Gareth Bale: Real Madrid Reality, Turning Down United & Life With Ronaldo | Stick to Football 119

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1:54Gary Neville: Gareth, did you want a coffee or tea?

1:56Gareth Bale: I'll have a... I'll just have water, please. Water, sure. How much did Tottenham pay for you, Gareth? They bought me for ten, and then I think there was somebody in the end that ended up going the other way like a year later, and I don't know. OK. So it was ten. Did they have a salon on you?

2:14Gary Neville: No. Bloody hell. I don't think so. And how much did you go for to Madrid? 86, 87. That's a big mistake, that, not putting a salon on you. Yeah.

2:21Gareth Bale: Wow. Yeah, probably, yeah. What a mistake that is. They might have, I actually have no idea. Are you okay? I'm good, how are you? Good, yeah, good, thanks, good. It's been a while. Are you good, Joe?

2:28Jill Scott: Yeah, when did we do league?

2:30Gareth Bale: It was probably like two and a half years ago. Oh, my God, I was thinking it was like last series. I know, because it was just a... How are you? Nice to see you? Yeah, all good? This is nice, this is nice talking. He said it's a weird one.

2:43Gary Neville: Look at the golf mates.

2:45Ian Wright: See, this is what we do. Because we play golf?

2:49Jill Scott: We've always had a shave and everything. Yeah, I had a shave for you.

2:52Gareth Bale: For you.

2:55Jill Scott: Yeah, I thought that was like last year

2:57Gareth Bale: I know, I'm pretty sure it was just after I retired Since Jamie was

3:01Jill Scott: Oh, yeah

3:01Gareth Bale: He was hounding me to come on So I was like, yeah, I'm coming on

3:04Gary Neville: Gareth, let's start with golf Right, you can't wait to talk about golf I love golf Come on, let's talk about golf You're a scratch golf Sorry, Gary, one second

3:12Jill Scott: Does that mean, like, literally if it says par three You'll do it in three?

3:17Ian Wright: Well, not always You're supposed to I made a couple of fours yesterday It's pretty impressive Have you played together, like, in pro-am? No, I've not played together yet, but we will do. Absolutely will do. Remember, I've done my niece. I'm just coming back. I've been having a swing. Just getting warm and I was wearing it. Yeah.

3:34Paul Scholes: I've had another swing change.

3:36Ian Wright: Yeah, but I'll go for a 13-year swing change. It's starting to happen now, guys. That's how long my swing change has been. You need to get a coach. Yeah. Have you got a coach, guys?

3:46Gareth Bale: I've had a few lessons recently over the last couple of years, yeah. You know Robert Rock? Yes, that thing where he's got. I haven't, I'm not actually using it.

3:53Ian Wright: that but no it's to stop the slice yeah got it have you done it yes does it work yeah it does what is it it's like a it's like something you strap on it's around yourself it straps around your chest here then around this line so it keeps this arm tucked in tucked in because if you start like yeah it starts coming inside and over the top it comes over the top as you slice it i don't play

4:14Paul Scholes: but can i ask you can you overthink all that stuff yeah yeah yeah definitely of course all Sounds like it. Look at all that stuff there.

4:20Gareth Bale: You can overthink the thing. Yeah, but the thing is, you need to stop the bad ones. So if you have to think about that. You always have thoughts. It's like the minimum, the better.

4:29Paul Scholes: So it's like a football, I suppose. When you're taking that swing, you could have a thousand thoughts before you actually get and strike the ball. Yeah, yeah. So that must be frustrating if lads are trying to take it seriously. I mean, yeah. Golf destroys your mind. Is it the hardest sport?

4:45Jill Scott: No, I think it'd be good for you because you could take your anger out, you know, when you drive.

4:49Paul Scholes: Just picture someone's head on the golf ball and just smash it. You wouldn't have to do that. Yeah, I'd have 100 heads before I get done. Quite too for tackling it, yeah. No, I don't think it'd be good for me, I swear. Why, though?

5:00Gareth Bale: It's not that, that's frustration. No, but it also depends how you play golf. Some people play just for social, some play it to get better, some play it for a bit of everything. Right, OK. So it kind of... What do you play for?

5:09Ian Wright: A bit of everything. Yeah, I play to win, but I just...

5:12Gareth Bale: No, of course, but you want to enjoy it at the same time. Do you play at the Combs at your club? Yeah, I played a couple. He was on Wentworth yesterday. Yeah, I struggle because the kids are doing so much on the weekend, so I try and get a few midweek comps if I can.

5:25Ian Wright: You played Purple Beach as well, didn't you? Yeah, that was good. How about Augusta? Who are you going to Augusta with?

5:31Gareth Bale: I've played it. Wow. I've played it, yeah. You said that last year, you shot a really good score as well. Yeah, no, I was one over through 15 and then I finished bogey, bogey, bogey. crumbled a little bit but played off the Master's Teeth which was good well

5:47Paul Scholes: a bit of altering altering's supposed to be decent no

5:51Gareth Bale: are you a member not a member

5:52Paul Scholes: you're supposed to be top can't believe it alright

5:55Ian Wright: I need to know a member you need a contact you cannot you cannot get on Augusta that's why when Rory was there when Rory was there I was trying to bend me to just like you know if you're going just give me a shout but I'll come play Augusta with you you have to play with a member or something you have to be signed

6:09Gareth Bale: in or something

6:10Jill Scott: could you be like a professional golfer

6:12Gareth Bale: No, absolutely not. The amount of times I get asked this, and actually it was funny because when I played the Wentworth Pro-Am with Rory, they asked him after, and I obviously know that you're a scratch, but they're like a plus eight but under pressure. It's like when someone goes, oh, I could play football. You might be all right on a Sunday league, you might look good, but you come to the physicality of football, everything is just different. And it's the same with golf. I'm a scratch, but put a bit of pressure on me, I will crumble because I'm not used to it. Right. You shouldn't really admit that, Gareth.

6:45Gareth Bale: I know, but like...

6:47Paul Scholes: No, but I won't admit it.

6:48Gareth Bale: But like, if you don't put me in front of like 30 ,000 people

6:49Ian Wright: in a Ryder Cup, I'd be like... Yeah, yeah, it's definitely. And they're... Yeah, but Gareth, this is what I was saying. I tried to explain to Roy the Ryder Cup. I'm so pleased there's another golfer here to help me. Oh, I did hear. Did you see it? Yeah, I did see it. Can you... Yeah, but they're professional golfers, Ian. Yeah, but the thing is... He's making a different point. No, he's not.

7:06Gareth Bale: Yeah, but you know when... before the start of a final, do you ever feel nervous? A little bit. They barely stumped something. Yeah, but a nice nervous, yeah. Yeah, but they're a nice nervous. They can still hit the ball, but it's like, they know where their ball more or less is going. We have no idea. That's why I feel nervous about it. Yeah, see. Right. But it's like in a football match, you know you can control your nerves and you know how to play football. That first two... That's how I would describe it.

7:30Paul Scholes: The first two it went with, putting your ball on the two. Yeah. You've got to put on a little... You've got to play with McElroy, yeah. Yeah. Was that what you played with Rory? Rory, yeah. He just threw it down.

7:39Ian Wright: Pulled to Luke Donald. Fucking horrible. It does. And people expect you to hit it well. Did you hit it? I hit a good first one. So you did? I threw it.

7:49Gareth Bale: That was it.

7:49Jill Scott: Is it the first one because everyone's like there?

7:52Gareth Bale: You also feel like they're judging you off the first shot. Yeah. That's the worst. But I think the thing with Rory, though, everyone follows him round every hole.

7:59Ian Wright: So you've got that first shot. The thing that people don't realise as well with a football, as soon as you're a footballer of a golf club, as soon as you get on the tee everything stops from everywhere everyone's looking and that's the pressure that you have to deal with all the time that every time you're going to hit

8:13Paul Scholes: alright but what's the most people can be watching at one time if you're a golfer you don't have a tee enough right what's the most people can be watching you truthfully what do you mean just like a normal day it's got to be a few thousand

8:21Gareth Bale: but then television yeah but forget the TV alright probably Ryder Cup would probably be about 10 ,000 right 10 ,000 Jesus come on

8:31Paul Scholes: yeah but it's the golf we used to train in front of them more than that you know what I mean Yeah, but Roy, the ball... We're playing for 89. The golfers aren't getting that.

8:40Gareth Bale: You might not touch a football for about 25 minutes. They have to hit every shot. Every single shot? 25 minutes, not touch a football? In a game of football, what's the average time you... That I didn't touch the ball.

8:49Paul Scholes: The average. Average, where I didn't touch the ball. Ten seconds, I'd always be getting on it. Of course. 25 minutes? No, you don't want to touch the ball for like... Hey, I crack the jokes around here, guys. No, 25 minutes. Roy, have you ever tried it? He's not trying. Half two, three minutes. You have a soft pitch, have you? Yeah, I played if the lines were stuck. If you were short of numbers, yeah, of course.

9:10Jill Scott: Gary, have you ever played?

9:12Gary Neville: Yeah, I used to play. You used to play, yeah. Yeah, to be fair. And cricket, I'd give that up. My first house I bought when I was 18, I actually bought on a golf course in Bury, and I used to play all the time. But I found myself, because you get quite addicted to it, don't you? You become obsessive. And then I do think, that was my question, actually. Do you think it's good for football players? there was a time with England where we'd be in a tournament and I thought the lads it felt like to me the lads were more worried about getting on the golf course after the actual training session it was about training in France where I'm from yeah yeah but if it was a good course would you understand that a little bit no but I stopped playing golf at that point because I just thought it must tire you out it must sort of your joints and things like that you've switched off I'm guessing

9:53Paul Scholes: you're mentally and that's how I think now

9:55Gary Neville: a little bit what do you think on that

9:56Gareth Bale: I find it worse if you sit on a sofa and you get up you're like oh my god I feel horrific at least you're like it's like active recovery I always found it. When I was playing, I'd always take a buggy. Because, yeah, if you go and walk, what is it, like seven miles, I get it. But if you're taking a buggy, you're in and out, you're active, you're not thinking about games, you're not thinking about tournaments, pressure, you get away from everything. I liked it for that reason.

10:18Gary Neville: Stick to Football is brought to you by Arm Clothing.

10:22Gareth Bale: Did your mates or Alex? No, I think he actually called my mum.

10:26Jill Scott: Tapping you up by your mum.

10:29Gary Neville: You did very well in Spain. and I didn't do as well. I remember I scored and you were the manager. You had to do the game. I know, but we had 10 men.

10:37Gareth Bale: I never wanted the... Circus. Circus that goes with it. I just wanted to play football and go home. Did Cristiano let you take any of them? On the left, it was him. On the right, it was me. And in the middle, it was normally him. I wouldn't want to see Tottenham go. Of course not. Arsenal, as much as they hate Tottenham, they need it for the rivalry for that Premier League. I didn't mind watching City go down. I would do. to lose was like a massive devastation especially to England and then to see you run down the sides. Be embarrassed by that

11:08Paul Scholes: a little bit.

