This summer, the Los Angeles MLS club, founded in just 2014, has recruited two world football stars into its ranks – Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini, who previously played for Juventus for 17 years, and Welsh winger Gareth Bale on a brief Real Madrid loan at Tottenham. spent 9 years.

And if everything was very clear in the case with Chiellini – the 38-year-old Italian gave the maximum to Juventus and Italian football, then decided to play where the intensity level was not as high as in Serie A before retiring. , then here crossing the ocean, 33-year-old Bale surprised again.

Yes, the 2021/22 season was an absolute failure for Bale. The Welsh player made only 5 appearances in La Liga, scored 1 goal and had a lot of problems with the club management, fans and media. It all started a few years ago with the legendary flag “Wales, golf, Madrid”. In this order”, then not Bale’s brightest career in Spain, but finally flew to hell.

In the summer of 2022, Bale’s contract with Real Madrid finally expired, with Madrid releasing the once most expensive football player on the planet as a free agent to all fours. However, Gareth did not even consider ending his career. In June, he contributed to the Wales team’s victory over Ukraine (1: 0) in the final of the playoff qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and therefore could not stand next to such a grandiose event. The entire nation as Welsh’s first trip to the World Cup since 1958. championship.

The question was only where Bale would decide to continue playing at club level. On the eve of the 2022 World Cup, it was very important to him that Welsh chose a team that he could catch up with and have consistent playing practice to go well to Qatar. It was said from the championship that Cardiff City showed an active interest in cooperation with Bale, but the winger did not want to return to his homeland, but chose to cooperate with the American Los Angeles.

Bale’s move abroad caused a stir in the United States, but unlike Chiellini, Galli failed to become a key figure for his new team. In MLS, Gareth played in the same 13 games as Giorgio, but if the Italian 10 started in the starting line-up, the Welsh were lucky enough to enter the field only 2 times from the first minutes … Moreover, none of them Bale could whistle from the whistle in the fights played until the end of the season. 65 minutes max in Austin (1:4) vs Minnesota United (1:1) and before the playoff stage in MLS started, the press started talking about a Welshman’s leg injury because he was behind it. He risked missing not only the important games of the season for Los Angeles, but also a long-awaited world championship in Qatar. However, the situation turned out to be favorable for Bale, and he still took the field in the MLS playoffs – in the final match with the Philadelphia Union …

But did anyone benefit from Bale’s relocation abroad? This is worth mentioning, highlighting the three sides separately – Los Angeles, the Wales team and Gareth himself …

Los Angeles

In total for Los Angeles, Bale spent 369 minutes in 13 fights and scored 3 goals in MLS. On average, this is 28 minutes and 0.23 goals per game. In other words, Welsh’s contribution to team success can be called very insignificant. His signature looked like an attempt to fix something that wasn’t broken yet.

Even before ballet came along, Los Angeles unconditionally had a key player on the offensive right – the same age as 33-year-old Welshman Carlos Vela. The Mexican also left his mark in Europe when he moved to Arsenal at a young age and failed to become the best player in the Premier League in England. As a result, the Gunners sold Vela to Real Sociedad for 14 million euros, and after six years with the team, Carlos moved to Los Angeles as a free agent when he had just found the opportunity to play at MLS level.

Now Carlos Vela is the undisputed leader of Los Angeles and the captain of the team. The Mexican footballer played in 35 games in MLS-2022, with 12 goals and 12 assists. This is definitely the best indicator in the team, and therefore it was not worth relying on the fact that Bale could immediately put such a player on the field.

Additionally, Los Angeles currently has another option on the offensive right – 21-year-old Ghanaian legionnaire Kwadwo Opoku, who has recorded 8 goals and 3 assists in 37 games this year and has been making nice progress recently.

Therefore, the coaching team tried to use Bale more often as a striker than as a winger. But even there, Gareth found a serious rival in the person of 27-year-old Christian Arango. Despite not playing a single game for the Lisbon first team and playing for Los Angeles since the summer of last year, this Colombian has managed to double up for Valencia and sign a contract with Benfica. In MLS-2022, Arango had 18 goals and 4 assists in 37 games. The stability of the Colombian also did not allow Bale to trust the base easily.

