It was only this week when Jose Mourinho warned Tottenham fans not to expect a completely different Gareth Bale than the one who starred in White Hart Lane a few years ago.
After a slower start to his return to north London than the more optimistic supporter had hoped, Mourinho Be warned bale Not the same checkered wing it was before.
“Seven years is a long, long and long gap,” The Tottenham coach said. “So which player in the world is the same as they were seven years ago? Sometimes they are not better or worse, they are just different players.”
For example, you are looking at [Cristiano] Ronaldo and [Lionel] Messi and compared it seven years ago. They play in different areas, different situations.
“They change their attributes to try to explore their traits in other responsibilities in their teams’ tactical system. I think this happens with the majority of players, so it’s definitely a different player.”
It is not clear how Bale will be used by Mourinho this season, but it is clear that Tottenham will not rely on the Welshman as he did during his first spell with the club.
Bell still has physical gifts. He is fast, strong, excellent in the air and few defenders to hold, but his sport has been understood to have declined somewhat over the years.
The 31-year-old who has suffered a plethora of injuries and has not played regularly for two seasons, Mourinho says, is very different from the 24-year-old who is approaching prime time.
And so Bale slowly adapts to a new role, perhaps seeing a hint of him during Sunday’s win over Brighton.
After a disappointing display in the European League defeat by Royal Antwerp on Thursday evening, Mourinho turned to Bale in the 70th minute and introduced him to him. Eric Lamilla On the right hand side.
It took Bill three minutes to reward Mourinho’s decision.
At 1-1 with Tottenham in desperate need of a goal, Bale found a pocketful of space inside the Brighton penalty area and drifted inside from the right hoping to be shot through a cross from the left.
The excellent Sergio Reguilon had to cut his right foot after receiving a Toby Alderweireld pass from a superb cross over Bale’s head.
He pointed his head to the bottom corner and ultimately won the match for Tottenham.
It was the first time Bale scored a goal for Tottenham since May 2013, seven years and 166 days ago. He is the 43rd goal in the Premier League of his career, and it shows that Tottenham has scorer throughout his team.
While Harry Kane And the Son Heung-min It has made headlines so far this season, and counting on two stars is risky, to say the least.
Last season, when Son and Ken missed, Tottenham’s attacking performance fell sharply. Mourinho experimented with the small options available to him, even using the DailyAllee as a striker at times.
Now, the picture is completely different, as I explained earlier this season.
“Last season we had a lot of problems without attacking power, without a winger and forwards in some parts of the season. I look at my side now and I have a lot of options,” He said After Tottenham’s European League on LASK.
One of those options is Bale. Of course, the Welshman was hoping – and perhaps even expecting – to get a major role. It was a dribbling prospect to see him join Son and Kane on the scary front Three. But this has rarely happened yet.
But maybe that’s okay. Bale doesn’t have to be the star leading the team. Tottenham doesn’t need to be. In fact, with Lucas Moura, Lamella, and Stephen Burgoyne, he might not have to start very often.
At this point, he has no legs to play steadily, as Mourinho emphasized in his post-match press conference.
“He doesn’t have 90 minutes in his legs yet,” He said. “We use the European League to get minutes for it and when we can in the Premier League.
Gareth Bale is back to Tottenham!
Seven years after leaving the club for a world record fee at the time, Bale returned to North London, where he signed a season-long loan deal with Tottenham.
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“He is of course getting better, better and better. He will start again on Thursday but he will not play 90 minutes. I will use it the right way.”
This temporary introduction for Tottenham may not be the role many had hoped for at Bale, but it remains crucial for the team when dealing with a long and arduous test season challenging more than just 11 players at the start.
At the moment, Bell is a super submarine. In the future, that may change. But whatever role he plays, it provides diversity and depth to Tottenham’s improved front line, and that’s invaluable.
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