11:09Gary Neville: Embarrassed is no good. I'm passionate about my country. I know that's that good. I'd be embarrassed as well. I'm passionate at the same time. So you were never going to United then? Well, Manchester United offering similar money to me. He wanted to go to the mid. This guy's turned down Man United twice, right? I need to get to the bottom of that.

11:31Gary Neville: We've had a lot of guests on, 118 of these shows, and you are the most decorated player we've ever had on. Five European... I was talking to Roy last night, Roy came to the sofa, five European cups, five champions.

11:42Jill Scott: That's amazing.

11:43Gary Neville: After going for, what, 86 million?

11:45Gareth Bale: Jeez. That is, I mean, it's ridiculous, really. Yeah, I don't really think about it, to be honest, like that. I just, I don't know. I never... Even though I never thought of it while I was playing, when you stop, I guess you look back, but you don't really see the severity of what you've done. I don't know, it's just one of those things that, I guess people say it so often, you kind of just, yeah, yeah, kind of thing. It's the same, how many Premier League titles have you guys won? And it's like, you don't go, how insane is that, how many you've won? But you don't go, ooh.

12:19Jill Scott: Roy tells us every day.

12:22Gary Neville: I think, to be fair, you're right. I mean, when you win a lot of Premier League titles, it's great. But to be fair, we, I think, all of us understand the challenge of winning a Champions League. It's almost like... At Real Madrid. That is different, isn't it? It's different. You know, you can win... We won leagues and I think it's difficult to do, but to win Champions League was like... It was a monumental, to be fair, occasion to get to a semi-final and get to a final. And just talk to us about the Champions League and Real Madrid or the European Cup

12:46Gareth Bale: and Real Madrid. Yeah, and I think just by going there straight away, I realised they just prioritised the Champions League. Like, the league, again, it's a tough one being in Spain because there's two teams maybe atlantic or jumping now and again. So the league, you have a few games where it's probably more than, probably half the games you know you're going to win, it's just by how many. So you can kind of, not take it easy in the league, but it's not like the Premier League where you're like, week in, week out, just ties you out. And we would just prioritise the Champions League. How do you do that psychologically in terms of prioritising the game?

13:19Gareth Bale: Even the atmosphere is bigger at the stadium. The fans expect you, the president's like, he's there the day of the game at the hotel or at the training ground. That's Faurantino Perez? Yeah. And like, it's just more emphasis put on the Champions League and you know that and then you come to the Champions League night and it just means more. It's like a final every Champions League game.

13:37Gary Neville: Talk to us about Perez in the sense that you sometimes say in football that owners should sort of keep their distance, they shouldn't be anywhere near the football, but you're telling us that he's basically on the day of a Champions League game at the hotel. Is that home anyway? He would literally be there talking to the players. Yeah, he would be there most games, just having a chat, just there.

13:54Gareth Bale: He was always... Saying what? Not a lot, but just... Just there. Just there, just his presence. And you knew that when he was there, it was like, oh, this is even bigger now. Yeah. Just because he's the president, you don't want to let him down. He's obviously the one who signed you, he's put his faith in you, and you had that relationship with him that maybe, I guess, you don't have with owners in many clubs.

14:17Gary Neville: Well, is it different over in Spain or different countries where the owners have that sort of what would be real presence?

14:23Gareth Bale: I've never really thought about it, to be honest, but it's just he's so in love, and I think, with the game. And he also, as much as he is a great president, he loves the celebrity status that comes with it, I think. And he likes to be there and he likes to be seen.

14:38Paul Scholes: Very political, isn't he?

14:39Gareth Bale: Yeah, it's a political kind of position, the Real Madrid, and the Barcelona president, both of them, and even Atletico now. So, yeah, just everything's just...

14:49Paul Scholes: That's the norm over there. I don't know what you need to be saying. Why is it like that? That's the culture in Spain, isn't it, how it works?

14:55Gareth Bale: Yeah, and he doesn't own the club, that's the thing. No, he's like a guardian, really. Yeah, and I don't know if this story, you need to have 150 million in the bank before you can be the president. So there's only kind of two or three candidates every time. I don't know if it's true, but you hear the rumours. And they want to make a legacy because they can make their legacy through that like we can in our football career. So for him now to be able to win so many Champions League under his guidance, it makes him the greatest president in Real Madrid's history.

15:25Gary Neville: Is he the architect behind the signing of the Galacticos? He's the one who started it. He's the one who started it. Yeah.

15:32Gareth Bale: So yeah, he was doing that. Obviously there's people below him as well on the board level like Jose Angel who's the CEO who are very much on the same page and you always talk about owners needing to be on the same page and sporting director and manager and they control everything. and if the sporting director or the manager are not, that's why they're gone. So they just control the whole club.

15:56Ian Wright: You know your personality for a club like that? When you went there, could you feel the intensity and the pressure that's on that club?

16:04Gareth Bale: Yeah, straight away. Even training, we have this balcony above and it's just full of press. Whoa, every training session? Not every training session, but the day before it's just like, it's like when you go to a stadium in a final and all the press there on the side, It is like that every day before the game.

16:19Jill Scott: Does that make you get used to it? Do you know what I mean? Yeah. For the big games? No, it does.

16:23Gareth Bale: And you know the microscope is on you. There's newspapers designated just to Real Madrid. Here it's just papers and you just go on the back page or whatever. But it's like papers just for Real Madrid and it's just covered in, whether it's online or whatever, it's just all about the club and it's just the expectation. And you know you can't take your foot off the gas because they'll come after you straight away. So it's just one massive microscope, and you know you have to be on the ball because they'll sell you and get someone else otherwise.

16:53Ian Wright: Did you feel it? Because your personality, you're very calm. Yeah. That's obviously helped you. Yeah.

17:00Gareth Bale: Could you feel the intensity of it in your calm persona? Yeah, you can, but I always just... When I went there, I was obviously playing well. I had kind of come through the ranks, and I was confident in my ability. So I went there thinking I never worried anything about my football. that was like even my first training session I was like I didn't feel any intimidated or any no because I just thought I know I'm good enough so I always felt like that was taken care of and even moving to Spain I'm like I can I can move to Spain because I can cope with any style of football I'm physically quicker and stronger than everyone in my head I can shoot I can score I can do all these things so go into another country for footballing reasons was never an issue um and then obviously settling in living wise is a bit more difficult but yeah it's just yeah I can't does anybody look after you Gareth when you get there at the start for maybe a couple of weeks to help you

17:55Paul Scholes: find a place and then you're literally on your own is that good though we hear about players now babysitting

18:01Gareth Bale: I had to grow up

18:02Paul Scholes: I think that was good

18:03Gareth Bale: I had to grow up very quickly and I think if I stayed playing in the Premier League maybe I would not have grown up as a person quick enough. I obviously had my daughter just before I went out there. My wife came out and yeah, we just, we had to grow up a lot quicker and fend for ourselves. Obviously I had a great agency who would look after me as well to help me out. And we have good people around. But yeah, it definitely made me grow up as a person and a player a lot quicker than being in your comfort zone, people around you, family, speaking the language, all those things.

18:38Jill Scott: How old were you when you went out there?

18:40Gareth Bale: 23 or 24 oh wow

18:42Jill Scott: that is young as well

18:43Gareth Bale: I realised I was that young yeah so I was there what nine years I had a year back so eight years I was over there pretty much

18:49Gary Neville: so yeah I can imagine it being quite difficult that I mean you say you settled into it but I can imagine the pressure because you're coming from Tottenham and I think Wright has alluded to it you always felt quite unassuming that you didn't really demand the headlines you weren't that type of football player but you were up in there alongside Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo how was that? How were you put under pressure differently than say they were or was it all the same for all of you?

19:18Gareth Bale: Yeah, I feel like I went, a lot of players go to Real Madrid and it's like this glitz and glamour and I never was like that, I just wanted to go there and play football and go home I was just my... Is that enough for them over there? Which clearly it wasn't Personally I think that's probably the biggest thing, like I never would want to go and do interviews all the time I'd have to sometimes and just, yeah, I never wanted the kind of, I don't know, the circus that goes with it. I just wanted to play football and go home and be with my family kind of thing. And I think Fumiju is probably not enough for the fans.

19:55Gareth Bale: They want to get to know you. They want to know your personality. They want that bit of ego. It never really was me. And again, I was so stubborn, I was unwilling to change. And there's other things that I was stubborn with that probably if I played the game a bit better, I would have probably been less targeted by the press and the fans and stuff. Were you targeted a lot? Yeah, I think so. And even I remember leaving a game because whenever we were injured or suspended, you could leave 10 minutes for the end of the game. Right. That was like the rule. You had to be there. I remember I left on like eight.

20:28Gareth Bale: I would always leave 82 minutes, miss the traffic. And because we lost, there was like a picture of me and they were like, you left early. And then I'm on the front page of the paper. and I'm like, I do the same as everybody else,

20:38Ian Wright: but you just felt a bit more targeted.

20:41Gareth Bale: And then because I wouldn't then come out and defend myself because I was like, I just don't want to. I guess they just carried on piling in. Yeah, which I look back now and people are like, oh, do you wish you did things different? I'm like, no, because I didn't change. And that's what I like. And I know maybe I got a bit of a lot more criticism than I should have. But again, like you said, I stuck true to myself. I didn't change and I, yeah, in a way proud of that.

21:05Gary Neville: where did that criticism come from in the sense of why were they so pointed on you I was over in Spain for four months and you did very well in Spain I didn't do as well I remember I scored and you were the manager I'm pretty sure I know you did

21:18Gareth Bale: but we had to do the game I know but we had 10 men

21:24Gary Neville: give me a little bit of cake give me a little bit of cake you drew you drew

21:28Jill Scott: you drew you drew with Real Madrid

21:31Gary Neville: we drew with Real Madrid and we should have scored in the last minute it was unbelievable Do you know something after that game? I think Rafa Benitez got sacked, didn't he? Yeah, probably, yeah. Sounds about right. So they do, didn't they? That's his best result. What's it like playing in that front three? Because, I mean, people will talk about Messi, Suarez and Neymar around that time, but your front three are Ronaldo, you and Benzema. I mean, it's a joke, really. Wow. It is an absolute joke. But how is that in terms of the characters? Benzema talked to us about him. Obviously, we know Cristiano, the three of us played with him.

22:05Gary Neville: But how is that? Because they've got massive personalities, big egos. They need to succeed. They have the pressure on them as well. How is that for you, sort of dovetailing with those two?

22:17Gareth Bale: Generally, everyone got on really well in the changing room. We never had any issues. I got on really well with Karriem. He was very quiet and was more just with Varane, who were the French boys. He would always keep himself to himself. but we never had one argument, never had any falling out. We got along, we played well obviously together. He was like that, obviously me and Cristiano were down the wing, probably the bit more flair. He was the one who was, I guess, gluing it all together. Joining up. Joining up. He's that focal point. But it just all seemed to work together really well and when I went there, it was kind of like maybe the final piece of the jigsaw to that team.

22:56Gareth Bale: So we had like a bit more balance and then obviously the positions worked out perfect with Cristiano on the left, me on the right, and then carry him just that false nine, but actual real number nine as well.

