Welsh wizard aims to work his magic on Arsenal

He has faced plenty of setbacks but now Gareth Bale is catching up with the best players in the Premier League

Gwyn Morris, Bale's old PE teacher, says his determination compliments his skill (Huw Evans) Nick Townsend, The Sunday Times Published: 3 March 2013 IN NO other occupation does an employee complete an impressive piece of work and then sprint yards to hurl himself into the arms of his boss. But then the man was Gareth Bale, whose late winner had just ripped into the net and stolen ripped a point from West Ham at Upton Park. The recipient was Andre Villas-Boas, who has liberated him, affording him freedom to roam from the left flank, a strategy that was endorsed by seven goals for Tottenham in February alone. Superlatives assail the ears of the 23-year-old Welshman, who is already being compared to such luminaries as Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs, albeit prematurely. In recent weeks his goals have contributed to Spurs 11-

game unbeaten run in the Premier League. Though not a striker, he is hunting down Robin van Persie and Luis Suarez in the quest for the golden boot. His teammate Lewis Holtby, the German under-21 captain who arrived from Schalke in January, says: Hes a fantastic player for us. He scores goals from every position and hes a good lad, down to earth. But we are a team and everyone is putting in the effort. With his goals it is like a big icecream cake and he is putting the topping on it. Yet there have been times when his career has stalled and the gears engaged again through sheer force of his character and the support of those who believed in him. They go back well beyond his four managers George Burley at Southampton, Martin Jol, Harry Redknapp and Villas-Boas at White Hart Lane. One man has witnessed it all with particular pleasure: Gwyn Morris, head of PE at Whitchurch School in Cardiff, which Bale attended. Fantastic, wasnt it? Superb vision and beautiful technique, he said of Bales Upton Park winner. It was Morris who encouraged Bale to use his right foot only in school games. As teachers, we try and maintain strengths and develop weaknesses, he said. Sometimes you put a player outside his comfort zone and see how he adapts. Bales potential was first identified as an eightyear-old at a six-a-side tournament in Newport by Rod Ruddick, who helped run Saints satellite academy in Bath. At one stage, the club contemplated releasing him as they were worried he would not grow enough to prosper in professional football. But his attributes, including tremendous commitment, work ethic, attitude and determination and family support [of parents Frank and Debbie] as well as his skill as his old PE teacher lists them, prevailed. Morris also recalls Bales modesty. In year 11 he asked for permission to miss a school game. He didnt say, Im not playing. He said, Ive got this game... It was the 2005 FA Youth Cup final, Southampton v Ipswich. It was his courtesy I recall. That Saints team lost but within its ranks were several

other players who would flourish, namely Nathan Dyer, Adam Lallana and Theo Walcott. Burley gave Bale his first-team debut when he was 16 years and 269 days, the second youngest debutant after Walcott in Saints history. Bale maintained that he opted to join Spurs in 2007 because they offered regular first-team football, not bench-warming. When I got Gareth, I promised his mum I would play him, according to Jol, who signed him. His early career at Spurs was problematic. Jol departed, Bale was beset by injury, and was once considered Spurs Jonah, after failing to be on the winning side in the first 24 games he played for Spurs. Spurs considered sending him out on loan. Instead, Redknapp sent him on as an 85th-minute substitute against Burnley to ensure the curse was exorcised. Spurs were winning 5-0 at the time. Clarke Carlisle, then a Burnley defender, now with Northampton and PFA chairman, faced him that night as he had in the previous seasons Carling Cup semi-final matches. I have no recollection of Gareth Bale in those games, he says. If you compare that with the specimen you see now, hes made phenomenal progress with his pace and acceleration. Hes also cultivated that end product, whether a shot on target or a cross. It will not have happened by accident this kid has worked unbelievably hard on his game, on his physical presence, and also on his technical side. Bacary Sagna, Arsenals first-choice right- back, is out today, leaving Carl Jenkinson with the responsibility of quelling Bales threat on the left. Arsenal manager Arsne Wenger asserted: We dont plan for anybody, but admitted Bale was flavour of the moment when asked to compare him with his own Jack Wilshere. The Frenchman fools no one. Certainly not his own players as they prepare to nullify the impact.