In this regard, it is not surprising that the Los Angeles leadership signed a one-year deal with Bale, after which the club will make a final decision on the advisability of expanding cooperation with Galli. But as of now, Gareth doesn’t look like someone this team wouldn’t be able to do well in the future. We will talk about this a little later, although the Welsh still managed to play the most important role in the current success of Los Angeles …

Wales national team

It was important for Wales that, after Real Madrid, their key players and captain, Gareth Bale, finally found a team to play for regularly. In Los Angeles, this condition was met in principle, as the Welsh has appeared in every match in good health, but the amount of playing practice Gareth gets cannot be cause for concern.

Wales, on the other hand, should be pleased that Bale managed to recover from a leg injury in just 16 days and even played in the Major League Championship final before coming to the national team to prepare for the 2022 World Cup finals. Without Gareth, the Welsh would certainly have lost a lot in the tournament in Qatar because this player is extremely important even for the atmosphere in the team’s locker room, let alone the tactical aspects of the game.

It’s also worth noting that Bale has always tried to play to the best of his abilities for the Welsh national team, no matter what form he’s in. Even in the aforementioned scandalous banner, Wales has been under the top spot for Gareth and that says a lot. Another thing is that the current Ballet is far from the number 1 star at Tottenham, for which Real Madrid paid 101 million euros at the beginning of September 2013 …

Gareth Bale

Obviously, when choosing a new team, Bale was guided, first of all, by the principle of practicing the game on the eve of the 2022 World Cup. Gareth made the decision to move to Los Angeles after Galli booked tickets to Qatar, for which the former Real star had to give up most of his financial demands. Specifically, according to insider information, Gareth receives $1.6 million a year in the US despite earning a $20.3 million salary in Madrid…

Although Bale seems to have somewhat underestimated the level of football in MLS, so he is not yet a regular player and it is not a fact that he will be such a player in the first episode of next season when his contract expires. As Los Angeles continues to operate, Welsh openly expresses satisfaction with life in the USA.

It’s hard for me to describe the feelings, but Los Angeles has a nice atmosphere, the fans are very welcoming. Even in away games, they are not that hostile to my team and me. It’s a real family atmosphere and that’s what football should be – a place where you bring your kids,” said Bale.

After a certain type of harassment at Real Madrid, which Gareth endured because of his principled position to finalize his contract, such remarks speak volumes in terms of the true values ​​that currently exist in Welsh’s career. He’s already made enough money and before he retires, it looks like he just wants to play high for himself, his partners, the audience and the show. MLS is almost perfect for these wishes…

What are the consequences?

Whatever ballet says, it’s safe to say that he saw more opportunities for himself initially in Los Angeles. But the rivalry with Vela and the other leaders of the team’s current offensive is not yet won, but Gareth already feels much more satisfied with his bench in Madrid. In Spain, he largely drove himself into a corner he couldn’t or didn’t want to get out of. In the US, Bale does not seem likely to make such mistakes.

For Los Angeles, Ballet is a gold card with no limits on the use of funds. As mentioned earlier, Gareth’s salary is not that high even by MLS standards. For example, Lorenzo Insigne earns around $15 million a year in Toronto, Christian Benteke of DC United makes $4 million a year and has reserved Franco Jara for Dallas, Benfica, “Granada” and “Olympiacos” that few will probably remember from his European performances. is doing. has 2.5 million guaranteed.

At the same time, Los Angeles had already reported that Bale, who joined the club mid-season, was a leader in personalized t-shirt sales in 2022. Welsh brings not only money, but also attention, which is then converted into lucrative contracts and therefore brings even more money …

Things could get better for Bale and Los Angeles next year as Gareth has become the key player in winning the MLS title. In the final against the Philadelphia Union, the Welsh player scored 3:3 in the eighth minute of the pause, turning the match into a penalty shootout. There, it did not come to Welsh’s blow, and Los Angeles celebrated the victory, taking advantage of the complete failure of the opponent (3:0).

The victory in MLS was a historic victory for the young club, and Bale became the one who will forever be associated with gold among the fans of the team. While the rest of the numbers are far from in Gareth’s favour, this single goal against Philadelphia Union has already justified his transfer to Los Angeles, a lot of positive emotions and cash flow for the fans. it literally flows like a river. towards the club treasury.

Therefore, in 2022, Bale did almost everything right: he finally left Real Madrid, found a team and a league where he felt happy again, helped the new team achieve a historic victory … Why almost? Because now a miracle is expected from Gareth in his hometown of Wales. Will it come true? Let’s wait for the results of the tournament in Qatar and only then form a final opinion …