Gareth Bale: Real Madrid's Wales forward 'bearing brunt' of media scrutiny - Hughes
- Published
Gareth Bale is Wales' all time leading scorer with 38 goals in 101 appearances
Real Madrid's Gareth Bale has received "unjustified criticism" from the Spanish media says former Wales and Barcelona striker Mark Hughes.
Bale has been criticised in Madrid for being perceived to be more committed to playing for Wales than Real.
The 33-year-old hit back at Spanish newspaper Marca for a column which described him as a "parasite".
"It's water off a duck's back for him, but he will react when he thinks it's unjust or out of order," said Hughes.
"But the reality is that in Spanish football media there is a demand for content and they have to write about something.
"Discussing Gareth Bale for days on end is easy work for them.
"Unfortunately he bears the brunt, in my view, of unjustified criticism because the reality is the guys in the media don't know the full story.
"Having watched Gareth perform under that umbrella of controversy, let's put it that way, doesn't seem to affect him one iota so that's credit to his mental strength."
Hughes spent the 1986-87 season at Barcelona following a move from Manchester United and can relate to the scrutiny that Bale has come under.
Talking of Bale's treatment by the Spanish media after he missed Real's heavy defeat by Barcelona, the Wales talisman said: "It's disgusting. They should be ashamed of themselves. I am not fussed, end of."
Bale went into Wales' World Cup play-off semi-final against Austria having played only two hours of football in six months for Real and had made just two appearances since the last international window in November.
But despite concerns over his match fitness, the Cardiff-born player scored twice on Thursday to take Wales to a World Cup play-off final - one game away from their first appearances at the tournament since 1958.
"We don't doubt him doing that anymore," Hughes told BBC Sport Wales.
"It doesn't matter what his build-up or his preparation for games, he seems to get it exactly right and he's on top of his form when he wears that Welsh shirt.
"That's what everybody in Wales probably expects at the moment because he's able to produce time and time again for Wales.
"It's remarkable really because he hasn't had a lot of football.
"He's ably supported by the rest of the guys as well and as a team I thought they really understood what was required.
"You see that they're a good group, a close group and a group that are used to playing together and know what their aim is in games and enables them to have the confidence to play really well.
"I think everybody's excited now and hopefully we can finally take that final step to the World Cup.
"When we're playing well and on top of our game, all our big guys are out there playing, then we are very difficult to beat."
Bradford 'got the juices going'
Hughes was Wales manager between 1999 and 2004 before spells at Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, QPR, Fulham, Stoke City and Southampton.
He acknowledges his return last month to management with Bradford City in League Two, having only previously managed in English football's top-flight and at international level, surprised many.
"It's what I've missed and something that I've done for a long, long time and I was out for longer than I anticipated," he said.
"Getting an opportunity to get back in at a club that I feel has got great potential and can be better than where they are at the moment.
"I thought it was a different challenge and maybe I was ready for a different type of challenge in terms of resources and what I had available to me at previous clubs.
Mark Hughes played for Manchester United in two spells as well as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea
"I think that's what the attraction was - that's what got the juices going."
Hughes was in charge at Southampton for eight months before he was sacked by the Premier League club in November 2018.
Although Hughes wanted time away from the game, he did not anticipate having to wait three years to return to management.
"It [the phone] didn't ring as often as I'd anticipated, but the reality is if people don't ask or assume you won't go there. then you don't get a positive answer," Hughes added.
"After Southampton I felt I needed a break anyway so that was my intention and then it coincided with two years of Covid restrictions and the impact that it had on sport.
"I have to say I wasn't too determined to come back while the restrictions were in place, having games in front of empty stadiums didn't really do it for me.
"I found it very difficult to watch football in that period, but things have opened up now and are more like what we're used to."