HUGE confidence booster. Scoring is the HARDEST thing in football, and Cristiano did that.”

“The leader? Ramos. By far the biggest leader. Cristiano was a leader in his own right. But the leader in the team was clearly Ramos.”

“Carvajal? He came when I did. He’s like a bull-dog, even if he’s playing badly he will keep going at you. It served him well.”

“Was I the quickest at Madrid? Cristiano would argue otherwise but I’d say me.”

“Zidane? He didn’t do that much in tactics: we would do minimal - training, possesion game, shooting and you go. 15 minutes of tactics in defensive shape.

But he got the respect from what he was as a player. He would join in during training, he even dropped me a few times, he still had it.” 

“Zidane - Ancelotti? Zidane got huge respect for what he was as a player.

Carlo’s man-management was the best, even if you were not playing, he would make you feel like you’re his best-mate. He had that ability to keep everyone happy and willing to do everything.

I said it before, at Madrid you don’t to be the coach, but to manage the players, of course they do a few tactical things, but it doesn’t need to be so much.”

“I was not suprised when Xabi got sacked.

At Real Madrid, if you do too much, the players don’t want to… you just need to be a great man manager, not an amazing tactician.”

“Wales, Golf, Madrid? The Spanish press created this ‘Golf’ thing. I played it once every 2/3 weeks. But they created that I am only playing Golf. But no, I always stayed professional, I could have came out to deny it, but I don’t think it was right to do that.”

“Manchester United bid more than Real Madrid for me. I talked with Manchester United, I also talked with David Moyes. But my heart was set on Real Madrid.”

“Best trainer? Modric or Kroos. They never lost the ball… Isco was the same.”

“Worst trainer? Hazard, probably. Chelsea boys would say the same. He hurt his ankle, and never really recovered.”

“Most skilfull player I’ve played with? Probably Isco. On a bigger pitch, he would struggle a bit more but during the small sided games, he was different. He’s the most similar I’ve seen to Zidane.”

“Best player I’ve played with? Arguably, Cristiano, yep.”

“Best manager I’ve worked with? Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti was like your best-mate. But he had a switch, if you didn’t train well… he would HAMMER you, anyone. Same during half-time, but he had that perfect balance.”

“Biggest character I’ve played with? Ramos or Cristiano. Ramos was very loud, very vocal and spoke in Spanish so at the start I had no idea what was going on. He was VERY captain.”