Former Real Madrid forward Jorge Valdano believes anxiety is behind star signing Gareth Bale’s inconsistency.
The 24-year-old joined Los Blancos for a record €100 million fee last summer and has so far made 25 appearances, scoring 11 goals and notching 10 assists.
Valdano claims the Welshman is yet to adapt to the pace of the Spanish league, and feels the spotlight is wrongly sticking with the former Tottenham Hotspur player.
“Bale has a rare anxiety because he doesn’t seem to be with the pace of the game,” the Argentine told AS.
“When you’re anxious, you play at a speed above what suits you, but he is absent. The team saves him. There are many points of attention, including Jese, who is going unnoticed in Bale’s bad moments.”
Bale’s next game will be Sunday’s league tie against strugglers Elche, where he will hope to recapture the kind of form that saw him score 26 goals in his last 44 games in England.
In his three year spell at the club as a player, Valdano won La Liga twice, along with two Uefa Cup titles, and a Copa del Rey. At international level, he scored seven goals in 23 appearances for his native Argentina.
