Bale

[marsvolta]

He may not be able to play 90 mins every game anymore but surely he can do a job for us as a squad member.

Until we have an abundance of quality replacements,Us not selecting him would be madness

[iot]

Yeah, I think the people saying 'let's move on from bale, ramsey and hennessey, we need new blood' haven't thought it through. Who do we move on from Hennessey to? Tom King? Seems silly when Hennessey's still the better keeper. Move on from Ramsey when he's a regular starter and playing well in Ligue 1, when we have the likes of Matt Smith in the squad? And who would come in for Bale - Matondo or Bradshaw presumably?

If they're keen to still play a part, I think that's great. Some of them may not be starters anymore, but they certainly still have a part to play in the squad.

[hooky]

I assume Bale has major injury problems.

He achieved everything he could realistically achieve with Wales and drove us on to the many successes we have had - almost single handedly through Euro 2016 qualification and the Austria play off victory.

Despite the fact he is risking suffering chronic pain for the rest of his life - he still wants to play and contribute to Wales - look at his comments - I want to continue playing ..... as long as they still want me.

He is not only our greatest sporting super star, Bale is also our greatest fan

I hope he can create a few more magic moments, find a position where he can maximise his impact given constraints and somehow stay relatively injury free (which would be a miracle).

Given his humble comments - then I assume he would be prepared to accept an impact role for Wales, if he remains constrained by injuries. He is our legend isn't he!

I think Ramsey wants to play on too. He needs to focus on keeping momentum alive, perhaps as a more defense minded midfielder and withdraw from his box to box role.

Its a shame for football, not just Welsh football, that the game has been robbed of seeing these two talents so much over the past 4 or so years. I hope they do themselves justice. Qualifying for and playing reasonably well in Germany would be the perfect send off for both

[allezlesrouges]

Dec 23, 2022 9:43:53 GMT iot said:

Yeah, I think the people saying 'let's move on from bale, ramsey and hennessey, we need new blood' haven't thought it through. Who do we move on from Hennessey to? Tom King? Seems silly when Hennessey's still the better keeper. Move on from Ramsey when he's a regular starter and playing well in Ligue 1, when we have the likes of Matt Smith in the squad? And who would come in for Bale - Matondo or Bradshaw presumably?

If they're keen to still play a part, I think that's great. Some of them may not be starters anymore, but they certainly still have a part to play in the squad.

I've not heard anyone say they should drop out of the squad. Only heard calls for them to not be guaranteed starters anymore. I think we definitely can't start both Bale and Ramsey, as that leaves us without enough legs

[iot]

Look at the end of the last page with one person say 'he should not be included imo same goes for Ramsey and Hennesey' and another saying there should be a farewell game for Bale because his involvement in the next euros campaign would tarnish his reputation.

Also disagree with you that Ramsey leaves us without legs, that wasn't the issue with him at the WC

[insertname]

The bloke can barely run. Never mind playing for Wales in the Euros, I’d put money on him not even playing club football by the time Euro 2024 rolls around

[rushy]

Bale HAS to be included in future squads, as his name could still attract young potential prospects who may be eligible, and with that in mind the qualifying of tournaments are going to prove to be very important.

[iot]

Dec 23, 2022 13:46:57 GMT insertname said:

The bloke can barely run. Never mind playing for Wales in the Euros, I’d put money on him not even playing club football by the time Euro 2024 rolls around

We're talking about whether he merits squad inclusion in three months time. I think it's crazy to suggest he doesn't. As for the Euros itself, let's see how things progress at club level. He has a contract for another year.

And we don't know that the bloke can barely run. There's a very good chance he was managing some injuries at the world cup. It's just pointless saying these things at this point, let's just see how things are when he gets back into club football

[marsvolta]

With so many writing him off,I would absolutely love Bale to come on as sub in one of the games and score a vital winner.

(I realise I’ve gone a bit Kevin Keegan there but, well, I would love it)

[dai]

Is he still contracted to Los Angeles FC? If yes, for how long? If not, where does he go from here?

[kb4b50]

I think it's important for Bale and Ramsey etc to be playing regularly for their club sides to merit inclusion. Let's be honest over the last few seasons Bale had hardly played and was unfortunately very poor at the WC. When are we going to start to move on from the likes of Bale and Hennesey? (who will not play any meaningful football over the next few month's at Forest) . These players have been icons for Wales over the years with but their time at international level imo is fast approaching. 

[insertname]

Dec 23, 2022 19:22:41 GMT iot said:

Dec 23, 2022 13:46:57 GMT insertname said:

The bloke can barely run. Never mind playing for Wales in the Euros, I’d put money on him not even playing club football by the time Euro 2024 rolls around

We're talking about whether he merits squad inclusion in three months time. I think it's crazy to suggest he doesn't. As for the Euros itself, let's see how things progress at club level. He has a contract for another year.

