Former Real Madrid striker Michael Owen says that he expects Gareth Bale to improve a lot in the upcoming season.

The Welshman has had to receive bulk of the criticism for the club failing to win any major end of season honours. His season’s statistics did not match up to those from his first season at the club, but they were not poor by any means. However, it was made to look poor by the impressive Cristiano Ronaldo, who once again ended up with a haul of more than 50 goals for the season. Even though it meant little in terms of trophies, fans did not complain.

Owen has come to the rescue of Bale by saying that the Welshman has the capability to return to his best even as early as in the coming campaign. The arrival of Rafa Benitez as the new Real Madrid manager puts some uncertainty into the situation. It could be helpful for Bale, who started out as a defender and is known to offer much more in both sides of the game. This is especially opposite to that of Ronaldo, who is known as being extremely focused on scoring goals. Benitez could like the defensive nature of Bale and make him feel wanted once again.

“Real Madrid have a great team right now. Maybe they need a little more to be better than Barcelona at the moment, but they have a fantastic squad. I spent very little time with Rafa at Liverpool, but I can say that he is a very good coach. I thought that Bale had a decent start to his career at Real Madrid. He’s quiet and shy by nature, but I think that the more fit and confident he is, he’ll improve even more. He’s a world class player,” said Owen.