Reports from Spain have suggested that some Real Madrid players are becoming frustrated with Gareth Bale's 'laziness' and reluctance to integrate with the squad.
The £85m world-record signing from Tottenham Hotspur has felt the wrath of Real's supporters more than most for the club's poor start to 2015.
Bale, without a goal or an assist in eight matches, has been booed and jeered by the Bernabeu faithful for his apparent unwillingness to perform his defensive duties.
Spain's biggest sports newspaper Marca has joined his detractors this week and quotes an annoyed anonymous teammate of the Welshman as saying: "He doesn't defend because he doesn't want to."
In a full-page spread attacking the 25-year-old, senior reporter Enrique Ortego goes on to claim that Bale often appears "absent, lost and identifying little with the cause," and has made "little effort to integrate with the group 20 months after his arrival".
Madrid have failed to win seven of their 15 games since the turn of the year, surrendering top spot in La Liga to Barcelona, bowing out of the Copa del Rey and surviving a major Champions League scare against Schalke 04.
Manchester United-linked attacker Bale has scored 36 goals in 76 games for Real since his big-money switch in September 2013, including the winners in last season's Copa del Rey and Champions League finals.
Joe Fish
