Harry: I toughened up Bale

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Harry Redknapp says he always thought Gareth Bale was a special player but he believes the Welshman now faces a big challenge to emerge from Cristiano Ronaldo's shadow after joining Real Madrid.


In the second part of a serialisation of his forthcoming autobiography, Redknapp has revealed in the Daily Mail the part he played in transforming Bale from a talented young player to the superstar he is today.

He managed Bale during his time in charge of Tottenham Hotspur and insists he never had any doubts about his ability, although it was necessary to toughen him up.

Redknapp said: "There is some right old rubbish talked about Gareth Bale's time with me at Tottenham. Was I ever going to sell Bale? No. Was I going to loan him? No.

"Whatever faults I may have, I do know a player. I would never sell Gareth. All he needed was to be toughened up to emerge as a star player.

"We had to tease that combative streak out of him because, at that time, he was regarded as a left-back and was up against Benoit Assou-Ekotto, one of the best in the Premier League. Gareth seemed too soft to be a defender so we decided to try him further forward.

"He drove me mad in training. Technically, he was outstanding but he always seemed to be playing with his hair. It was never right. He'd be flicking the fringe or wiping it out of his eyes and I would be going quietly mad, just watching. 'Gareth, leave your barnet alone! Gareth! Stop touching your hair!'

"It was the same pattern every morning: Gareth would tumble and stay there, and they'd all go running over. In the end I told them just to leave him alone.

"Don't worry,' I said, 'he'll be fine in two minutes. If it is anything urgent we'll soon know'. That's what they did and, as predicted, Gareth got up, got on with it and got better and better."

Bale spent most of his time under Redknapp on the left wing and really came to the attention of a European audience with his performances against Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League.

Redknapp recalled: "I predicted he would be our Cristiano Ronaldo. And that's just what he was. I don't think I have ever seen one player terrify a team so completely as Bale did Inter Milan.

"I felt sorry for their Brazilian right-back. It was embarrassing. By the end of it the fans were singing, 'Taxi for Maicon,' and I don't think his career has ever recovered."

While Bale enjoyed the finest season of his career last term under Andre Villas-Boas after being given more freedom in a central role, Redknapp remembers when he first gave the player the opportunity to play in such a position.

He said: "I had talked with our coaches for a number of months about using Gareth this way because teams were crowding him out on the left flank, putting so much traffic in his way that it was just getting harder and harder.