Clinton Morrison has told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport that Gareth Bale is ‘buying into’ tracking back and doing the defensive work for Tottenham.
The ex-Palace striker, who has covered Tottenham games at the stadium this season, claimed that Jose Mourinho has been urging Bale to ‘press, press, press’ without the ball and he is listening.
It has taken a while, and understandably so, but Tottenham are now finally seeing Bale showcase his true self.
Morrison, who is a boyhood Tottenham fan, raved about the ‘world-class’ Bale and the effort he is putting in for the shirt.
“They are close to it (seeing Bale back to his best),” said Morrison. “You have to give credit to Bale. It feels like the same with Ndombele where you feel like ‘go on, get yourself fit and prove to Mourinho you can get yourself fit’.
“We know that Gareth Bale is world-class with the ability he has got. I have done a lot of Tottenham recently with BBC Radio 5 Live and I was there and watched him live.
“There was one game against Burnley where he pushed the ball past Taylor, who is quick and I thought that looked like the old Gareth Bale.
“It’s not what he is doing going forward as well because I like watching it live at the stadium. It’s what he is doing tracking back as well. He’s buying into it. When he loses the ball, Jose’s on the touchline saying ‘press, press, press’ and Gareth’s doing it.”
Well, the heat in the North London kitchen will seriously crank up during these coming days because of what is at stake.
For the next ten days, both Tottenham and Arsenal are involved in Europa League knockout matches and their own derby showdown on Sunday.
Lose all three and the heat will be felt by all involved, win all three and the reputations of Mikel Arteta and Mourinho, who have come under serious pressure this season, will elevate to new levels.
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