The Flying Welshman

With a minute to go in regulation, the score level at 2-2, Gareth Bale found the ball at his feet 30 yards out from goal at Upton Park Monday night. A few seconds later, the ball was in the back of the net and Tottenham Hotspur were in the lead. Tottenham went on to win the game 3-2, taking them into 3rd place in the League table. As the ball flew into goal having left Bale's foot, there was agony for the West Ham supporters and ecstacy for the Tottenham bunch. But, such has been Bale's form in general this season and the last dozen games in particular, that such feats have become the norm. 

Gareth Bale is currently White hot and has been on a tear since the New Year making a habit of scoring not just spectacular goals but also game clinching ones for his Tottenham side. The Welshman has scored 9 goals in his last 10 games since the turn of the year, 8 of which have come in the last 6 games alone. His game winning heroics at Upton Park were just the latest installment of the Gareth Bale show with similar efforts against Lyon in the Europa League and Newcastle, West Brom and Norwich in the league. He is Spurs' leading scorer with 19 goals for the season with 15 of those coming in the Barclays Premier League. He also has to his credit 9 assists . 

Just to put that in perspective, only 2 men have scored more goals in this edition of the Premier League - Robin van Persie (19) and Luis Suarez (18)  - while Michu with 15 goals  has the same as Bale. Van Persie and Suarez also fare better in the Assists department with 11 and 8 respectively.What must be considered along with these stats is that Bale plays as a left winger while the other three are employed in the forward position. This is the quartet that has been making headlines all season.

But, coming back to Bale, what has helped him score all those goals is the system that Andre Villas Boas has employed playing a 4-5-0 formation as Jermaine Defoe has struggled with injury while Emmanuel Adebayor has failed to recreate the form of last year. This has meant that Bale has been given more of a free hand to roam up top, drifting wide to supply the crosses as well as being the target man to latch onto balls from midfield. With his pace and dribbling ability, he can also create chances on his own taking on defenders at will. Add to that his free-kick taking ability, which has seen a huge improvement this season, making him an absolute nightmare for opposition defenders.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo had once written about Bale:

"Bale combines the height and build of an 800-metre runner like Steve Ovett with the acceleration and directness of a rugby winger like Bryan Habana. And, when he gets to the byline, he delivers curling crosses like a Brazilian". Big words indeed, but his performances this term have been nothing short of spectacular and the 23-year old is carving up a name for himself with speculation rife that Real Madrid will come calling in the summer.

Is he the player of the season in the English game ? Well, there's some way to go yet before we can decide that with plenty of crunch games between now and the end of the season which will decide which member of this quartet can lay claim to that accolade. For now, we can sit back, relax and tune in to watch the Flying Welshman work his magic as he leads the charge for his Tottenham side in what has been his best season ever in England.