Bale must play Real Madrid Full Left

Bale has earned the right to start on Real Madrid's left flank permanently.

During Zinedine Zidane's ultra-successful reign as Real Madrid manager, one of his hallmarks has been making decisions that are right for the team, even if they fly in the face of what his de facto director of football, Florentino Perez, believes.

Zizou established very quickly upon taking over that not only was Danilo not "the best right-back in the world," as Florentino had told Rafa Benitez, but also he was a long way off the best at the club. Danilo has been used exceedingly sparingly since. Zidane rules. And while almost every performance highlights how very far the Brazilian international is from meeting the requisite level for Madrid, nobody should underestimate how hard it is to evade the level of control that their president likes to exert.

The plusses vastly outweigh the minuses in this power game. Zidane establishes his independence, his respect from the other players rises, the team performs better, and the general concept that the first team is a meritocracy -- not an autocracy -- is established. Very healthy.

Similar phrases apply to James Rodriguez and Casemiro. The latter isn't by any means Perez's concept of a Galactico, but he's in or around the three most important players in this squad, adding balance, self-sacrifice and positional intelligence. Zidane recognised this quickly, and the Brazilian is chosen on merit -- not left out for more expensive, more marketable players.

James is one of those aforementioned players. He's very much a "presidential project" (hugely expensive, marketable) but is having to fight hard for his place because the coach believes that training performance, work levels, attention to detail and team balance are all more vital than price tag and Perez's favour.

Speaking of balance, I think the time is fast approaching -- in fact, I think it has arrived -- when Zidane must grasp the nettle and play Gareth Bale in his best position on the left. Whether that's the left of a front three, wide-left in a midfield four or able to roam left in the front two of a 4-4-2, the key is that the exceptional Welshman benefits hugely (both himself and the team) when he's more often on his brilliant left foot.