All’s Welsh!

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Spurred: Gareth Bale’s incredible form has made the football world take notice.

Swansea City win the League Cup by the biggest margin in the tournament’s history; Ryan Giggs seals Manchester United’s win against QPR and Gareth Bale inspires Spurs to a 3-2 victory over West Ham. The last seven days have been heady for Wales. An ageing king is still not ready to abdicate his throne while the crown prince is hot on his heels.

A small club play football in the way it should be played and win their first ever trophy. It is all happening to Welsh football.
Giggs is a modern-day football marvel. With 12 titles, he is the EPL’s most successful player. He will be 40 later this year. Giggs may be losing hair as a result of advancing age but there is no collateral damage to the winger’s football brain. In the supersonic era of football, it isn’t easy to be relevant at 40. Alex Ferguson’s fierce competitiveness is well known and the ruthless Scot doesn’t bow to sentiments in extending a player’s contract. To remain effective to a club of Manchester United’s stature and ambition in his age is indeed a credit to the Welshman’s drive and fitness. There will never be another Giggs.
The opinion that Bale is the best player in the EPL is getting entrenched with each passing week. Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas has run out of adjectives to praise his prized asset. Real Madrid are snooping around White Hart Lane to snap up the Spurs darling. It will be a miracle if Bale remains at north London next season. For a man of his sublime talent, a bigger canvas is needed. In the white of Real he wouldn’t look out of place. Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo on the same wing is a frightening prospect for defenders.
Bale, who has an array of tricks up his sleeve, has a habit of scoring outstanding goals. The tap-ins and slotting home rebounds are left to lesser mortals. The Welshman’s winner against West Ham was such a long-range beauty that Ronaldo would be proud of owning it. It was pure theatre as Bale’s effort came in the last minute of the pulsating game. The West Ham goalkeeper knew where the ball was going but he was powerless to do anything about it. So powerful was the goal.