Tottenham Hotspur’s manager, Jose Mourinho is hoping forward, Gareth Bale reaches a better level soon as he continues to improve after recovering from a knee injury.
Bale is on loan at the North London club he left seven years ago from Real Madrid. He is hoping to gain more match sharpness and rediscover the form that made the Galacticos cough out £77 million for him.
Knowing his class, the Portuguese appears to give him more time as he continues to improve on that. Expressing his belief in the Welshman, Mourinho expects that his stuttering form would soon be a thing of the past.
As his stuttering form continues, Bale was substituted shortly before the hour-mark on Thursday as Spurs suffered a disappointing 1-0 loss at Royal Antwerp in the Europa League.
From the three appearances he has had, he is yet to sparkle as he used to. He had a second debut he will want to quickly forget as Spurs blew a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with West Ham.
Does Mourinho still really believe in Bale?
Mourinho, who criticized his side display in Belgium noted that Bale, who is yet to score on his second stint with the club during the build-up to the Europa League clash said he thought Bale was “arriving” at his best form.
But after a tame individual display, it raised doubts over the four-time Champions League winner’s ability to break into Spurs’ in-form front line.
“Seven years is a long, long, long gap, so which player in the world is the same as he was seven years ago? Sometimes they are not better or worse, they are just different players.
“You look for example to Ronaldo and Messi and compare them with seven years ago. They play in different areas, they play in different positions. They transform their qualities to try to export their qualities in other responsibilities on the tactical system of their teams. I think it happens with the majority of the players. So for sure he is a different player,” Mourinho said.
It therefore means that Bale has to prove himself to the Portuguese tactician who would want him to be the difference in the side at time when the ships are down.
Can Bale sparkle again at Spurs?
This would create a remniscence of Bale that usually change the game for the club before moving to Madrid.
The likes of Harry Redknapp and Peter Crouch expect the forward to flourish having had personal encounters with him.
Definitely, Bale and Mourinho have a lot of work to do. Definitely, he is not lacking confidence. It is believed that once the Welsh winger scores his first goal or create his first assist, it could be the sign of good things to come.
But before that time, all parties will have to continue to work together for Bale to give his best. The end product is goals and contributions. It is believed that Bales have all these in quantum when he is relaxed.
An in-form Bale forming a partnership with Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son is what Premier League fans are looking forward to. This is possible, but it could still take a few more games to happen.
Bale now has another opportunity to show that he has not passed his best against Brighton in a Premier League clash this weekend.
Mourinho will also expect the likes of Dele Alli, Steven Bergwijn, Carlos Vinicius, and Giovani Lo Celso, who were all substituted at half-time in Belgium, to up their game.