And we don't know that the bloke can barely run. There's a very good chance he was managing some injuries at the world cup. It's just pointless saying these things at this point, let's just see how things are when he gets back into club football

If you brought him on in the next fixture, based on the World Cup as a marker to where he is right now, what would you be expecting him to do?

[insertname]

Dec 23, 2022 22:17:27 GMT dai said:

Is he still contracted to Los Angeles FC? If yes, for how long? If not, where does he go from here?

Two seasons iirc. I guess they are under no obligation to play him if his physical condition doesn’t improve

[conwy10]

Dec 24, 2022 0:12:07 GMT kb4b50 said:

I think it's important for Bale and Ramsey etc to be playing regularly for their club sides to merit inclusion. Let's be honest over the last few seasons Bale had hardly played and was unfortunately very poor at the WC. When are we going to start to move on from the likes of Bale and Hennesey? (who will not play any meaningful football over the next few month's at Forest) . These players have been icons for Wales over the years with but their time at international level imo is fast approaching. 

I agree with this, but we have to remember even though he never played he always managed to pull something out of the bag for us. Same as Ramsey joining us off the injury table to win us a few games completely not fit. I felt that the World Cup all the things we've not seen as an issue as they've never affected us affected us big time on a global stage. But we need to learn our lesson from this. I do think we'll see the World Cup as just a bad day at the office and carry on as normal.

[insertname]

Dec 24, 2022 7:22:30 GMT conwy10 said:

Dec 24, 2022 0:12:07 GMT kb4b50 said:

I think it's important for Bale and Ramsey etc to be playing regularly for their club sides to merit inclusion. Let's be honest over the last few seasons Bale had hardly played and was unfortunately very poor at the WC. When are we going to start to move on from the likes of Bale and Hennesey? (who will not play any meaningful football over the next few month's at Forest) . These players have been icons for Wales over the years with but their time at international level imo is fast approaching. 

I agree with this, but we have to remember even though he never played he always managed to pull something out of the bag for us. Same as Ramsey joining us off the injury table to win us a few games completely not fit. I felt that the World Cup all the things we've not seen as an issue as they've never affected us affected us big time on a global stage. But we need to learn our lesson from this. I do think we'll see the World Cup as just a bad day at the office and carry on as normal.

That’s exactly the problem- picking Bale is great if he pulls something out of the bag (which he had been doing in the play offs despite criticism for his all round performance) however when he doesn’t pull something out, like most of the World Cup, it looks like a really bad selection because he can’t offer anything elsewhere on the pitch. We’ve been riding luck and storing problems up for a later day, which came during the World Cup.

The question as to whether things go back to normal is: how many big moments have Bale and Ramsey got left in them? Ramsey at least, can get about the pitch but Bale looks physically shot. He might improve with more games at club level but to me it seems more like he has reached the end of the road at the top level. I’m not even sure he would justify an impact role as a sub. Maybe if the alternative is someone like Tyler Roberts…but his current lack of mobility makes me think that it would be better for him to bow out now gracefully

[conwy10]

Dec 24, 2022 10:36:05 GMT insertname said:

Dec 24, 2022 7:22:30 GMT conwy10 said:

I agree with this, but we have to remember even though he never played he always managed to pull something out of the bag for us. Same as Ramsey joining us off the injury table to win us a few games completely not fit. I felt that the World Cup all the things we've not seen as an issue as they've never affected us affected us big time on a global stage. But we need to learn our lesson from this. I do think we'll see the World Cup as just a bad day at the office and carry on as normal.

That’s exactly the problem- picking Bale is great if he pulls something out of the bag (which he had been doing in the play offs despite criticism for his all round performance) however when he doesn’t pull something out, like most of the World Cup, it looks like a really bad selection because he can’t offer anything elsewhere on the pitch. We’ve been riding luck and storing problems up for a later day, which came during the World Cup.

The question as to whether things go back to normal is: how many big moments have Bale and Ramsey got left in them? Ramsey at least, can get about the pitch but Bale looks physically shot. He might improve with more games at club level but to me it seems more like he has reached the end of the road at the top level. I’m not even sure he would justify an impact role as a sub. Maybe if the alternative is someone like Tyler Roberts…but his current lack of mobility makes me think that it would be better for him to bow out now gracefully

Personally speaking in I'm nowhere near ready for a Bale retirement.

[iot]

Dec 24, 2022 4:56:55 GMT insertname said:

Dec 23, 2022 19:22:41 GMT iot said:

We're talking about whether he merits squad inclusion in three months time. I think it's crazy to suggest he doesn't. As for the Euros itself, let's see how things progress at club level. He has a contract for another year.