23:06Paul Scholes: It took him a long time to get credit, didn't it? Benzema. Yeah. No, it did.

23:13Gareth Bale: Yeah, no, it was. But then Cristiano's there taking the headlines a lot. I come for a big fee. He came really young. I think he came 21, maybe even younger, I don't know. But he didn't come for this like massive fee and kind of just came through Madrid and just built into it kind of thing.

23:29Paul Scholes: Did you naturally just work well together? Yeah.

23:32Gareth Bale: Did you see a lot of training with it? Never, again, we didn't do much tactical work at all. And I'm sure you guys probably... I can imagine. Some of the best strike partnerships. You never even worked together. No, exactly. And like, I've been through the teams in certain interviews before and it's like, when you actually look through the team, at that time, you'd arguably be like, everyone's the best in their position, give one or two players. And it's like, it should work if you're good players you should be able to play together and you obviously also being a good player you know what they can't do what they can do and how you you know for example Christiane's not going to come back and defence so maybe I'm going to have to just sacrifice a bit and come back and you just figure it out as a team and the manager will obviously give you some things to do and stuff but it's just it's not rocket science you lacked a bit of pace as well definitely not that

24:20Jill Scott: remember the goal in the final the Barcelona you actually run off the pitch don't you

24:24Ian Wright: He's giving his high-fiving to people on the side.

24:29Jill Scott: Was that one of your best moments?

24:32Gareth Bale: That was like the first moment. I actually got a bit of stick that first season. I felt like I was doing fine, but I didn't have it.

24:40Paul Scholes: I scored 48 goals.

24:42Gareth Bale: But they were like, oh, you haven't had a moment. I'm like, well, there hasn't been a final yet. It's the first one. It's like March or whatever it was. So to kind of score that goal in a final, I kind of like got a lot of people off my back straight. because you come for a big money signing and it's like... It never really bothered me, but at least it's just...

24:57Ian Wright: Then you sign off with a proper goal.

25:01Gary Neville: What were your goals tallies each season?

25:03Gareth Bale: Just take us through it. I can't. I don't really...

25:05Gary Neville: What was the most you scored in one season?

25:07Gareth Bale: I have no idea. Maybe 25, something like that.

25:11Jill Scott: But then with assists as well.

25:13Gareth Bale: With assists, yeah, because you're gifted a lot to Cristiano. Otherwise... Goal involvement. You could add maybe another 10 onto that maybe that you just pass across.

25:24Gary Neville: Stick to Football is brought to you by Arm Clothing.

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28:13Gary Neville: Talk to us about Cristiano because obviously when he played obviously at United with us he was getting to a point 2006-08 where he was I think when he left us he was the best in the world at that point probably with Messi he was absolutely sensational and obviously kicks on I mean he was massively driven wanted to be the best player in the world is that your experience of him when you were in the dressing room with him at Madrid?

28:33Gareth Bale: Yeah the driven part yeah I think when I came obviously watching him when I played in the Premier League and when I was a bit younger he was definitely more of a flair player and a winger as I came to Madrid I felt like he was just started that transition to becoming a goal scorer where he realized that if I get goals and I don't have to do so much I'm going to get probably even more plaudits and credits so he was still doing the dribbling and stuff but as he got older just transitioned more into and I I think just as I came, he was... First two, three seasons, he was still probably similar to the United-Christian and then transitioned into that, like, right, I don't need to come back so much.

29:15Gareth Bale: I can position myself better for counter-attacks. And yeah, just how driven he was in training, in games, just to score goals. Literally, all he wanted to do was score goals. And ultimately, that's why he's got so many records.

29:29Gary Neville: Was he demanding the dressing room? Who was the big leader in that dressing room? Obviously, Ramos was in there, wasn't he?

29:34Gareth Bale: Yeah, I'd say Ramos was by far the biggest leader. Cristiano had his ego and was a leader in his own right from what a player he is. But in terms of the leader of the team, it was clearly Ramos.

29:48Ian Wright: What was Danny Carvail like? Because he's been there for a while and he's an unbelievable player and he's just under the radar.

29:56Gareth Bale: I just find he's like a bulldog. He's like a right back who just will give you a good performance. Even if he's playing bad, he will just keep going after you and just nibble at your heels, does it in training. And it's just served him well. And he's never... A lot of players have that dip in motivation or he just stays there. He's still there. He still did. Yeah, he had a bad knee injury a couple of years ago, but he's still... Unbelievable. Yeah, still, yeah.

30:21Jill Scott: Would Ronaldo be mad if you didn't pass it to him? Sometimes when I watch some of your goals, like, come in. And you hit it on the volley and he's like...

30:28Gareth Bale: We were speaking about it just before. I've had a few arm flails and I've missed a one-on-one and I maybe could have passed to him. But I think you also have to take it that is his drive and that is his motivation. He just wants to score, not just one, but he wants to score three, four, five, six, a game if he can. And you know he's chasing records and he wants to score this and he wants to beat Messi doing that. And you get it. And I think also, you can't argue he's scoring the goals. And I think even when he came back to Man United, people were like, he's not the same but he still scored the goals which ultimately is the hardest thing to do in football but yeah he was just so driven and you know going into a game you pretty much had a one-hot head start knowing he's going to score at some point so it was always a good confidence booster for the team

31:14Paul Scholes: What was the Barcelona game like?

31:16Gareth Bale: They were always the tough ones I just always felt it was whenever we played Pep if it was Bayern or Barca it was always those games that you felt like we're chasing shadows for about 80 minutes and then we just got to counter and try and nick the game. Of course you'll have periods in the game where you keep the ball but it was you knew those games you're not going to have your normal possession and they were always just, they were built up obviously as that. Did you score against them? Yeah I scored a couple against them, not as many as I would have liked but you don't really get many opportunities against them.

31:48Paul Scholes: Even that really accepted that they were going to dominate possession, you had to put your egos to the side, alright we just pick a few moments.

31:53Gareth Bale: And we had the perfect team to counter-attack so it did also work in our favour and against you beat them in

31:59Paul Scholes: Bayern away didn't you had four

32:00Gareth Bale: yeah four or five yeah you were bringing the counter-attack again we just low block and we knew we had the pace and the power and the calmness of the team to do that we were great off set pieces with the centre-backs we had we just we knew we just accepted it there was going to be a couple of games a season that you just got to like you said take your ego out of it and just strange thing can Real Madrid do a low block isn't it no so yeah were you I had to against you had to you go 1v1 we tried it a few times it's like oh yeah hit back

32:34Jill Scott: were you the quickest in the team though because when I watched that sprint you'd literally just knock it past and just go were you the quickest

32:43Gareth Bale: Cristiano would argue otherwise as he would but yeah I would like to think yeah you don't want to race later

32:51Paul Scholes: you'd still be Jill

32:52Gary Neville: you'd still be Jill Yeah, you'd be... Talk just about Zidane, because obviously you've got this man, and he's not appeared since sort of anywhere, which is just amazing, really, that he goes in, does this job. What was he like? Because obviously he's one of the greatest players that probably we've ever played against. What is his sort of style, sort of day-to-day, dealing with all these massive personalities, egos, characters, and then getting you all to sit back behind the ball in certain games and sort of be compact and then carry? How is that? Because you'd think he would be someone that wouldn't like to give possession away against the Pep team, for example.

33:22Gareth Bale: He also played Italian football, so he kind of, I think, got that side of it as well. Especially at that time where they were very defensive. But again, he didn't do that much. Does anybody do that much at Real Madrid? Not really. When you've been champions, you've been doing that much. Most tactics we would do is... That's the key. You knew if you had Barcelona or Bayern, you would do a little bit of tactics. The rest would be minimal. It would just be your normal training, possession game, little goals, finish with a game. shooting and you go.

33:53Paul Scholes: That's quite similar for us, wasn't it, I suppose?

33:55Gareth Bale: The big games where you... The big games then you do 15 minutes of tactics in defensive shape

34:02Gary Neville: rather than attacking and that's it. Was he good with the... Obviously he had huge respect and credibility. Was that his main...

34:09Gareth Bale: Did he join in? He did join in, yeah. Christ, chopped me a few times. But he was actually the assistant in my first season with Carlo and Paul Clement and he joined in more than obviously was a little bit younger and he would he just, that touch it's like his legs were like spaghetti and jelly all in one and the ball wouldn't move but yeah he was in training he would just chop people still he was obviously a little bit slower but he wouldn't look out of place at all. And what was the difference between him and Ancelotti, how would you sort of compare those two? I would say his main thing was the respect he got from what he was a player and people would respect that and work hard Obviously, you're also at Real Madrid, you can't just fob it off like maybe you see in some other teams.

34:55Gareth Bale: But Carlo was just, his man management was like the best. If you weren't playing, he would make you feel like you're still his best mate. And when he needed you, he'd be like, you've got to be ready. And you'd just be ready. And he just had that like amazing ability just to keep everybody together, happy and just willing to do everything. That's the key at Madrid I'm getting. It's not about training sessions. Again, I've said it before, you don't need to be a coach. Yeah, you don't need to be a coach. You just need to manage this group of players and let them do what they do. Of course, there's a few tactical things that he does.

35:31Gareth Bale: It's just not so much.

35:34Gary Neville: It doesn't need to be a coach. It's a very different club, Real Madrid. Because every other club, you think of it as a philosophy, but the philosophy is how do you handle these massive personalities and characters and win the Champions League, isn't it? They're not necessarily the best tactical coaches that Real Madrid have, but they have people who are great man managers. They're actually old school managers, aren't they?

35:51Gareth Bale: Yeah, which is why when Xabi Alonso got sat recently, I was like, it doesn't surprise me. If you try and do too much, players don't want to... Vinicius and Baffi don't want to be going back there and they want to play their game and win a game for you. They want to defend and win a game for you. So, yeah, you just need to be a great man manager. You don't have to be the most amazing tactician and it's just as simple as keep as many players you can happy. You obviously know you're not going to keep everyone happy but just let them do what they do. It was always like, can we outscore the opposition more or less?

36:27Gareth Bale: We might win 7-3 but we would win and even the fans were so demanding. I remember a game, I think it was against Sevilla, we were like 5-6-0 up. 60 minutes had gone, we just started keeping the ball. We were just getting whistled and we're like, they want 7-8-9. You can't stop.

36:43Paul Scholes: right so yeah it's just we think that's easy for a manager to do that at a big club almost let the players get on but it's hard because some managers would say I need to be doing more almost stay out of the way is that their ego let them get on with it is that their ego though because like I remember Arsene Wenger about the story when he first went to Arsenal when he first started watching the coaches he said to the coaches you're all talking too much just let the players get on with it and figure things out

37:05Jill Scott: do you think it's to cover the back a little bit so see if somebody scores they're like we went through that

37:09Paul Scholes: and remember no but sometimes fans, I feel. Or who's watching me? You're watching, I've got to be seen to be doing something instead of a lot of the great managers going, I trust what I'm doing. Let them get on with it. But still giving, obviously, the right information but not brainwashing you.

