Sky Sports pundit Terry Gibson believes Gareth Bale is under pressure at Real Madrid and could be fighting for his future at the club.
The Welshman’s form has dipped alarmingly in his second season at the Santiago Bernabeu and he was largely non-existent as Los Blancos went down 2-1 to eternal rivals Barcelona in El Clasico on Sunday.
Former Tottenham Hotspur, Coventry City, Manchester United and Wimbledon striker Gibson insists Bale must now start to show his best form if he wants to continue at arguably the world’s biggest club.
“Bale isn’t helping himself in terms of getting into positions,” Gibson told Sky Sports’ La Liga Podcast.
“It can happen in some games where the wide man doesn’t get the service, but not at Real Madrid. With [Toni] Kroos, [Luka] Modric and Isco in midfield there is enough there to suggest he is going to get the ball.
“Bale has got to do more. It’s slightly irritating seeing such an athletic, supremely gifted footballer on the periphery of the game because he does need to get involved a lot more.
“At Spurs he had a free role where he was allowed to drift, to go and get the ball. Having said that, the Spurs players were happy to give it to him whenever possible.
“It’s something that has crept up on Real Madrid and Bale, that he is not involved as much as they’d like, and certainly not as much as he would like.
“But he’s going to have to resolve that situation and be more demanding of the ball from his teammates, or else go into midfield to get it.
“He needs to get himself into positions where he is not on the fringes of the game,” explained Gibson.
