Gareth Bale should be at his peak... it's painful to see Real Madrid star suffer

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Life moves pretty fast, as Ferris Bueller observed. 

Just two months ago, Gareth Bale could emphatically dismiss any talk of a Premier League return, comfortable and happy with Real Madrid. Increasingly, he may worry if the telephone will ever ring again.

What price a move for Bale now, injured once more? Madrid must surely be tiring of his absences, yet could any elite club take a chance on a player who has missed 40 of his last 60 matches, and has sustained 11 separate injuries during his time in Spain?

Gareth Bale, at 28, should be at the peak of his powers, but injuries have dictated otherwise

Where once Bale seemed the perfect answer to the problems of any Premier League club with title-winning aspirations and deep pockets, now he appears an exceedingly expensive risk. The sort of gamble that might eat up the kitty and cost a manager his job if it backfires.

Bale, at 28, should be at his peak. Instead we wonder whether that has already passed, with the blistering start to his career in Spain, and his inspirational role in helping Wales to the European Championship semi-finals.

That relative triumph was less than 18 months ago, but now seems an age. Wales did not even make the World Cup play-offs, eliminated by the Republic of Ireland in a winner-takes-all match that Bale missed.

He is, increasingly, a peripheral figure now — sent on for a cameo in the Champions League final with the game already won, an onlooker for Wales, without a start for Real Madrid since September 26. 

This time it is his thigh, previously it was a calf, on other occasions, hip, groin, ankle, hamstring, knee.

Clearly, it has soured his relationship with the locals, who have singled him out for criticism in a faltering season when he has played. None of it is Bale's fault — but Madrid cannot stay patient forever. 

Bale has enjoyed highs at Madrid when fit, but injuries are increasingly becoming an issue

With young players such as Marco Asensio coming through, Isco increasingly to the fore, and in an arms race with Paris Saint-Germain for the best new talent, there will come a time when Madrid decide they have got their worth out of their record signing.

Yet where once Bale would have commanded a significant return on his £90million transfer fee, it is hard to imagine a club of Champions League standing risking much more than half of that now.

Fit, Bale would be a game-changer anywhere and Madrid may even have got their money back. But, fit, Madrid wouldn't want to sell anyway. The issue, if they try to jettison Bale now, is one of damaged goods.

If Bale could stay fit and recapture anything like his best form, he is a player who would make a difference in the English game. He could transform the wing play at any of the clubs chasing down Manchester City, and has the athletic presence that chimes perfectly with the forward play at Manchester United and Chelsea.

Yet how would a player who has missed close to 40 per cent of Madrid's matches since arriving five seasons ago, respond to the physical demands of the Premier League? And how many injuries can an athlete endure before they have a lasting effect on his key attribute: speed.

A national hero, Bale was unable to play a role for Wales as they failed to make the World Cup

Bale is a lovely footballer, but he does not appear the type who could be reinvented in the heart of midfield if his natural qualities were lost. We remember his greatest games, his finest goals, we know what makes him tick. Pace.

Whether going down the flank and destroying no less a full back than Maicon, or getting into the area for a brave header, or cutting inside to find his range with a shot. Bale's game relies on taking the play to the opposition with extreme athleticism. No doubt it is this style that is taking a toll on his body.

Chris Coleman, the Wales manager, says Bale could extend his career by changing his training regime as Ryan Giggs did — but Giggs never had injuries like Bale has.

He is content at Madrid and could simply remain there. Bale's contract does not expire until 2022 and he has previously expressed the desire to see it out. Yet that optimism came when he was a regular in the team.

No matter their talent, injured players quickly become fringe players, as Jack Wilshere has discovered at Arsenal. It would be a terrible pity if Bale, too, was heading to the margins, but unless he can stay fit, it is hard to see it ending any other way.

What price a winger who cannot run? Not £90m, that is for sure.

Young players such as Marco Asensio are coming through and Isco (L) is showing his potential 

United must not cash in on vital Fellaini 

It is unhelpful that Marouane Fellaini can begin negotiating his way out of Manchester United in January but, at the same time, the club would be mad to sell him. 

It is not just that Fellaini is an able understudy to Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba in midfield, he is also the random factor that Jose Mourinho introduces at the end of matches.

Witness the final 10 minutes at Stamford Bridge recently when, chasing the game, the long ball to Fellaini represented United's best chance of grabbing an equaliser.

Selling Marouane Fellaini in January would make no sense for Manchester United

Purists may sneer, but it remains a very effective means of spreading chaos and panic in the penalty area. 

Chelsea held out that day, but they were far from comfortable. At a club of Manchester United's size and wealth, the money that could be made selling Fellaini six months before his contract ends is insignificant. 

It is not as if such a fee could finance major recruitment. Equally, there are no suggestions Fellaini is being disruptive over the failed contract negotiations, and no evidence his performance levels have dropped.

If he wishes to go at the end of the season, that is his call, but there is no worth in selling him earlier. 

The midfielder is the random factor that Jose Mourinho introduces at the end of matches

Southgate's faith in kids deserves to be rewarded 

Whatever the summer holds for Gareth Southgate, he deserves credit for changing England's narrative in the space of nine days.

Despite not winning a match or scoring a goal in that time, there is now considerably more optimism around the national team.

Investing in youth is an old trick to buy time for a manager. It certainly worked for George Graham at Arsenal. He brought through Tony Adams, Paul Merson, David Rocastle, Paul Davis and Michael Thomas, and the fans responded enthusiastically.

It was three years before Arsenal won the title, and in Graham's second season they finished sixth, 24 points off champions Liverpool and behind Queens Park Rangers, but the positivity associated with bright young things kept the pressure off the boss.