37:26Gary Neville: I mean, Karl Lanchelty's been mentioned as a potential candidate for United. How do you think he would potentially fit in there? Do you think he would, it would work or do you think, do you sense it might be a struggle for him?

37:38Gareth Bale: Well, he did well at Everton and he didn't have a great, I think he would, he would do great and he's not just a manager, he is a coach as well, he can do the tactical stuff. When his son was then the head coach in his second spell and he did a lot more tactically then than we did the first time but I think we had a better team at the first time. But yeah, I think he would, wherever Carlo goes, I think he would do an amazing job just because he gets everyone on board and if you go into a big club you've got good players, whether they're performing at the time or not. Like my United, they have been the last few weeks, but prior to that haven't been performing, but they've got good players.

38:13Gareth Bale: He'll get the best out of players and will just simplify things, which you see now with Michael Carrick. He's simplifying a lot of things that the previous manager was doing and you're getting results. So that's Carlo's genius is getting the best out of the players and just making it simple.

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38:59Gary Neville: What happened at the end with the slogan that upset the Madrid fans? Was that the Wales goal for Madrid?

39:08Gareth Bale: That was nothing to do with me. Wales qualified, wasn't it? Yeah, there was a flag called Wales Golf Madrid. The Spanish press created it. Again, you asked me just before we came on, how much did you play golf? I'm like, I played, I reckon I played once every two or three weeks. At Madrid? Yeah. That's not bad. Well, that's what I mean. But the problem is, if you're the press and you keep writing something, if you read something, you believe it, right? So they created this kind of character, The perception that I'm constantly playing golf. Because you're not really talking to himself. So I'm not going to come out and defend myself.

39:43Gareth Bale: I just can't be bothered. It just creates a bigger... Sometimes you add smoke to the fire and it just kicks off even more. So I never bothered with that. And I would always have my own rule. I could never play 40 hours for a game. So if we played Saturday, Wednesday was the last time I could play. And that was just from my point of view because I like to be professional and I would always do the things I need to do to be ready for a game. so again it's just the media creating this thing and then it turns fans against you and then again spirals out of control and it comes back to I could have come out and maybe gone but I feel like what's the point you're one of the

40:19Gary Neville: youngest guests we've ever on your 36 which blew my mind before the 36 you've got to be older than that sure I don't look that old it's me but thinking of that we talk a lot on here about how the modern player handles I mean, you were under huge pressure. You're 85 million quid. You play at Real Madrid, the most highly scrutinized club in the world. Social media, to be fair, has become quite prevalent in the last sort of like 10 years. How do you handle that when you're playing? Are you on social media? Are you on your phone? Did you see other players on the phone?

40:50Gareth Bale: I remember when I was younger in Southampton at the time, I read a review on the previous game and obviously I didn't play well and it actually affected my confidence. And I was like... I'm not doing that again. why would I do that so I obviously you you hear stuff when you play bad and someone like makes my semi something funny that you're like actually that affects me a bit but you don't say anything but yeah so I learned pretty from pretty young that again everyone says if there's a hundred comments one's bad you're only going to focus on the bad and if it affects me playing why would I do that so I was involved in my social media so if I was have to do pictures or put a post out I would be involved but i would send it to the person running it and they would so and they would manage it so i'm i'm technically still doing it all but i'm just not in it if you get what i

41:40Gary Neville: mean so i was quite critical probably five or six years ago of players who i felt were the posts weren't authentic because they were not you could tell it wasn't them because when they do an interview after the game you know what they are and then they put a post out and it was like almost perfectly written and sort of everything was like amazing yeah when i when i think of it now probably five, six years on, I actually think that what you're doing and the fact that they don't get to see it is absolutely the right thing.

42:04Gareth Bale: 100%. Because like you said, if it affects your confidence by just reading something, you know if you've played bad in a football game, you know if you've done something wrong. So if it affects your performance, you've got to be thinking of yourself and your team like, what can make me perform the best? The following week, even if I am playing bad, what can get me out of a slump is not reading anything negative, is trying to just work on your game, work on in training, what you need to do and just prepare yourself as best you can mentally because you know you can do it. It's just sometimes it's form, sometimes it's whatever, but yeah, just give myself the best opportunity to get better again.

42:41Gareth Bale: It's like an addiction effort, don't it?

42:42Paul Scholes: Yeah. Some players are literally addicted to the form. Yeah.

42:45Ian Wright: And it's hard to get off. It is. See that Tottenham period? There was a period at Tottenham, I can't remember that stat about if you play they won't win it. I can't remember what it was. Oh, it was 24 games. something like that so obviously you don't read so how are you feeling through that and when so this is perfect manager would be telling them don't worry

43:03Gareth Bale: so I think it was was it with Harry? it was with Harry left back left wing back or left back left back yeah so it was one of the boys I still remember it in we're having pre-match at the stadium White Hart Lane and they were like you know you haven't won 19 games so I was like I actually didn't know I was like oh brilliant wicked that's all I need and then It kind of became a little bit of a joke. But again, I didn't know most of the way that it was happening, so it kind of helped me in a way. But we didn't lose them all. We did draw most of them. But yeah, going through that, it was probably like a six-week period that I kind of knew about it.

43:42Gareth Bale: It didn't help. But then the boys would joke about it, so you'd laugh around them inside.

43:46Paul Scholes: You're like, I've got to win. Christy, I know someone said, I don't know if you remember the Champions League, he didn't score in his first 30 Champions League games.

43:53Jill Scott: Did he not?

43:55Paul Scholes: I might be wrong I might have made that up It was something like that 27 games

44:02Ian Wright: You got through that though When did that Gareth Bell come? Because all of a sudden it just exploded on

44:08Gareth Bale: Harry put me on We were winning 4-0 against Burnley He was like if you lose this you ain't taking it He literally said that to me as I came off the bench And we had to win it 5-0 I was like well it's done now And I think he said he spoke with Sir Alex About the kind of jinx and so Alex was like, I wouldn't play him. So... That's why I didn't go to my United. So, yeah, he kind of got that kind of dead and buried and then, yeah. Inter Milan was a big one, wasn't it? Yeah, that was probably the biggest... In terms of my realisation where I could go and what I could do, that was my biggest game in terms of...

44:44Gareth Bale: I proved to myself that I can beat the best. Yeah. That was amazing.

44:49Gary Neville: I remember you early on and you were a really good runner. but if you just said you'd be five champions leagues when you first see that was just a massive transformation is that the moment the sort of the Inter Milan game that sort of like it just goes like a switch flicks type thing yeah

45:05Gareth Bale: you naturally progress especially when you're a youngster and play there's no like you can't change playing games you can train all you want you can do extra practice unless you play games you're not getting better your touch might be a little bit better but under pressure you don't get better unless you play games and it was just obviously a natural progression but I then got moved up to left midfield and then again you need a couple of those games to like right I can do this against anybody and then again another funny story we were on a on the coach going to the Milan game away at San Siro Jermaine Genas obviously I think you guys had played England-Brazil and he was like this right back is just out of this world he doesn't stop running and I'm like yeah Mike on I'm like

45:48Jill Scott: your mates really helped you

45:51Gareth Bale: well that's the boys and he was like in my head tough today and then you run at him once and you realise he can't really defend that well he's a great attacking fullback but you run him that way and I can run so I just kept running at him and then you soon realise you get in the better room and you do this you do that and then scoring a hat trick is you obviously need a bit of luck with it as well but then you kind of realise that he just said he's the best right back in the world. I've just kind of destroyed him. He's just putting the two together. My confidence has just gone up here. I now think, oh, right, well, I can do this against anybody.

46:32Gareth Bale: And then your ceiling goes a bit higher and then your confidence goes and you just keep growing again. And it kind of was that, like I said, it was that moment I realised that I could, that there was no kind of ceiling anymore.

46:43Paul Scholes: We always had that talent. Obviously, it's Sir Hampton, but it's great to see a young kid. We've seen a lot of kids with lots of talent and they don't kick on. Yeah. So these experiences you had, because a lot of clubs were watching you at Southampton and nobody was, there was still that doubt, I'm sure, about you because you were so young. No, no, sure.

46:58Gareth Bale: And I was a left-back, so you don't really get the publicity, but I remember playing against you. Yeah, you scored. You scored the last minute. Last minute, yeah.

47:07Paul Scholes: That's what I'm getting to really, yeah.

47:09Gareth Bale: I was waiting for one of those on the sideline. You deserved that equaliser, I have to say. You were very good. But yeah, it was, again, everyone has their own path and their own journey. Mine was just slightly different, but again, not everybody's going to be this born superstar and the expectations there from a kid, you're like this next best thing. But I think it, in a way, helped me. I always just thought I'm this kid from Wales that why am I here kind of thing, but always felt I had to prove myself. And I think that probably made me who I am, made the player what I am. And I just was able to just, whatever level I got to, I felt like I had to keep proving myself to everybody.

47:52Gareth Bale: And even when I got there, I was like, I've still got to keep proving it. So it kind of made me stay at the top a bit longer as well, I think, just having that.

47:59Paul Scholes: And you were playing week in, week out. I think that helps. Sometimes a young kid might go to a big club too soon. You're a squad player, you were getting them experiences.

48:07Gareth Bale: So at Southampton, I had the choice, not the choice, but United came in for me at the time. Tottenham came in for me. United came in with a lower offer. Tottenham came in with more money. I had to turn down United to go to Tottenham before I could just choose. So you said no to United and Aaron Ramsey said no to United. Yeah.

48:25Gary Neville: But the thing is... What's up with us?

48:28Gareth Bale: If you're, what was I, 17 at the time and I'm looking, right, who's in my position? Okay. Am I actually going to play? Do I believe in my own ability? Yes. So if I go to United, I'm probably going to get loaned back. Don't know what's going to happen. if I go to Tottenham they said I'm going to play and I feel like at that time I was doing well in the championship and I was ready for the next step so I trusted my ability to go to Tottenham to play and then I could potentially go to a Real Madrid what a smart move though and brave at that time when United had trophies to say I'm going to go to Tottenham how can a club say it

49:05Paul Scholes: how can Spurs say you're going to play and then you might go there and just pack it up to speed yeah no of course and then you're not playing

49:10Gareth Bale: but there is that gamble but I think with United it was basically were going to loan you back. Whereas Tottenham was like, I'm not saying they're going to play me, but they want to play me. They think I'm ready for it now. So I guess you see a lot of kids now, they go straight to a big club and you don't see them again. If you trust in your ability, you need to play. You need to play. And you need to go to a place that you can play. You might have to go back to the Championship to play to come back up, but you need to play first team football and that's the only way you can get better. Did you meet Sir Alex?

49:41Gareth Bale: I met him when I was a kid. Not. But not, no, no. I think he actually called my mum, probably tapping up, but he's retired now, so it doesn't matter.

49:52Jill Scott: Tapping you up for your mum.

49:55Gareth Bale: I hope it was me. But, yeah, he spoke to my mum, but we were, again, just wanted to go down the route of playing and trusting my ability and trusting the process of trying to get to the top.

50:07Jill Scott: When you say about Southampton, obviously they've had some fantastic players, having to come through the youth system. What do you kind of put that down to?

