Jose Mourinho’s calculated gamble provides ideal challenge for Gareth Bale
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With it being a Sunday, Gareth Bale, presumably, was on the golf course.
He could not have been watching Spurs take on Everton, that is for sure, otherwise he might not have been so keen on a return to his former club.
They are only one Premier League game into their campaign but the chances of Tottenham challenging at the very top of the table already appear to be slim.
If the four-times Champions League winner is after more silverware, Bale is unlikely to get it with Spurs.
But what he will get is a challenge.
The challenge of becoming a talisman for a team that desperately needs one.
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
The challenge of coping with Jose Mourinho’s increasingly abrasive style of man-management.
The challenge of adapting to the physical demands of the Premier League after having had such a light workload in recent times.
But for the sake of how he will be remembered in football’s history books, Bale needs to be playing football again.
If he is fit, firing and utterly motivated, Bale can give this Spurs squad the injection of adrenaline it needs.
And perhaps he can even rejuvenate a manager whose methods are looking increasingly old and tired.
Now THAT is a challenge.
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If Bale found it increasingly difficult to operate under Zinedine Zidane, he will have his work cut out with Mourinho.
Not many coaches can manage to upset half the dressing-room after just one fixture, as Mourinho did with his ‘lazy’ comments in the wake of the insipid defeat to Everton.
But Mourinho is a fan of Bale’s – at least he was a fan of the early 20-something Bale.
Now early 30-something, Bale has played just over 60 hours of first team club football during the past two seasons.
(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The ‘lazy pressure’ in the Everton loss that Mourinho spoke about is not a problem that would be readily remedied by Bale.
It would be grossly unfair to declare him a luxury footballer – his work-rate for Wales tells you that – but he would certainly be an impact player for Spurs rather than a high-octane presser.
But what an impact player.
The positive flip side of Bale falling deeply out of favour at the Bernabeu is that he does not have too many recent miles on the clock.
He should still be a world class operator in his prime.
“I am still motivated to play football,” he said recently. “I am only 31 but I feel I am in great shape and feel like I have a lot to give.”
Bale will not be the same player Spurs sold seven years ago. Obviously.
Will Gareth Bale be a success second time round at Spurs? Have your say below.
(Image: Getty Images)
But for all his recent tribulations in Madrid, Bale has developed over seven, generally successful years at one of football’s toughest schools.
He would surely thrive in a formation that could see him in a front three with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
Problems are not hard to see, not least that issue of whether Mourinho’s style will suit the swashbuckling Bale.
But Mourinho will point out flair players can thrive under him and have done in the past.
It is still relatively early in his Tottenham career but Mourinho needs a big name to thrive for him right now.
It would be a calculated gamble but Gareth Bale could be just that name.
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