Speaking recently on the Last Word On Spurs podcast, Jamie Brown discussed the current situation of Tottenham Hotspur forward, Gareth Bale.
Since returning to Tottenham on a season-long loan deal from Real Madrid last September, Bale has so far found game time hard to come by under Jose Mourinho, with the £18 million-rated 31-year-old starting just two Premier League fixtures this term, with another six appearances coming from the bench.
Over these eight league appearances, Bale has scored one goal and provided one assist, as well as averaging a slightly underwhelming WhoScored match rating of 6.72 – ranking him as the club’s eighth-best performer in the top flight.
However, in the club’s most recent fixture, a 2-1 loss to West Ham United, the Wales international highly impressed over his 45 minutes on the pitch, making one key pass, hitting the woodwork with a shot and providing one assist, earning a SofaScore match rating of 7.4 – ranking him as Spurs’ best player on the day.
And, speaking on a recent episode of the Last Word On Spurs podcast, Brown urged Mourinho to afford Bale more game time going forwards.
He said: “I look at Gareth Bale now and I think you cannot waste that talent. Gareth Bale was a huge positive [on Sunday] and I’m really, really excited to see more of him.
“I think this is a really, really positive sign that Gareth Bale is back. You saw the quality he had [against West Ham] in terms of how he did transform that game. Obviously, he’s only still 80%, so I think as he keeps getting fitter and fitter and he’s playing with his teammates regularly, then we’re going to see a really, really exciting player.
“But, for me, there [were] some positives from [Sunday] and Gareth Bale – I thought he was absolutely brilliant and I’m very, very excited. For me, that is a really big thing moving forward for Spurs now.”
Should Bale start from now on?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Jamie Brown’s comments regarding Gareth Bale…
Indeed, if Bale can replicate the form he showed over those 45 minutes against West Ham, then the argument could well be made that Mourinho will have no choice but to start playing Bale from the off moving forwards.
However, considering that this has been the first truly eye-catching Premier League performance from Bale since his return to north London, in our opinion, the 31-year-old still has a long way to go in proving worth the reported £240k per week that Tottenham are paying him.