50:17Gareth Bale: I always say, so when you go as like a YTS, a scholar, you move in with a family or you live in the air or whatever, but we all lived in one big house. All right. So it was literally like, you look back and I was like... The players are old-fashioned digs, you mean? Yeah, so there was, what, 16 of us in one big house. Wow. Is that Theo Walcott? Yeah, Adlana, Nathan Dyer, David Goldrick, Leon Best. like we had an unbelievable team as well which obviously helped but we also live in one house there was a family that looked after us a cook and cleaner who came in and we just had this insane environment where you'd all go in a minibus to train in the songs we blare and you train together come home you'd be playing pool table tennis eating together watching football together brilliant you'd have great life itself golf not then not then did they still do that now south No, it stopped.

51:06Gareth Bale: I think, well, we know the lodges. It's because the husband died of the woman that looked after us. So I think it kind of, they all, I imagine, now will live.

51:14Paul Scholes: They had a farce as well. Diggs, a lot of the young lads would all live in one house, yeah.

51:17Gareth Bale: But it definitely, because you don't miss home. You don't get bored. You're constantly doing something. And then you build a closer relationship with the guys you're playing with in the under-18s reserve team. And then, I don't know, you seem like you're just having fun whilst you're getting better, kind of. Rather than you go back to a digs. it's a weird family you stay in your room probably end up on your phone social media but you probably what else are you going to do you're stuck in a room you feel awkward it's another family was it a big thing for you to leave home was it a big moment it's a big moment obviously for every year I didn't think it was because I used to go down when I was I think 13 I used to go down once a week and stay overnight there for two years so they always like kind of bled it in you got to know them well so you got to know the family well and it just wasn't then such a big shock and you've always been around the other players because you're going to train with them a couple of times, well, once a week on a Tuesday.

52:09So I would leave school on a Monday afternoon.

52:14Gareth Bale: I would then get a train up, train Monday evening with my age group in Southampton. I'd stay overnight, train Tuesday in the morning afternoon with the scholars and then travel back.

52:25Paul Scholes: Doesn't sound so simple that, does it?

52:27Gareth Bale: Yeah, it does, but it clearly works. Yeah, it works, yeah. the amount of players that came from that kind of generation as well speaks for itself. Were you always playing left-back back then? Well, I was left midfield. I was kind of like always bouncing back and forth from each year group. I think I always started left midfield. Towards the end, I went left back. And then even when I broke into the first team, they actually moved the left midfielder inside so I could have the whole left side to myself. But you enjoyed that area to run into more then? Yeah, at the start, because the game's in front of you, so you can see everything.

53:03Gareth Bale: And then, actually, when I got moved to Laffinfield, I didn't really like it, because all of a sudden you can't see everything, and sometimes there's a player behind you, so it's just a different game. So it took me a little bit of time to adjust to that, but I always had that attacking threat. And I think when I went to Tottenham, at the start, I was just attacking. It's probably why we lost so much. But I would leave a massive gap behind, because I'd always be attacking. So, again, Harry made the wise decision of taking most of the defensive responsibilities away from me and just let me attack, which worked out really well.

53:40Gary Neville: What's your team at Tottenham when you first go there under Harry? Because it's a good team, isn't it? So I was with Martin Yall first.

53:47Gareth Bale: Oh, Martin Yall first. Yeah. So we had, it was like Ledley King, Dawson, Paul Robinson in goal. No wonder you lost last year.

54:00Jill Scott: I knew you were going to say that.

54:02Gareth Bale: Don't say Ledley, man. I'm not joking. Ledley.

54:06Ian Wright: Ledley, yeah. Don't run, don't run.

54:09Gareth Bale: We had like Didier Zocora, Robbie Keane, Berbatov. Wow. Ledley. Yes, Defoe. So we had a good team. And then it evolves into... And then it evolves into Modric comes, Van der Vaart. Palacios was always a good player for us in that middle. Choluka. Lennon was obviously getting better as well. Then Crouch and Defoe. Yeah, just good signing.

54:36Jill Scott: Did Modric struggle when he first went to Tottenham?

54:39Gareth Bale: A little bit, just because of the physicality, because he was small. but again a little bit of an adaption period and then you would he was a winger at first wasn't he yeah he was always in front of me because he would come inside and I would go where's he gone oh yeah and then he stayed in there because I think it was always like oh he's too small to play in the middle but then you give him the ball brilliant just drops a shoulder net you don't need strength

55:03Jill Scott: yeah

55:04Gary Neville: talk about Tottenham because obviously I mean we've just this last weekend they're having a very tough time it's really tough oh I know they're in danger they're in serious danger and it's been a prolonged I mean obviously they won a European trophy last season but it's been a prolonged period for a long time of a club that's under delivered to the size of it talk to us about that we had Antipo Stacoglio on a couple of weeks ago and obviously this weekend they've just Igor Tudor's had his first game against Arsenal and it was disappointing what do you make of it because obviously you had a decent time there but why is this club great club not able to get over the line and have sustained success

55:40Gareth Bale: I would say many maybe they don't pay as much as a United you probably look at the wage bill it's low and I think there's a reason for that you can attract good players and I always say now you buy a£50 million player it's not what it used to be you have to be spending£80,£90,£100 now just to get a good player maybe just it's the money and the wages you're not attracting that bigger player who can do a job here and now and also they always seem to buy young and hoping they're going to grow into something bigger, which has worked in the past, for example, with me and a few other players, but they're an established club now.

56:20Gareth Bale: They have the stadium, they have the training ground, they have the fan base. It's like they need to be buying bigger players, maybe paying a bit more, but... But it's amazing they're reluctant to go the extra bit for the wages.

56:30Paul Scholes: I know the extra bit is still a lot of... No, of course, but it's like... They've got an amazing stadium, a business point of view, fantastic, but they won't go that extra bit.

56:37Gareth Bale: It's maybe that bit of a gamble that you maybe need to take that from a business point they're maybe not willing to do. I don't obviously know how they're doing financially, but yeah, it seems to be that for me that's probably the biggest issue. They just don't sign the proven player. I know Man Utd haven't been doing great, but at least they're trying to sign the player that's the finished article or close to, and it just seems to be a bit like that.

57:02Ian Wright: Now that Daniel Levy's gone, so you can't blame him. It's the Lewis. They've got to change their ownership. It's got to be him now. Can I track that top player though, that top level one? Yeah, but you need an owner who can come in who's got that Abramovich energy. He wants to win on the pitch and Tottenham have got everything in place. So that's the manager, that's the owner.

57:20Gareth Bale: I do think what they have done is amazing for the club and what they've built. Because you look at the club now from where it was, new stadium, new training ground, the fan base is bigger than everyone actually realises. I obviously really get on with them and I obviously get on with them as well as a family and everybody. But, yeah, I think they've just come and taken over now in terms of Daniel's gone. They've taken over. So hopefully you might see that change. I hope so. It's like they just need to gamble maybe a bit. Whereas, I don't know, other clubs maybe take a bit more of a risk financially, but then financial fear of play.

58:00Paul Scholes: They'll bong straight back up. The parachute money, wouldn't it?

58:06Ian Wright: the thing is for the fans sake because people keep saying listen to Ridey for the fans sake on Sunday

58:15Gary Neville: on social media he was ripping your noses in it I wasn't

58:18Ian Wright: no no I wasn't you were I was in Brazil what are you talking about Silver was filming me he was filming me watching I was having a private moment that wasn't him he doesn't say he's a kid do you know what I mean no but what I'm saying is in respects of the Tottenham fans I personally people talk about Tottenham going down this season, there's a chance that they, you know what I mean? I wouldn't want to see Tottenham go down. Of course not. I wouldn't want to see Tottenham go down. But they could. Yeah, but in this moment right now, because what I watched of them the other day, absolutely they could.

58:48Ian Wright: But I wouldn't like to see it. You know what I mean? My hatred of Tottenham, I've never had hatred of Tottenham. When I was young, I was always Glenn Oldham. I loved Glenn Oldham and I still do. So I never had hatred for them and everything like that. It's only when I went to Arsenal that just naturally comes in. But I don't want to see Tottenham go down.

59:06Gareth Bale: As much as they hate on them, they need it for the rivalry for that Premier League. Honestly, absolutely.

59:11Paul Scholes: I didn't mind watching City go down, did you?

59:15Gary Neville: You had a rivalry with Liverpool, so you're right. Gareth, when that moment comes when you realise that you've obviously got to a really high level and other clubs are coming in, which club's coming for you at that time around the point where you go to Real Madrid? Who wants you? Who bids for you? United and Madrid were the two.

59:32Gareth Bale: Did you talk to United at that point as well? I didn't no yeah I did talk to United David Mize yeah they actually bid more than

59:40Gary Neville: that was the big that was the big signing when Sir Alex Ferguson left yeah Ed Woodward famously goes back from the tour I think it's in Australia to say we're signing Bale and Fabregas

59:50Gareth Bale: obviously for me going knowing they're not going to sign those I'm like well who are you signing and it's like well I'm not so you were never going to United no who did you speak to at the club at the time I spoke with David Moyes and with Ed Woodward or not no I didn't speak to him maybe my agent or whatever did but I spoke with David Moyes but my heart was set on Madrid anyway and I had something in place with Daniel Levy more of a gentleman's agreement just to be like because he didn't want to sell me to a rival also he didn't want to strengthen another team so if a team did come in from Spain, Italy, wherever Germany, wherever it may be he wanted you to go there I could potentially go because if we didn't qualify for the Champions League which we didn't I was then able to go there so we had that gentleman's agreement even though we made it very tough like he does he always does if you didn't get in the Champions League you could leave no but it was a gentleman's agreement so it was it was more just that yeah but he stayed true

1:00:43Gary Neville: to his words so financially was Manchester United offering similar money to Madrid

1:00:49Ian Wright: he wanted to go to Madrid

1:00:52Gary Neville: I should have taken a little bit deeper because this guy turned down Man United twice right I mean I need to get to the bottom of that it's done alright though

1:00:59Jill Scott: well done

1:01:00Gareth Bale: I think I chose the right one from the last well what was it 12 years I didn't go down the wages route with United I didn't go that far they offered more money to buy me and a player but I didn't didn't really get any legs to be honest so again chose right

1:01:22Jill Scott: can we just

1:01:24Paul Scholes: no no I'm not sure can we put it it's great for a player if you know where you want to go if you don't you're good options sometimes people go to 4, 5, 6 clubs where you go no I'm going there and that's

1:01:32Gareth Bale: yeah and I had my heart set on it so once I spoke to them they reserved the number 11 I spoke with numerous people at the club I knew Modric the year before who went there which obviously helped me knowing that I've got somebody at least I can just kind of be with I guess because you go to a new club it's like who's your mates you've got mates was he good like that was he good for you yeah and he was great for me so yeah and he's the player I played with most of my career which is not a bad one yes yes

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1:03:19Gary Neville: Wales. So Wales for a long time was sort of the country that couldn't qualify for tournaments and you obviously transformed that really didn't you?

