It was a happy enough evening for Gareth Bale. The 26-year-old grabbed his first goal of pre-season to ensure victory against former employers Tottenham and he left the pitch content in the final minutes. But he still doesn't look like the right man for the playmaking position at Real Madrid.
New Real coach Rafael Benitez claimed earlier this summer that Bale could feature for the Spanish side in the No.10 role and the former Liverpool, Chelsea and Napoli boss has played the Welshman as an attacking midfielder or just behind the striker throughout pre-season.
Results have been good, yet Bale has remained somewhat unconvincing this summer. On Tuesday, at the Allianz Arena, up against his former club and in the absence of fellow forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, this looked like his big chance to steal the limelight.
Playing centrally behind Jese as Madrid attacked in a 4-2-3-1 formation, and alongside the Spanish forward in a 4-4-2 when his side defended, Bale saw little of the ball in the first half and struggled in tight spaces as an attacking midfielder.
When Madrid went ahead after 36 minutes, he was involved in the build-up but it was Isco's intelligent curling cross that picked out the superb run of James Rodriguez for the Colombian to head home. It was a goal made and converted by the two men who should surely be ahead of the Welshman in the playmaking position.
That's how Madrid's fans want it and it is surprising Bale is being considered at all as a No.10, given that James and Isco would walk into the role in virtually any other team in the world.
But Benitez was vindicated somewhat in the second half as Bale latched onto a poor pass from Nabil Bentaleb and blasted a fierce 25-yard drive past Michel Vorm in the final minutes, although the Dutch goalkeeper was deceived by the bouncing ball and should have made the save.
The goal owed more to Bale's ability to steal and attack at pace, skills that have long served him well as a winger or a dynamic forward as Madrid attack on the counter. In that respect, he remains an option as an unorthodox central striker for his new coach. But not as a playmaker.
"I think he had a conversation with Benitez and between them they will find a position that suits them both," Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett said this week. "One that suits the team and the one suits Gareth. I think that's the most important thing. It has to suit both."
Of course it does, but all the evidence suggests such a role is not the playmaking position.
With the ever-improving Isco, the superb James and the dependable Luka Modric all better suited to the No.10 slot, this continued experiment by Benitez still seems strange.
Bale is a winger and one of the world's best when he is in full flow, but he can be stifled much more easily in tight spaces and needs to return to his rightful place out wide. And when he does, Madrid will be all the better for it.
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