Glenn Hoddle has advised Gareth Bale to take a good long look in the mirror during what’s been an underwhelming return to Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs pulled off arguably the biggest transfer of the summer window in terms of profile when they secured a fairytale deal to bring Bale back to North London on a loan from Real Madrid.
But fast forward four months, Bale has only managed 160 minutes of Premier League football under Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho.
The bulk of his action has come as a fringe player in the lesser competitions and he found the net in an FA Cup win away to Wycombe Wanderers earlier this week.
But Lilywhites legend Hoddle has been left so disappointed by the 31-year-old, claiming that he has looked ‘fragile mentally’ in a Tottenham shirt this season.
Hoddle told talkSPORT: “I’ve been very disappointed in him actually. I think he needed five or six weeks to get up to match fitness, but I was very disappointed in him because he didn’t look as if he was able to into a sprint and he looked a bit fragile mentally. Now, I think he’s looked in the mirror and said: ‘This isn’t good enough here.’”
One can only utter the adage ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’ so much this season.
Despite his injury problems, the fact is that Bale has been fit for most of the season and it just seems to be a case that he isn’t making it hard enough for Mourinho to leave him out.
Tottenham host Liverpool tonight in what’s arguably their biggest game of the season.
And the fact that Bale probably won’t make it off the bench is testament to what Hoddle is saying here.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