1:03:29Gareth Bale: Yeah it was a tough time when I first went in and again John Toshek did a great job bringing the team, I guess the youngsters in, to get us 20, 30, 40 caps so then we become an experienced team and we're quite young and what we can do. So he took a big gamble and, I guess, a risk, which started that kind of, I guess, era of Welsh football. And then it was very amateurly run. We would be coming down and eating a bacon sandwich, walking down to training and... Orange bibs. That was very glamorous to what we were getting.

1:04:07Paul Scholes: Well, we didn't have a fit.

1:04:09Gareth Bale: Dean Saunders would be taking the warm-ups. No one at all. There wasn't much of a structure. and you could then soon realise why we didn't qualify for many tournaments. And then Gary Speed obviously came in and kind of brung that club culture, got the sports science in, got everything done, new hotel, just everything done properly and just kind of built that foundation where obviously then it grew, obviously the tragedy that happened, but it then enabled the next manager and the next managers just to build off it and it then became people wanted to come and play for Wales and we looked forward to going away with Wales rather than like, I'm sure it might have been similar to Ireland.

1:04:50Gareth Bale: Yeah, absolutely, you're spot on. And it's like, as much as I love playing for my country and there's no better thing, to go away sometimes, you come from being at Tottenham and St Ampton, it's like this amazing, you have everything given to you and provided for you and you go away with Wales, you're like, it's just not really. But that was the times back then and it's something that needed to happen, we needed to grow. and we did and yeah then it kind of built that foundation to

1:05:19Gary Neville: make success I guess just talk to us about that in terms of because Roy's experienced that and obviously famously because of the standards obviously you know it ended up how it did but at Wales what would be the things with Wales that you were seeing because let's be fair I have to say with England Jill maybe not with yourself obviously with England in the early days you probably

1:05:38Jill Scott: the latter days so definitely

1:05:40Gary Neville: everything was perfect so if there's no England player, for all the failures in tournaments we had, there was no England player could ever, ever say we didn't get everything put on the plate for us in terms of travel, hotels, food, kit, everything was meticulously brilliant.

1:05:56Gareth Bale: I think the biggest difference from Ireland and Wales, we don't have the funds to give us everything, build us and George us, but we don't have that kind of money. We have to actually play well to make money. But you want to see a bit of progress, don't you? No, you do. But also, when you look back at it, again we're not the financial people we don't know you just don't know if they've got the money to do it but then you hope the government maybe would help and whatever but i think for us clearly they did have the money because gary speed got it out of them and it started something we built a training ground which ultimately ended up didn't use it right um but then it kind of like built something so he kind of probably what you were trying to do gary speed did um got the money to at least give us some sort of foundation and give us something similar to what we have at our clubs and that bit of professional.

1:06:46Gareth Bale: Sometimes that gives you a bit of spirit, doesn't it? Yeah. Not quite, Gary.

1:06:49Paul Scholes: When you look at Wales and Ireland, it gives you like a club feeling. Yeah. We're getting everything. We didn't really have that club feeling. But remember, we were in dressing rooms with England lads and French lads. We'd be hearing all that. We'd be picking up all them vibes. Private jets. Again, with Ireland and Wales, you're not looking for perfection, but you want progress. It's not always about money. You're not having equipment. Sometimes that's not millions of pounds. How do you have a challenge in your face?

1:07:12Gareth Bale: We had one size training kit. You should have seen me in my first 16. My T-shirt was down to my arm. It's like a XXL, as long as it fits everybody.

1:07:20Gary Neville: So you were in the same training kit as John Hartson?

1:07:22Gareth Bale: Yeah. Probably his training kit. That's why they had to get XXL. But yeah, even just little things like that, there was just one size kit so it would fit at least everybody. Yeah, it was just...

1:07:34Jill Scott: We had that our whole career. But did you feel a lot of pressure playing for Wales? Because I feel like there was a lot of pressure on your shoulders because they needed you to play well to have any chance of succeeding.

1:07:48Gareth Bale: That's the one thing I never felt was the pressure. Never? No, I just loved playing for Wales and just loved... And I think the one thing for us, we grew up together, even under 17s, 18s, whatever it is, we kind of... The ones who kind of went to the first team were kind of all playing together through those age groups so you just kind of grew up with everyone it just again i and i said about the euros you feel like we're with your mates but you look forward to actually meeting up now you've got a better kind of once all kind of the older guys went and the younger ones all kind of then naturally took over it just become like oh i can't wait to meet up with wales this is going to be fun we'll be away for 10 days we were like we'll go and play golf one day we'll be playing like table tennis pool we'd just be in each other's rooms and we again created that massive culture there was a lot of good support there was a lot of good players coming through

1:08:38Paul Scholes: even someone like you did Ramsey to be fair to him your stats for Wales over a number of years big goals big assists you and Ramsey were like you were the star people you needed a couple of people

1:08:48Gareth Bale: of course you do and then we'd have a good spine Wayne Hennessy was unbelievable for us in going I don't think he gets enough credit but over 100 caps to have that goalkeeper that you trust and we had Ashley Williams we had Joe Allen the heart of midfield me and Rambo we're a bit more of the flair players and you know we could score and win you a game and then we'd have players come in Ben Davis we'd come in Chris Gunter always did a great job and we just had like a good spine and the rest would do a great job and there was no ego we would come we would turn up even though I was at Real Madrid it was just like it didn't matter if I played for League 2 or Real Madrid it was like were all the same.

1:09:32Gary Neville: You played 111 games for Wales, scored 41 goals, but this statistic here, between 2011 and 2016, of all the goals Wales scored, you either assisted or scored in 65 % of them. And 2017 to 22, 57 % of all goals that Wales scored, you either assisted or scored. I mean, it's a monumental country. I mean, your five Champions Leagues, like, off the scale, it doesn't even bear thinking about. But is your greatest achievement what you actually achieved with Wales or would you put the achievements with Real Madrid higher?

1:10:06Gareth Bale: It's tough because if you choose one, you're going to annoy someone else. They were both great. But they're different in different countries. To do what you did for your country? Yeah, no, 100%. And I guess, I think we were like 119th in the world when I first signed. We got to 7th, which for a country of what, 3.3 million is like. and what we did and what we built and more of the friends and the friendship and the character we built was like again I didn't feel any pressure because I'm playing with my mates I know they've got my back I've got their back I'll run back just as much as him he'll run forward just as much as me and we were just all on the same page and I think everybody knew that me and Rambo were the ones who could create something so it was like the the team was geared towards us in terms of an attacking sense but we would defend just as much as the others we'd get back in our position because we we're not a Barcelona Real Madrid that's going to have 60 70 percent of possession we know probably most games we're going to have 30 maybe 40 max possession but we know we have moments and we know we'll take them and we know we'll score and we had the confidence and I think we were so good defensively as a team we felt especially in 2016 around that era just before just after that we were watertight.

1:11:21Gareth Bale: If we were losing a game, it was by one maximum. But we always knew that we could nick a game, nick a result against anybody.

1:11:27Ian Wright: You could see that with the Wales team as well because they obviously, because they see the work that you two are doing. So everybody kicks in, Roy, do you understand? And that would lift them. They know they can nick us a goal.

1:11:36Gareth Bale: And it comes down to ego. You need to leave your ego at the door if you've got one because you've got to put a shift in. Because if you're that much of an underdog, and we're playing big, big teams like Belgium, who have the talent of Beyond This World, but we're beating them and we're drawing... We'd never lost to Belsen for a while. We just knew that to be successful, we all had to do everything together.

1:12:01Paul Scholes: You had good experience. You mentioned them players. They were, as you said, 50, 60, 70, 80 caps. They knew the game, didn't they?

1:12:07Gareth Bale: Yeah, exactly. And I think, again, it started from putting us in early because we had 30, 40 caps. We still weren't a great team, but all of a sudden we've got this experience. Players are doing well in their teams. We're actually coming together. we're all growing together we understand each other and then all of a sudden we're 20 through 24 we've all got 50 caps and now we know what to do we've got a style we know how to defend we know how to nick a goal we know how to see a game out which is for Wales is wild and then yeah it just became that and then it did slightly change after 2016 because you do so well the expectation now is oh you're not the underdog anymore how do you do we struggled with that a little bit straight after but then got a bit of experience doing that and got a bit better with that as well and we then had got to the semi-final then yeah in 2016 we'll talk about that in a minute yeah

1:12:56Gary Neville: I remember you to be fair we play Wales in the group game and we score in the last minute Daniel Sturridge scores and to be fair I get carried away you went down the line didn't you don't worry

1:13:10Ian Wright: that was the first thing I was thinking about did you notice Did you notice that?

1:13:15Gareth Bale: Well, I didn't. I was facing that way.

1:13:18Ian Wright: But the coaches and everybody, yeah.

1:13:21Gary Neville: It was noticed because if you remember, there was the famous shot of when Wales were watching England play against Iceland and they're all celebrating. And I was talking to you about it before. I mean, it would have obviously, you know, talk to us about that England game. Because obviously we won in the last minute. That must have been a big blow for you. And all of a sudden you have to recover, don't you? And go again. Yeah, I know.

1:13:40Gareth Bale: and we had a good result first game against Slovakia where we won, which, again, we've gone into this tournament not really knowing, for one, what to expect, what we're going to achieve. We're just going there to try and do as best as we can. We had no kind of expectation on us. Then, yeah, obviously we knew you guys were big favourites to win and, again, it comes to, we probably didn't have a lot of possession, but it was trying, like, how can we nick a goal, free kick, corner, counter-attack, whatever it is. And to get to 1-1 in, I think it was like 97, second minute to lose was like a massive devastation, especially to England, and then to see you run down the sides.

1:14:18Gareth Bale: It was a scruffy goal as well.

1:14:21Paul Scholes: Do you know something? I'd be embarrassed by that, though, a little bit.

1:14:23Gary Neville: Embarrassed is no goal. I'm passionate about my country. I know, exactly.

1:14:26Paul Scholes: I'd be embarrassed as well. I'm passionate.

1:14:30Gary Neville: If I look back now, I wouldn't regret celebrating, because I celebrated goals in the last minute always reunited. I would celebrate. Player, yeah, of course. Yeah, but as a coach in the last minute, you score a goal. but you do look back now and think obviously Wales had the last laugh like you wouldn't believe because you go on and we won that group as well just to let you know I know you did

1:14:48Paul Scholes: did you score a free kick? yeah

1:14:50Gareth Bale: was that Joe Hart? yeah Joe Hart where did you learn that free kick Gareth? the wobbly it's a wobbly one wasn't it yeah so when I was first I used to do the killer I got bored with it so I then just started trying something different couple go in and then yeah I just found it more interesting to do and then when they went in they looked better so I probably would have scored more curling wins if I kept going but I just liked doing it not many people could do it so it kind of made you a bit unique obviously there was Frank Lampard Christiano Giannino was the original Shobber's like he can do it now can't he?

1:15:26Gareth Bale: Giannino at Lyon he was a member of one every week he did one from the halfway line with no wall and it just goes so you watch that and you're like did you practice them after every training

1:15:38Jill Scott: because we were talking about that one when you were saying about David Beckham. Did you practice a lot?

