Tony Cascarino told talkSPORT that it was a ‘surprise’ that Gareth Bale failed to have an impact for Wales during their 1-1 draw against Switzerland in their Euro 2020 opener on Saturday.
The Tottenham fan favourite really wasn’t much of a threat to Switzerland, who conceded a late goal to walk away from the encounter with only one point when it should have been all three.
Dan James was one of Wales’ standout performers on the day, but he was substituted off in the second half to his surprise even though he was outperforming Bale on the flanks.
Perhaps reputation is what resulted in the Tottenham loanee staying on the pitch, as Cascarino expressed his worry because he thinks Bale is seemingly losing his pace at the age of 31.
“I think it’s really difficult,” said Cascarino. “I think Wales are structured to be quite aggressive in the way they play, not as in closing down, in terms of when they counter, they counter really quickly.
“Bale couldn’t get into his stride into the game, which was a surprise because I thought he would have an impact.
“And he plays the game at quite a slow pace for himself. He will come back on his left foot and he will ping out to the other side and play diagonal balls.
“I used to remember the Gareth Bale that used to just run past people for fun. He’s 31, he’s not 37. He should have some sort of pace in his legs. And every now and again he shows it. But not enough.”
It will be interesting to see what happens with Bale once Euro 2020 comes to an end because there is a lot of talk about the Welshman’s future.
On paper, he returns to Real Madrid, who now have Carlo Ancelotti at the helm, which is pretty significant.
It was under the Italian that Bale played his best football, so if he did have other plans, like leaving Madrid, then they might have changed now.
Plus, Spurs don’t even have a manager yet, so it has to be questioned how or why on earth he would return to North London if no one has replaced Jose Mourinho yet.
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