Interim Real Madrid boss Santiago Solari has challenged Gareth Bale to step up and prove his critics wrong, ahead of his first La Liga game in charge.
Solari, manager of Castilla, Real’s B team, has taken temporary charge after the sacking of Julen Lopetegui following last weekend’s 5-1 El Clasico defeat to Barcelona.
In the wake of that humiliation, Bale has been one of the players most heavily criticised. The Welshman was ineffective at the Nou Camp and has struggled to fill the goal scoring void left by Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure to Juventus.
However, speaking ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Real Valladolid at the Bernabeu, Solari emphasised his faith in the 29-year-old.
“Bale is under the spotlight and I hope he shows us his enormous talent,’ he said. “We want to enjoy him every day, he’s a fantastic player.”
However, Solari also suggested that he would be willing to throw the young players he has worked with further down the Madrid pyramid into the action, if established stars like Bale do not perform.
“We have players here who have survived a lot of battles and have won them,” he said. “But we also have a lot of young players who have a lot of talent."
