A lot of Tottenham Hotspur fans have flocked to Twitter to criticise Gareth Bale’s performance in the Lilywhites’ 3-0 UEFA Europa League win over LASK on Thursday evening.
After making a substitute appearance for Spurs in their 3-3 draw with West Ham United in the Premier League last weekend, this Europa League clash saw the Wales international make his second appearance and his first start for the north London club since he rejoined them on loan for the 2020/21 campaign last month.
The 31-year-old remained on the pitch until the 62nd minute. As per the Express, Bale’s cross set up LASK player Andres Andrade’s own goal, which gave Spurs a two-goal lead in the 27th minute of this game.
So, how did these Tottenham Hotspur fans react to Bale’s performance versus LASK?
Bale has been awful. Doesn’t need to start imo.
— Will (@THFC_willo) October 22, 2020
Bale looks so far off the pace ?
— Harrison KELLY (@harrisonkelly14) October 22, 2020
I understand bale has lost some pace,but a little more worrying is he looks like he’s trying to protect himself from injuries(understandably I guess)but he can’t get away with that in the prem
— spw….man about town (@WallisEsq) October 22, 2020
Despite playing a significant role in Spurs’ second goal of the game, plenty of Spurs supporters took to Twitter to share that they were far from pleased with Bale’s performance in this Europa League fixture.
Some Lilywhites fans indicated that they don’t think the Welshman is as good as he used to be, with one particular Spurs fan declaring that he is ‘a shadow of his former self’ and another Tottenham supporter stating that he ‘isn’t the player of before.’
Gareth bale looks like a shadow of his former self really poor from what I’ve seen so far
— Simon (@simonfearing03) October 22, 2020
I know it’s been said, but Bale isn’t the player of before, for sure. He said he still has the pace, just uses it less… well he definitely looks a couple of yards slower than he was… I just hope with match fitness he becomes a little sharper and more effective.
— Tim F (@TimboBagginses) October 22, 2020
Meanwhile, other Tottenham fans flocked to Twitter to share that they think Bale has lost some pace.
As I said before and knew before, Bale has lost a lot of pace
— Spursd22 (@SpursD22) October 22, 2020
Bales been poor apart from that anyway tbh. He’s actually slow. I thought he’d still be quick
— not daniel??????? (@thfc2082) October 22, 2020
Were you impressed by Bale's performance versus LASK?
YES
NO
So, as can be seen from these tweets, it certainly seems as though Bale’s first start since rejoining the north London club last month didn’t go down very well with plenty of Tottenham supporters.