Gareth Bale, Spurs' Mr. Consistency

Ever since the start of this 2010/2011 season, I have been in awe of Spurs' quicksilver winger, Gareth Bale. Gareth Bale has been the leading light for Tottenham Hotspurs this season. It has been breathtaking watching the young Welsh wizard in full flight up to this point in the season. Those who were enjoying the holiday matches (or what was left of it) would have seen Bale at his best.

Against Newcastle, he was superb and his solo goal gave Spurs a hard fought three points. Against Fulham, his quick thinking and awareness of the goal allowed him to deflect an otherwise poor Rafael Van der Vaart freekick past Mark Schwarzer.

In a team of Luca Modric, Rafael Van der Vaart and William Gallas, Gareth Bale is more than holding his own and is Spurs' Mr. Consistency personified. That's been his main weakness over the years, a lack of consistency. This season, however, he has come of age. There were inklings of his emergence at the tail end of last season but now his performances have made him the top left sided player in Europe.

The possessor of the most lethal left foot, eleven goals and three assists in all competitions, including a memorable hattrick against Inter in the Champions League, are testament of how far "Jonah" has come. His displays (including 5.2 dribbles per game in Champions League matches) have clearly driven Spurs to their current dizzy heights.

The change from defender to winger has helped him most definitely but more importantly, this season, there is more intelligence in his play. His crossing has markedly improved, his awareness and determination to get involved has helped propel him to become one of the most sought-after player in Europe. Using a phrase from FourFourTwo magazine, this boy's done good!

Being Welsh, it is inevitable that he is compared to the legendary Ryan Giggs. Gareth Bale is surely the most prized asset in the Spurs ranks. He is my candidate at this halfway point for Player of The Season. I do hope that Wales will not stand in the way of Bale being an Olympian.

Gareth Bale - Spurs' Mr. Consistency. The transformation from "Jonah" to "Spurs jewel" is now complete. This video illustrates Gareth Bale's monster season thus far!

Oh and by the way, the other half of van der Vaart ain't just a pretty face!