Breaking down Gareth Bale's stats for Real Madrid this season

The blame for Real Madrid's relatively poor form since the turn of the year, and particularly in recent weeks, seems to have fallen squarely on the shoulders of one man: Gareth Bale.

With just a single assist and no goals to show from his last nine appearances in all competitions, as per WhoScored.com, his place in the side is starting to be questioned by the Spanish press.

Marca, for instance, ran two highly negative articles about the Welshman on Friday. The first (which appears to be largely opinion-based) posed and answered 11 questions relating to his form, while the second comprised of a couple of quotes from an unnamed member of the current first-team squad.

"Bale is a great player, but he doesn't win you matches on his own," the source stated. "He doesn't defend because he doesn't want to."

While it is clear that Bale has not been at his best in recent times, how does his statistical output for the season stack up in comparison to both his debut year in Madrid and that of his team-mates and contemporaries during the current campaign?

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

Attack

Bale has scored 10 goals in 23 appearances in La Liga so far this season and two goals in six outings in the Champions League.

In La Liga, his 10 goals came during 2013 minutes of action, for a rate of 0.4 goals per 90 minutes.

Of all players who have taken part in at least half of their team's matches to date, that rate puts Bale down in 18th in the Primera Division standings. Team-mates Cristiano Ronaldo (1.3), Karim Benzema (0.6) and James Rodriguez (0.5)—who has largely played in midfield—all rank higher.

Bale's scoring rate this season also compares unfavourably to that of both his debut campaign in Madrid (0.6) and his final year at Tottenham Hotspur (0.6).

The Welshman is taking slightly fewer shots per 90 minutes than last season (3.6 compared to 3.8), but as the difference is made up of 0.3 fewer shots from long range and 0.1 more from inside the six-yard box, that would not, in of itself, seem to explain his reduced goal output during the current campaign.

Here are his shots taken to date, as plotted by Squawka:

Courtesy of Squawka

Bale's assist rate has also dropped significantly from last season, from 0.5 per 90 minutes during his debut campaign to just 0.2 this time around. He only ranks 42nd in La Liga by this measure, behind team-mates Isco (0.4), Ronaldo (0.4), Rodriguez (0.4), Alvaro Arbeloa (0.4), Benzema (0.4), Toni Kroos (0.3) and Marcelo (0.3).

His key pass rate has dropped from 1.7 to 1.5 per match, while his cross completion rate has dropped from 14.7 percent last season to 12.5 percent during the current campaign.

While an overall goal contribution (assists + goals) per 90 minutes rate of 0.6 is still very solid, it doesn't look so pretty up against his rate of 1.1 per 90 minutes last season.

Defence

This is the area of Bale's game that has come under increasing scrutiny this season. The first-mentioned Marca piece, penned by Enrique Ortego, characterised him as a lazy loner who views himself as being above defensive donkey work.

And on a purely statistical level, there has been a drop-off in Bale’s defensive contribution this season.

Last year, he provided one successful tackle, 0.8 interceptions, 0.3 clearances and 0.2 blocks, for a combined 2.3 defensive actions per 90 minutes. This year, he has provided 0.8 successful tackles, 0.2 interceptions, 0.5 clearances and 0.2 blocks, for a combined 1.7 defensive actions per 90 minutes.

His tackle success rate has also dropped from 83.3 percent last year to 61.5 percent during the current campaign.

Benzema (1.6) and Ronaldo (1.1) still contribute less—albeit very marginally so in Benzema’s case—but Bale's reduced output from year-to-year is what is likely to be most concerning for Madrid.

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Conclusion

It is clear that we cannot judge a player by statistics alone. We can, for instance, use tackles, interceptions and clearances as a proxy for how much some contribute defensively, but that ignores the times they tracked a run and ushered the ball out of play or positioned themselves to cut off a certain passing lane, forcing the man in possession to choose a different and less dangerous option.

Similarly, an inaccurate cross could represent an excellent delivery that was well defended or one that was way beyond the reach of any team-mate. The criteria for a key pass makes no distinction between a square pass infield for a 30-yard pot-shot from a defensive midfielder and a pass that sets up a striker for a tap-in inside the area.

With that said, in Bale's case there has been a clear reduction in both his offensive and defensive output this season.

Whether this is a temporary blip remains to be seen, but Ancelotti will certainly be keen for the Welshman to return to the levels of his debut season during the decisive stretch of the campaign.

All statistics courtesy of WhoScored unless otherwise stated.