Bale explained it all with his goal: “I’m an attacking player”. Having seen what we saw against Tottenham there’s no need to think it over any more. The Welshman ran about like a headless chicken in his hybrid role, half attacking midfielder/half striker, wearing himself out and contributing little. In the meantime Isco kept the debate going with a majestic pass, putting a goal on a plate for James to score with a header and open the scoring. He’s the brains of the operation and Benítez should recognise that. Madrid won fairly easily, with the players eventually beginning to tire of their labours, having expected a tougher challenge.
The spotlight was on Bale, with Cristiano and Benzema missing, and he took his time to appear. Benítez played him a shade further forward, to avoid leaving Jesé alone in the fight. A flexible 4-4-2, in which the Welshman dedicated himself to multi-tasking: running kilometres and not providing a single pass of any interest. Modric, Isco and James made up for Bale’s deficiencies, squeezing Tottenham with domination of ball and pitch and threatening with a Jesé cannon off the woodwork after five minutes and another effort tipped round the post from the extremely lively striker just after.
Jesé is on fine form and Benzema should be wary; a move to Arsenal might not be such a bad decision. The fight for the number 9 spot is going to be fierce.
Pochettino’s Tottenham kept their heads held high for almost the first half hour, well ordered as is expected from their coach and without fear. Right at the start Lamela put an easy chance over and on quarter of an hour Casilla showed the usefulness of his height with an ugly but effective save from Eriksen. But that was about it from the English side.
Subsequently they deflated, at the same time as Isco’s touches on the ball increased. He went up-field, roaming over more territory, pushing Bale aside in the creation of the moves. After a series of chances from Bale, James and Modric, Isco skipped on the left, found a metre and crossed with a silk foot into the box for James to head home. The goal meant there was little interest left in the game besides speculating on what’s written in Benítez’ little book.
The question was why the coach began his substitutions without touching Bale. Pure protectionism from a coach who knows only too well the tensions in the dressing room. It was obvious that Benítez was looking for a goal from Bale to settle him, the squad and the club in general. It was probably as important to Madrid to win this game as it was for the Welshman to get his first goal of the pre-season.
Marco Asensio came on for 20 minutes and looked like the good footballer he is from the few moves he was involved in. Casemiro also performed well, taking care of Tottenham’s substitutes in the second half. Madrid reached the final whistle placidly after Bale and Benítez got what they wanted: a goal to settle the nerves.