'Fans like to see young players,' Graham later explained. 'They like to tell their friends about them, be the first to watch them play. They are more supportive. It gives you time to build.'

Yet Southgate hasn't got time. He has two more matches before naming a provisional World Cup squad, and a maximum of three friendlies after that. So it was brave to thrust youth into the fixtures with Germany and Brazil, when many would have plumped for experience and caution. 

Gareth Southgate deserves praise for his bold approach of giving youngsters a chance

It could have gone horribly wrong. His young players could have been exposed, embarrassed and the backlash would have been considerable. 

Southgate would have been depicted as a novice, over-promoted manager selecting novice, over-promoted players and harming their careers.

Instead, he is now a manager with options. Joe Gomez, Harry Maguire, Kieran Trippier, Harry Winks, Jordan Pickford, Ruben Loftus-Cheek — thanks to Southgate these are all players who could now be included in a World Cup squad without trepidation.

He has also ensured that the FA remain at the forefront of English football's youth movement. It is not enough to produce successful age-group teams. The FA must also show there is a pathway to senior level that does not rely on recent club form, that when a player shows aptitude at Under 21 level, this will not be forgotten if he is pegged behind a world star at Chelsea.

The greatest betrayal of English coaching was when the FA appointed Sven-Goran Eriksson and, later, Fabio Capello to manage England. It is no surprise that 17 years later it is hard for an English manager to get a job at a top club. If the FA do not want them, why would Roman Abramovich?

The same applies to young men such as Gomez or Loftus-Cheek. By choosing them ahead of the usual tried and failed competitors, Southgate has challenged the clubs to do likewise. To persevere with talents like Gomez, to give Loftus-Cheek a run in his best position. Maybe he has also provoked the players to demand more — to seek out loans, or permanent moves, to clubs that will give them first-team football.

Thanks to Southgate's approach the likes of Harry Winks may well now make the World Cup

Roy Hodgson went with young players and plenty of attackers, too, but it never felt quite right. His England team did not play as if stuffed to the gills with forward potential. It simply wasn't him.

With Southgate, there is the feeling he genuinely believes this is the way. He is not picking young players because he thinks it will buy him an easy ride in the press, or will fool his employers into imagining progress is being made, but because he is convinced by their potential.

Looking at the discipline they showed against Brazil, they have bought into him, too. If Southgate has faith in them, they will have faith in him and England may start to get somewhere.

At the very least, there is now a path forward — and that wasn't always the case, even in what we thought were the good times.

It's about time Spurs stepped up on a big occasion

As ever, there will be much talk of shifting power when Arsenal face Tottenham on Saturday. This has been a feature of their meetings for several years now.

Tottenham in the ascendancy, Arsenal in decline. It is understandable. Arsenal are reduced to playing their European games on Thursday night this season, while Tottenham have already beaten Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. Four points separate the clubs in the league, too.

Yet of the last 13 derbies, across all competitions, Tottenham have won just three. Indeed, the last time Tottenham won the away fixture, Cesc Fabregas was playing for Arsenal — November 20, 2010. 

The time before that was the final game of the first Premier League season, May 11, 1993, a rearranged fixture five days before Arsenal played the FA Cup final. Starting in a much-weakened Arsenal side that day: Mark Flatts and Pal Lydersen. They came 10th that year.

So, really, while Arsenal may be perceived as the club who are struggling, the pressure is as much on Tottenham now.

Christian Eriksen flourished for Denmark and must now help Tottenham topple rivals Arsenal

Their record against elite teams away remains dismal; and they have played two of the top four this season, and lost both times.

On Tuesday, Christian Eriksen was exceptional as Denmark qualified for the World Cup at the expense of Republic of Ireland. He scored a hat-trick under pressure conditions, each goal beautifully taken. 

Yet Martin O'Neill's team are overachievers. Not one of those he picked or sent on in Dublin are involved in European football this season; and six of them play in the Championship. Of course Eriksen was the best player on the field; but Arsenal present a considerably greater challenge.

It is in these matches that Eriksen, and Tottenham, must now be judged. If the balance truly has shifted, then Tottenham will win or at the very least draw at Arsenal, as Arsenal regularly did when Tottenham paddled in their wake.

In Arsene Wenger's first 21 visits to White Hart Lane, he lost five games, including a Carling Cup tie. That's what power looks like. That's the dominance Tottenham need if they are to meaningfully seize it.

Kiwi misery as FIFA get it wrong... again 

New Zealand departed Lima on Thursday with a litany of complaints, having lost their World Cup play-off to Peru.

The inbound flight was delayed by customs, there was a firework display at 3am outside the team hotel the night before the match, three military planes flew low the next afternoon when the players were trying to rest, the coach taking them to the ground was exceptionally slow and fans shone lasers into the goalkeeper's eyes during the game.

'Peru tried every trick in the book,' said defender Andrew Durante.

None of this would be a factor, however, if FIFA had simply played fair and allowed Oceania a guaranteed place. Instead, the continent gets only half an entry, so needs to win a play-off against the fifth-placed South American nation.

New Zealand defender Andrew Durante (R) was among those leading the complaints this week

Were it not for Australia's qualification as a member of the Asian federation — another travesty — a whole region would not be represented at the 2018 World Cup. This changes in 2022 when it expands to 48 teams, but then the balance swings too far in the opposite direction.

In FIFA's new format Oceania will get 1.5 places — so a guaranteed entrant, and a play-off match for the continent's second best. On current form, that is Tahiti, ranked 148th in the world.

FIFA are more interested in money — and votes — than football.

That's why they never get it right.