1:15:43Gareth Bale: I didn't practice as much as me. I don't know how much he actually did practice because you practice too much, your quad starts ripping in half. So I would always do a couple after training, maybe like 10, 15, because you do too much, you start fatiguing. Training, the next day you walk around with a broken hip. So yeah, I would always practice him. I just, again, you love shooting, especially when you're younger. And then as you get a bit older, you start to do it just day before a game, you do like five, six, just to get the feel. Just always just ticking over, really. Never doing too much where if you're 10, 11, 12, you can...

1:16:18Gareth Bale: Huh? Cristiano let you take any of them. It was basically on the left it was him, on the right it was me, and in the middle was normally him. It was sometimes a little bit of rock, paper, scissors, but it depends what mood he was in. If he'd scored two, he might let me, but... You have a go.

1:16:38Gary Neville: You were surrounded by the biggest club with the biggest ego in terms of Real Madrid, but you've kept so grounded. How have you kept so grounded? Has it come from your childhood, your parents?

1:16:47Gareth Bale: Yeah, I think parents, friends still have the literally same four or five friends. Yeah, same agents, same everything. I've been obviously with my wife for 18 years, so since I was young. So yeah, I was never really for all of that. I was just very, I'm very, like, happy just being simple. I could happily just sit in, watch a film, go to sleep. I don't need to go out and go to a nice restaurant. I don't even have to have nice food. I'm quite happy we just pass her a chicken. So I'm just very simple and pleased very easily. What makes you angry? Missing a four-footer.

1:17:30Paul Scholes: I can't imagine you being angry. I can't.

1:17:34Gary Neville: What bugs you? what sort of like you know if there's no chocolate in the fridge or something like that

1:17:38Gareth Bale: no not a lot not a lot my son tests my boundaries at the moment with seven but with what just does a listen that'll get worse yeah I know I can imagine but no not a lot really gets me angry to be honest I'm quite a chilled person I'm just I normally just deal with things as they come

1:17:58Paul Scholes: you're quite contented don't you yeah

1:18:00Gareth Bale: contented yeah

1:18:01Gary Neville: just very simple are you one of those players that obviously You've played at the highest level, you've been there for 15, 20 years, but you don't feel like you know a lot about you. Yeah, which is ideal.

1:18:11Gareth Bale: Yeah. I know, I like that. You were similar, right? You did many interviews. It was nice. I just... It's making up for it now, don't you? I'll get paid now, don't you? But yeah, I was always someone who just... I just liked going to football. I just wanted to be a footballer. I didn't... Also, as a kid, you don't know all the stuff that comes with being a footballer and how famous you get at this. I just wanted to be a footballer and go home. As simple as that. I wanted to become as good as I could, make an amazing career for myself, make a living. That's as simple as it is. Obviously, everything else that comes with it, you pick and choose what you're doing, but I'll normally try and get out of most things.

1:18:53Gareth Bale: Some things you accept that you have to do. I made you say yes to this one. Why are you?

1:18:58Jill Scott: We're blessed. Did you try and get out of this?

1:19:00Gareth Bale: No, but obviously, when you finish, you start to do more. and again, you can't just sit at home and do nothing all day. You've got to try different things and tell your story. As you said, it's good now. Not a lot of people know a lot about me, so I now can come out and talk and maybe people will listen a bit more and get to know me a bit. Yeah, it's just how I am, I guess.

1:19:21Gary Neville: You're 36 and obviously every football player knows that their career is going to come to an end probably early to mid-30s if you're lucky. And you've got that 35, 40 years of your life still to lead. What does that look like? Do you think about the next 35, 40 years in respect of what you're going to do, what you want to do? How are you going to keep that sort of buzz going in your life? As a pension top.

1:19:44Jill Scott: Haven't you got a golf course in your back garden? I think you might be all right.

1:19:49Gareth Bale: No, I think, yeah, I retired early. There's reasons why I retired early. What are those reasons? So I actually tore my disc in my back when I was 18 at Tottenham. So that, again, I played my whole career with that. I had a lot of calf injuries, which was due to my back. But again, I never came out and said this when I was playing. Can you say something? Oh, he's making excuses. Again, I just, I don't need to speak.

1:20:17Ian Wright: So that didn't even worry you when he was going for an 85 million move to Real Madrid?

1:20:21Gareth Bale: It was past the medicals. It was past the medicals, it was fine. They knew about it, but it's manageable. But I think for me, over time, it caught up with me. I went to see a back specialist, one of the best in the world, and he was like, because where the tear is, it's next to a nerve, which I always used to do my right or left soleus. Right. And he basically was like, because if it misfires, because obviously stuff comes out of the nerve, then you go into all scientific stuff. But he said, you're just as likely to tear your soleus, brushing your teeth as you are sprinting. So it's like brushing my teeth on my heels.

1:20:56Gareth Bale: But again, I never knew when it would come. and obviously people were like oh he doesn't look after himself um i would literally make sure my cast and slaves were like bulletproof they would be the strongest things ever but again if it misfires and it goes there's nothing i could do about it i'd have an injection my back to calm it all down so you go through all these things in your career and it kind of gets to a point where it starts to then go the other way it's like started to catch up with me so and i was always like got to a point where i guess a lot of people doing their career do you keep going for what reason, what else do I want to achieve?

1:21:28Gareth Bale: I felt like I achieved everything I wanted. The last thing I did was qualify for a World Cup, which was the one thing that was last on my list, so I did that. And I was like, I don't really want to just keep going for the sake of it. And the people always say, you don't want football to leave you before you leave football. I was just like, I felt it was the right time. And it was a few years prior that I was probably ready. But then you try and you try and make things stronger and stuff, but it just caught up with me in the end. And then, yeah, also the thing with my father's illness, I wanted then to be closer to home and stuff was happening with him.

1:22:02Gareth Bale: So, yeah, there's reasons other than just I just decided to finish at 33. And then, yeah, obviously there's a, I understand there's a long time retired. I've been planning since probably 26, 27, that I know there's not a long career and you have a long life after, hopefully, touch wood. but yeah just what does that look like? again I always said when I retired I wanted like one, two, three years just to like decompress enjoy the kids and then try and find a few paths I want to do obviously the I think you obviously own in a football team probably understand the stresses with it but we kind of went and looked down that route and something that does interest me we obviously tried in this country or over in?

1:22:47Gareth Bale: we tried with Cardiff last summer obviously didn't materialise and obviously they're doing amazing again this season but yeah, something like that I think interests me more than I don't really like going into management I feel like, yeah, I've done that as a player and you've got to put even more hours in as a coach and a manager so too much for me but yeah, kind of that kind of stuff Put in the tree? Huh? Put in the tree? Again, I'm doing a bit and I'm enjoying it and growing into it and I was saying to you before that the first couple you don't want to kind of say too much because you're still a bit uncomfortable.

1:23:23Gareth Bale: You're not used to speaking about players. You were saying, give it a couple of years and you'll be abusing players. Hopefully I won't have to get to that. But no, I'm just enjoying trying different things. And I think once I... I'm sure I'll find something that I love, other than golf, then I can focus on it a bit more, I think.

1:23:43Gary Neville: Gareth, you just signed up. You got a partnership with Panikin Zero Zero. How's that going?

1:23:47Gareth Bale: Yeah, no, great. Obviously, I think it's well kind of documented. I never drank when I was playing, still don't now. So it kind of worked naturally that, yeah, working with Heineken 00, it's perfect now. Like I can go out with my friends and not feel kind of that. You feel under pressure, left by the wayside. You don't want to go out because everyone's drinking, you're not. So you can kind of feel you're a bit more involved. Again, I would say the taste is the same, but I don't know the taste of the other.

1:24:16Jill Scott: I've tasted both, it is the same.

1:24:17Gareth Bale: Yeah, so it's good. and again, people now can drink with 0-0 and then drive, whereas before you couldn't so clearly. So yeah, it's been a natural kind of partnership to work together with and one thoroughly enjoyed.

1:24:32Gary Neville: You're the first person ever to come on the show that's won five Champions Leagues and you're the first person that's ever come on that's never had a drink. I've had one shot.

1:24:41Gareth Bale: One shot? When was that? When you beat? No, my wedding night. At my wedding. So my wife was like, you have to have one. The hips got a bit loose.

1:24:52Gary Neville: Gareth, what do you think of modern football? Because obviously I'm just thinking about you playing at Real Madrid under two incredible managers, Antelotti and Zidane, without a lot of tactics. Do you find the game that you watch sometimes too methodical? Do you find it a little bit more? Some people use the word boring. I don't think I would use that word. But just generally, how do you see the modern game now?

1:25:10Gareth Bale: I feel like it's very manager-orientated now. and it's more of a chess game than an end-to-end kind of football basketball game. It's definitely not as exciting as it used to be. And again, I could be completely wrong, but I just don't feel like there's the calibre of player anymore, maybe, than it used to be. If you name the players back in history, and talking like Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Zidane, I just don't feel like there's so many big icon players anymore. and I don't know if that's down to managers and tactics and you have to stay on the right wing, you can't move from there, you have to come in here.

1:25:48Gareth Bale: They're basically, I feel like managers now, and I could be wrong, it's just my opinion, but they're basically running the game, whereas before, like you'll say with Sir Alex, I'll say with Harry Redknapp, with Ancelotti, Zidane, the players played the game, whereas now I feel like the managers are playing the game, but that's my opinion.

1:26:07Gary Neville: It's interesting you say that because I think that when we say that and we're probably like in our 50s, 60s, we feel like, is it a little bit like, oh, in my day, it was different, but you're so close to the game being 50. You're 36, you're not something. You're saying the same things that we feel at times, but we're a bit scared to say because you're thinking, well, I'm going to say it's like a dinosaur. You're not a dinosaur.

1:26:32Ian Wright: They love saying that. You say, oh, don't dare say, oh, in my day. Gosh. I think it's right about the cultures. and it's probably

1:26:38Paul Scholes: coached too much there's not a lot of freedom in players there's no Mavericks really especially with attacking players maybe yeah

1:26:47Gareth Bale: but yeah I just I don't know I look for example at Grealish when he was at City he was like just stayed out there I'm like at Villa you were coming in Gualiol is an incredible manager and I would never disrespect him whatever but that player now doesn't have the freedom to do what he does best which is ultimately what got him there so So that's just kind of, I feel the way that football's going. Again, it evolves. Generations change. Long throwings are back in play now. So you never know. There's hope for everything. They're not quite long ones or what, is it?

