It is a strange instinct to hate one of your most decorated players. Imagine Manchester United fans deriding Cristiano Ronaldo. Or Chelsea fans lambasting Didier Drogba. Or Manchester City fans abusing Yaya Toure. Or Real Madrid mouthpiece, Marca, likening a man who won the Champions League with the Spanish giants four times and scored goals in two finals to a parasite.
Imagine hating Gareth Bale. Imagine making him, of all people, a focus for your anger and your angst. Lament the effect the passing of the years has had on him, sure, wish that he played more often and bemoan his injury record, but to douse him with vitriol?