By Terry Baddoo

Sometimes you’ve got know when to quit, and beleaguered Welsh wizard, Gareth Bale, may be nearing that point at Real Madrid.

Madrid coach Rafa Benitez may have moved quickly to scotch the latest rumors of a feud between Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo after the Welshman’s agent effectively branded CR7 an “underwear salesman,” but it’s clear that Gareth may not exactly be living the dream at the moment.

Since leaving Tottenham Hotspur for Los Blancos in 2013 the former golden boy of White Hart Lane has become the whipping boy of the Bernabeu. He might have donned the obligatory Alice Band and learned a few words of Spanish but he still seems like an interloper -- a sentiment championed by Cristiano, who, while he might not bear any personal grudge against his left-footed doppelganger, obviously doesn’t take kindly to anyone infringing on his territory.

At most clubs there’s room for just one headline-grabbing fancy Dan. Barcelona is the one team I can think of with three, but even then, Suarez and Neymar seem content to muzzle their egos and defer to you know who.

At Real Madrid everyone bows to CR7, who’s the king of the castle on and off the pitch. To be fair, it’s a role he’s risen to time and again, but you’ve also got to sympathize with Bale. At Tottenham, he was the man, as proven by the OPTA stats for his last year in North London.

In the 2012-2013 season Bale made 33 EPL appearances and scored 21 goals, 9 of which were match-winners. Though he only made 4 goal assists he created 75 chances for his teammates, 12 more than Ronaldo’s tally at Madrid. He also had a higher pass completion rate than Ronaldo, with 79% compared to Ronnie’s 77%. His dribble completion rate was 38% which was 8% lower than Ronaldo’s, but Gareth hit far more crosses, with 272 compared to Cristiano’s 74. And for those Meringues who say he can’t or won’t defend, he put in 33 tackles in his last year at Spurs and nailed 73% of them.

BALE AT SPURS

Moreover, Bale was Spurs’ go-to guy. There was no-one demanding an assist if he had even a faint chance of scoring. There was no-one vying to take game-changing free-kicks. And he never played out of position so as not to encroach on another superstar’s territory. Gareth had carte blanche to play as he wished without positional boundaries and with no fear of being lambasted by a teammate for selfishness or laziness. Even more crucially, he was not afraid to fail, with the result that he often succeeded when it mattered.

At Real Madrid, that self-confidence was initially evident when he began with 22 goals in his first 44 games. But where is that carefree, swashbuckling genius now? It often looks like he’s apologizing for being on the field at all; playing like his volume is on mute!

And let’s be clear, Bale has the potential to be just as breathtaking as Ronaldo. He’s certainly as quick, if not quicker, and equally direct. He was known as a beast at Tottenham because of his strength, and, though he’s not prone to Ronaldo-style flexing, it’s hard to tell which of them is more ripped.

His left foot is as vicious as Ronnie’s right foot from open play or free-kicks, and he’s a better crosser of the ball. He’s not as effective in the air and he’s way more injury prone than CR7, but in a galaxy of megastars nobody could say he’s not equipped to shine among the brightest. But he doesn’t. And after trying and failing to win consistent approval from Meringues fans, coaches, teammates and media, he currently seems in the Michael Owen category of British talent at Real Madrid, in that he can’t do right for doing wrong.

Of course, he tows the PR line and says he’s happy at the Bernabeu, but it’s hard to believe that the world’s most expensive soccer player couldn’t do better. Not a better club per se, just a better fit.