1:27:23Gary Neville: They're like immediate ones, aren't they? Yeah, you wait 45 seconds, 50 seconds for a throw-in and it drops about 10 yards. It's been a long throw. Yeah, no, I did. That was one of your strengths. Yeah, no, I did. Then I had a bad back. so it's about America to finish with just America

1:27:40Gareth Bale: what was that like as an experience? I loved it and I actually wish I went over a bit younger when I had a bit I guess more physical ability obviously I was getting older yeah I loved it I thought it was it was very different from Madrid and I still remember my first one of the first games we lost the game and in my head I'm like if you lose in Madrid it's like right down into a war bunker this is going to be tough they lost in america and i was like oh no next everyone's like happy and fine i'm like you're not allowed out in madrid if you lose and like no it's just it's accepted which not accepting of lovers like you're a loser but they accept that you're going to lose and i guess there's no consequence in america yeah so might be a thing to do with it but it's a bit more family orientated the the stadiums it's not like that horrible chanting where they absolutely abuse you it's just like you're a loser you're like that's really hard fans were hammering me

1:28:46Gary Neville: last night

1:28:47Paul Scholes: everyone every fan hammered you oh I don't know it was a wanker every week it was worse last night that's the home fans

1:28:59Gareth Bale: I enjoyed it over there and it was another experience that I wanted to cry We used to go there on holiday always and just even going to play in New York, wherever, in LA. It was nice to, I guess, experience. And the night before a game, they all go out for food. I'm like, normally I have a quick bit of pasta chicken, lock myself in my room, go to sleep early. But everything's just a bit more laid back. But they're still as professional as anything. Amazing athletes. It's just a shame that there's not maybe the money in the MLS to attract the younger player. And I think that's probably the biggest issue with the MLS, to try and make it bigger, is you can't get someone in their prime at 25, 26.

1:29:44Gareth Bale: Unfortunately, it seems to be at the end because the money's not there. If the money's there, you'll attract players.

1:29:50Gary Neville: Is the World Cup going to be... I mean, how big is that World Cup going to be just in terms of establishing the game even more over there?

1:29:56Gareth Bale: Yeah, I think it'll be big. but I always feel with fans these days and a lot of people say that oh it's going to make soccer, football in America bigger but a lot of fans these days I feel like they support a player like someone will support Mbappe so if he goes to PSG and I feel like it's a bit like that it's not necessarily going to make them support teams but it will definitely make the sport bigger there I just maybe don't think it's going to have such a big an impact as people say because they just don't have the finances like an NBA or NFL have to just throw this money and get the best players there even though I know it's American-based sport but if you want to make football bigger in America you have to make it bigger and more exciting and better and from where it was when I played pre-season years ago and I'm sure you guys are to when I played there's a massive difference and it's definitely on a progression it's just it needs that financial side and as much as it's horrible to say it does money talks to every player

1:31:03Gary Neville: Stick to Football is brought to you by Arm Clothing Right final little bit quick fire questions best trainer you've ever played with erm best trainer Modric or Kroos

1:31:20Gareth Bale: Kroos unbelievable in training Never lose the ball. Just, yeah. Maybe it's not like the flash of scoring loads of goals, but just Isco was very good as well, actually, I would say. Isco was a great trainer. Yeah, one of those three. Worst trainer? Hazard. Probably. He had a tough one.

1:31:41Ian Wright: He had a tough time.

1:31:42Gareth Bale: He hurt his ankle quite badly in his first season and just never really recovered. Was he struggling in training? you say he was training do you mean he wasn't he just again the Chelsea boys I'll say again I was similar I wasn't I didn't love training I would tick over in training but I'd want to be ready for the game I'd want to be 100 % ready on a Saturday to give everything I wouldn't want to be like training hard and feeling like 80 % I'd love to have been like that

1:32:10Gary Neville: I felt like I had to literally give everything to be able to tell myself

1:32:14Gareth Bale: that I was able

1:32:15Jill Scott: I was the opposite

1:32:16Gareth Bale: well my last season of Tottenham I hardly trained so I Being an explosive player, you have a lot more doms the next few days. So I struggle for two days after, and then I would just be introduced back into training slowly. We'd train, for example, harder on a Thursday, if you can call it hard. Friday would be like a small-sided game, and then I'd be ready to go. So I used to like to just fine-tune rather than put in the work, and I'd be ready to go. That's kind of how I was like. That suited you, didn't it? Exactly.

1:32:46Jill Scott: I think the great players could do that, though, do you not think? but the ones I felt like I was strightened from that position. There's a strength in that, isn't there? Yeah.

1:32:53Gareth Bale: But I always explain, I've spoken to managers about it. You look at, for example, like the NFL, there's loads of different positions. They don't all train the same. Like you wouldn't train the same as me in a game. Maybe you would train similar to me, but you should all train how you would play. Like a centre-back doesn't need to be doing like 100 high-intensity sprints like two days for a game, for example. So there is a power to it. And I think there is, you might see it in the future where you'd have, you obviously would train together as a team, but you don't need to be doing the silly runs if you're a centre-back.

1:33:25Gareth Bale: You might need to do half of the runs in a winger and a full-back, or a striker needs to do to prepare you. I think they do that more now.

1:33:33Jill Scott: Like we always used to do the back-forward, do different running to the midfield than the forwards did used to all together.

1:33:40Ian Wright: We didn't make that together. I think what players are doing now is that they're finding those guys, those outside PTs who they do stuff with. And then what happens is, is then you get a clash with the people who are at the club. So then they know exactly what's right for you. You try to go to the club and say, well, this is what's right for them. And then the guys who are in the club are disappointed because, oh, he's brought him in. And it's just like... Yeah, you don't want to go too far out of the other way.

1:34:03Paul Scholes: It's almost like special teams then. It's also the whole idea of running together is that you're a team. You're a team. You're a team.

1:34:08Gareth Bale: You're a team. The problem is, as soon as a team does it and it doesn't work, they go back to it. So there's that kind of, you've got to take a bit of a gamble and see it through to see if it does work. But it's tough because you obviously have, say, a PT, for example, who's, for example, mine, just has my best interest. Whereas a manager, if I'm 80%, he still wants me out, is where my PT's like, oh, I want, you probably shouldn't play, give it another game. Whereas he's like, I need a result. So there's that. Your job's underlying, yeah. Conflict, yeah. So there's that conflict. So that's, I imagine, the most difficult thing to make that work.

1:34:39Gareth Bale: Most skillful teammate you've ever played with? Most skilful teammate?

1:34:47Gareth Bale: Probably Isco. Yeah, he was... In small-sided games in training, he was... He was a good player. He was a good footballer. He was a great footballer. On a bigger pitch, he would struggle a bit more, but in training, when it's those small-sided games, he was as similar as I've seen to Zidane in terms of the touch and the dragon of the ball. I always thought he was very skilful and a good trainer. The fastest player you've ever played with? Played with? Has anyone ever outrun you? You've ever thought, he's quick? I play with Kyle Walker. Oh, of course. So, yeah, we had some good training battles.

1:35:21Gareth Bale: Would you be quicker than Kyle, or would Kyle be quicker than you? You never really race, do you? Yeah. So it's like, if you drop a shoulder and he loses balance, you can't say I'm quicker. Yeah. He was quick, and I'm not saying I was quick, he was quick. He would say he is, I may be saying my prime, I was, but he was, yeah. The quickest player. Yeah, he was definitely the quickest player.

1:35:39Gary Neville: The best player you've ever played with?

1:35:42Gareth Bale: Best player I've ever played with? Arguably, Renat, Cristiano, yeah. The toughest defender you've ever faced? Who didn't give you a kick? I always say this in every joke, because I struggled against Micah Richards. I just... Oh, don't say that. I know, I know. I know. That won't make the show. But I always... It was my earlier days, but I always felt like... You weren't there, Renat, did you? No, the thing is, let's face it, though.

1:36:07Ian Wright: Micah, when he first came on the scene, He was an animal.

1:36:10Gareth Bale: He was brilliant.

1:36:11Jill Scott: So physical.

1:36:12Gareth Bale: Normally I would knock it on the outside, but he would just put his arm up. Oh, he's so strong. I was just like, he had a big arse, he had a big arm. I was like, I'm not getting around. It's even bigger now. That's bigger. It's even bigger now. Micah's got to get some of it.

1:36:23Gary Neville: I always found him the most difficult to play against. Well done, Micah. It'll make the cup. It'll make the cup, Micah. Best manager you've ever worked under?

1:36:30Gareth Bale: Best manager, Carlo Angelotti, I'd say. Just, Harry was good. I enjoyed, I also love Chris Coleman at Wales. But Carlo, in terms of just keeping the peace, man-managed, were winning with him.

1:36:45Gary Neville: So, yeah, it was... Do you know when you used to win the Champions League and you'd get on the bus there? You used to have that massive cigar.

1:36:51Gareth Bale: You looked so cool. He's like still a player. Yeah. But he had that relationship where he could still kind of be a player, but then he would have that respect where there was a line. Yeah. And you knew also if you didn't train well, he would hammer you. Would he hammer you? Would he have a you? Yeah. All of you, including Cristiano? Yeah, all of you, yeah, yeah. For sure. As much as he was your best mate, you knew there was that switch where you're like, I can't cross that much.

1:37:18Gary Neville: And what would that be in terms of in a training session? What would he have a go at you for, as an example? Just if you were training,

1:37:23Gareth Bale: really sure you weren't trying. Sometimes a session just isn't going well and he would just stop it. He'd snap. Yeah. And half-time, if you're playing poorly or we're losing, he would just come out and just... So he had that perfect balance for a manager. OK. Funniest teammate you've ever played with? Funniest teammate I've ever played with, Joe Ledley. So you're laughing, just saying, that's really good. Just, yeah, no words really described, but yeah. There's some videos out there, but yeah, extremely funny.

1:37:57Gary Neville: Let's get a video of Joe Ledley. Biggest dressing room character, last question, biggest dressing room character that you've ever seen? In terms of funny? No, character. They're like their personality character. Ramos or Ronaldo, just as a character and how they kind of carry themselves, I would say, yeah, one of those two. Was he loud in the dressing room? I mean, Cristiano wasn't, to be fair, well, he wasn't when he played at United. Was Ramos very loud in the dressing room?

1:38:19Gareth Bale: Yeah, he was always very vocal and spoke in Spanish with a start. I had no idea what was going on. But, yeah, no, he was always very vocal, was always like the one saying stuff and before you go out doing the team huddle, speaking. so he was very very captain like I imagine similar to leading by example and that kind of warrior on the pitch I always ask this question last best advice you've ever been given best advice I've ever been given I always find this tough it is a tough one I always got told that it's easy getting to the top it's harder to stay there so I think when I not saying I got to the top but got to the top I think you got all from the top again, just having that work ethic to stay there because the reason you got there is for that work ethic.

1:39:07Gareth Bale: Why would you stop doing it? So I think that's probably the best of it. Nice one. Gareth, amazing to have you on. Thank you so much.

1:39:13Gary Neville: Thank you.

1:39:13Jill Scott: Thanks, Gareth. Thank you.

1:39:15Ian Wright: Thanks, Gareth.

1:39:16Gary Neville: So good. Nice, thank you.

1:39:24Paul Scholes: Brilliant, Gareth. Good stuff. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. Cheers. No, it was good. It was good. Yeah, I remember that goal last minute against Scotland.

1:39:33Gareth Bale: We played Ireland, you were assistant as well. And I always remember you stood there and I'd just come back from injury and you'd said something in the press before. And I was like, shit myself, running to the side. I thought you could fucking kick me. No, no, Jesus.

1:39:47Paul Scholes: We did some good games at Wales. No, we did. It was.

1:39:49Gareth Bale: It was very good.

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