Van der Vaart: Bale needs to be more selfish to be the best

Gareth Bale needs to be more selfish if he is to win back supporters at Real Madrid, according to his former Tottenham team-mate Rafael van der Vaart.
Bale’s future at the Bernabeu remains a constant talking point, particularly since the return of Zinedine Zidane as head coach, while his relationship with fans has become fraught, leading to boos when he was substituted in a home 1-0 defeat to Barcelona this month.
The 29-year-old joined Real from Tottenham for a then-world record £85million fee in 2013 and has won four Champions Leagues and one LaLiga title. Van der Vaart went in the opposite direction in 2010, leaving Real for Spurs, where he spent two seasons playing alongside the Welshman.
Van der Vaart, who retired in November, believes his former team-mate needs to be more selfish to turn around his fortunes in the Spanish capital.
“It’s strange, but in Holland we say that sometimes you need to be an a***hole,” Van der Vaart told Standard Sport.
“You can also be a positive a***hole. He’s worth €100m — they paid a lot of money and he has to do it. In his last year at Spurs, he took every free-kick, he decided everything.
“That’s what he has to do [at Real]. I realize it’s difficult, because you have so many good players, but he should do it more.”
The Bernabeu crowd are notoriously demanding, leading Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, to recently describe his client’s treatment this season as “an absolute disgrace”.
But Van der Vaart, who spent two seasons at Real, knows that any player — even Cristiano Ronaldo — can face hostility from supporters and questioned whether Bale has the temperament to deal with it.
“Gareth is an amazing player but he’s a person that has to feel the confidence,” said the 36-year-old former Holland international, who will be at Tottenham’s second test event at their new stadium on Saturday.
“He has to feel he is welcome. But I know Real is a difficult club if you don’t perform. It doesn’t matter if you’re Ronaldo, Bale or Van der Vaart — they’ll throw you out after just one year.
“You have to deal with it — and I don’t know if he can do that. I know him as a person and, with a Spurs hat, I always hope he’ll say, ‘Okay, I’ll come back’. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but that would be a nice story.”
Christian Eriksen is the latest Spurs player to be linked with a move to Real, but Van der Vaart is unsure if the Dane has the character to succeed there.
“He’s a fantastic player, but he comes across a little bit quiet,” he said.