Bale isn’t Ronaldo’s standard, but can reach it
Last week when Jeff Stelling suggested that Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale was just as good, if not better, than Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo, the world of Twitter erupted into a frenzied collective of ‘WTF’s’ and ‘Lol’s’.
This is the same Ronaldo that has netted 182 times in 179 games for Los Blancos and effectively dragged them to La Liga glory last season. And Bale, a player who has only recently netted double figures on a consistent basis was better than his Portuguese counterpart? Highly unlikely.
However, less than two days following Stelling’s comments, the Spurs ace lined up on the left wing against Newcastle United and put in one the finest individual performances this season, netting twice in the 2-1 win over the Magpies.
An early goal – a free kick bearing a striking resemblance to a Ronaldo-esque effort – set the tone for the encounter and the 23-year-old was all but unplayable on the afternoon; he continuously drifted inside looking for the ball and it’s fair to say that had it not been for the goalkeeping exploits of Tim Krul, coupled with a dodgy right foot, Bale easily could’ve helped himself to a hat-trick.
It’s easy to compare to the two, it has to be said. Both possess a similar physical presence and the ability and playing style is very much the same. But, Ronaldo remains in a league of his own when compared to Bale.
That isn’t to say the latter won’t improve – he is only 23 after all – and he’s already being dubbed one of the games genuine world class players, but he’s hardly better than his Real counterpart, as least not yet anyway.
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