Often, jokes are made about teams who focus their game around a player.
For example, “pass it to Ronaldinho” or “when you have the ball, find Zidane”.
Well, back in 2010 and a bit after, at Tottenham, that was really a thing under Harry Redknapp, as explained by William Gallas on SFR Sport, around the time when a certain Gareth Bale was starting to light up the Premier League before his big money move from White Hart Lane to Real Madrid.
The former Spurs defender said: “I came from Arsenal, where we all played together, had our own style, with movement. However, at Tottenham, you were asked to find Gareth Bale, for him to get the ball and make a difference.
“That was a bit weird for me. Harry Redknapp was manager. It’s true that Gareth saved us a few times, but to always play for the same guy, I had a bit of problem with that”.
That first season (2010-11) was the one where the Welsh superstar really burst onto the scene, scoring a hat-trick in a 4-3 loss against Inter before inspiring his side to a 3-1 win against the same team a couple of weeks later.
During his time at Tottenham, where he played left-back for a bit, Bale scored 56 goals and picked up 58 assists in 203 appearances.
Since then, the former Spurs forward has 77 goals and 58 assists in 175 games for Real Madrid, a team built around Cristiano Ronaldo.
Not bad, even if injuries appear to be catching up with him.
