Tottenham Hotspur journalist Alasdair Gold has been talking about Spurs winger Gareth Bale and his current fitness situation at the north London club after his appearance against West Bromwich Albion at the weekend.
This comes after Gold recently uploaded a video to his YouTube channel where he spoke about a number of topics concerning Jose Mourinho’s side.
On the topic of Bale, who started the game against West Brom but was substituted off the pitch in the second half with a suspected ankle injury, Gold had this to say on the Welshman.
He said: “He looked a bit rusty again – whether that’s a slight overhang from having played much longer on Thursday night – but I thought on Thursday night and against Brighton, I thought he looked a bit more like the player we’re hoping to see, but at The Hawthorns, regressed slightly but I think he played 78 minutes or so, it’s all part of his fitness.
“[Bale] came off with [an] ice strapping on his ankle, [I] asked around – no one really at Spurs was clued in much on what that all meant. That gives me the impression that it wasn’t bad, I think, because if it was bad, everyone would be talking about it and he walked off – it wasn’t like he hobbled off or anything like that.
“It could just be something that perhaps [is] a problem that he sometimes has with that ankle or it is just precautionary.
“My gut feeling, having looked at it and the way he was acting afterwards, it’s maybe more of a concern for Wales than Spurs – something that perhaps they have to think about that perhaps he shouldn’t start in the first friendly they’ve got, which, to be honest, he probably shouldn’t anyway as he’s building up his fitness, but yeah, I’m hopeful that it’s not going to be a long-term thing for Tottenham.”
Spurs signed Bale on a season-long loan deal from Real Madrid back in September. Since then, Bale has struggled with his fitness having only made six appearances for Jose Mourinho’s side, three in the Premier League and three in the Europa League (per Transfermarkt).
As Gold mentioned in the podcast, Bale was substituted off the pitch in the second half of the game against West Brom and was then pictured with an ice pack on his ankle.
Bale’s performance against West Brom before he was substituted earned him a match rating of 6.70/10 (per WhoScored).
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TIF Thoughts on Alasdair Gold’s comments on Bale…
It’s a shame that Bale was taken off at the weekend with a suspected ankle injury. Hopefully, as Gold suggested in the video, his injury is not too serious and that he will be ready to play again as soon as possible.
With Spurs’ next Premier League match set to take place after the current international break, Bale may need to use this time to recover and build his fitness up again if he isn’t able to play for Wales in their upcoming games.