And we don't know that the bloke can barely run. There's a very good chance he was managing some injuries at the world cup. It's just pointless saying these things at this point, let's just see how things are when he gets back into club football

If you brought him on in the next fixture, based on the World Cup as a marker to where he is right now, what would you be expecting him to do?

But it's silly to pick three games over six days as the basis of your whole assessment of Bale as a player. I can think of very recent examples where Bale has had a big difference off the bench. Practically winning the MLS for LAFC last month. He also looked really good when he came on out in Rotterdam against really high quality opposition - that was only June.

[iot]

Dec 24, 2022 0:12:07 GMT kb4b50 said:

I think it's important for Bale and Ramsey etc to be playing regularly for their club sides to merit inclusion. Let's be honest over the last few seasons Bale had hardly played and was unfortunately very poor at the WC. When are we going to start to move on from the likes of Bale and Hennesey? (who will not play any meaningful football over the next few month's at Forest) . These players have been icons for Wales over the years with but their time at international level imo is fast approaching. 

'When are we going to start to move on from the likes of Bale and Hennesey?'

Just to clarify, are you talking about moving on from them from the first team, which would be entirely valid imo, or from the entire squad for Tom King and Rabbi Matondo, which would be very stupid imo?

[jimexotic]

Dec 24, 2022 21:42:07 GMT conwy10 said:

Dec 24, 2022 10:36:05 GMT insertname said:

That’s exactly the problem- picking Bale is great if he pulls something out of the bag (which he had been doing in the play offs despite criticism for his all round performance) however when he doesn’t pull something out, like most of the World Cup, it looks like a really bad selection because he can’t offer anything elsewhere on the pitch. We’ve been riding luck and storing problems up for a later day, which came during the World Cup.

The question as to whether things go back to normal is: how many big moments have Bale and Ramsey got left in them? Ramsey at least, can get about the pitch but Bale looks physically shot. He might improve with more games at club level but to me it seems more like he has reached the end of the road at the top level. I’m not even sure he would justify an impact role as a sub. Maybe if the alternative is someone like Tyler Roberts…but his current lack of mobility makes me think that it would be better for him to bow out now gracefully

Personally speaking in I'm nowhere near ready for a Bale retirement.

Me neither, I don't really want him starting but for the last 30 minutes he could be incredibly effective and on top of that, if he actually strings together a number of starts and full to nearly full games for LA, he could come back into the first eleven picture, we juts can't carry him though because we saw what that did to us in the World Cup.

[kb4b50]

My point is that to merit any inclusion in the wales team going forward they must be playing regularly for their club sides. We have seen to our cost at the WC what a lack of game time and fitness has done to Ramsey and Bale. Also Bale is 34 next year and Hennesey will be 35/36 are we also saying they will be fine for another qualifying campaign? We have to start to looking at succession planning and if that is players like King or Matondo then so be it if nobody else is eligible. These have been great servants to Welsh football and I wish it could continue but unfortunately father time appears to be catching them up imo. 

[surge]

At the moment we don't know how much getting to World Cup was drive in helping Bale/Hennessey* put in magic performances and how challenge of i) getting to third Euros and ii) setting the table for next generation before bowing out will be enough to motivate them to keep coming back. They might feel, understandably, that they've been ii) for number of years already. 

Whenever it is that the older heads want to step away, they'll be nothing but love and respect for them. 

*Ramsey is that much younger and, clean(er) bill of health permitting, has more time left at top level. 

[allezlesrouges]

Ramsey will have more to give than Bale you feel. However, he's still trying to play like he's 25, hasn't learned yet to adapt his game. He could reach 100 caps if he can learn to be a deep sitting playmaker and stop running forward

[cynonvalley]

Announced his retirement.

[welwyn]

DIOLCH!!!!

For what you gave us we can never repay you.

[foxmulder]

Wow. And like that, it's all done.

What a player, what a man... what a thread!

[iot]

Absolutely gutted

[robin1864]

Seems like only yesterday we were speculating about his move to Real Madrid from Spurs, time flies. An incredible career and is surely the most accomplished Welsh sportsman, get that statue built.

[erasedcitizen]

Devastated.

[eppingblue1]

I'm devastated. Our chances of getting to Germany just fell of a cliff. 

[evans1282]

Greatest Cymru player of my lifetime,and for me ,greatest from these Isles,Sais may doubt it,but for me no doubt,remember seeing a young,Rush,Hughes ,Southall and Giggs,telling myself soak it up we might never see the like again.Then Bale arrived,just a different level,not just in personal ability,but In his ability to galvanise his team,Diolch Gareth enjoy what you do next,and bask in the love of a greatful nation.