Speaking on the Wrighty’s House podcast, Ian Wright has claimed that Jose Mourinho made a big power move at Tottenham by leaving Gareth Bale on the bench against Chelsea at the weekend.
The ex-Arsenal striker seemed to be very intimidated by the Portuguese bosses’ options at Tottenham ahead of this weekend’s north London derby.
His co-hosts were talking about the fact that Bale wasn’t needed against Chelsea and how that’s a testament to the quality that Tottenham have, in that they didn’t call upon a two-time PFA Player of the Year when his team were struggling to break the Blues down.
The pundit said that he is afraid heading into the north London derby.
“This is the first one I’m going into where I’m afraid. I’m afraid simply because of where Tottenham are at the moment and we can’t ignore where they are, they’re in the ascendancy.” Wright said when talking about this weekend’s clash.
Ian Wright went on to talk about Jose Mourinho’s decision to leave Bale on the bench against Chelsea.
“Massive power move, because you know at some stage he is going to come into that team and make a big noise, simply because of what he’s capable of doing and what Spurs can do.”
Wright is spot on here, Mourinho may not have meant this to be a power move, but it’s certainly something that the other teams in the league will be thinking about.
Just imagine being an opposition manager in this situation.
Mikel Arteta knows that Tottenham will be a tough test this weekend, but he then has to contend with the fact that even if he gets the upper hand against Mourinho, the Spurs gaffer can completely turn the game on its head by subbing a player the calibre of Bale on.
The Welshman hasn’t lit up the Premier League as of yet, but anyone who has watched him play for the past decade knows it’s just a matter of time before he makes his mark, after all, Harry Redknapp recently named him as the best player he’s ever coached.
The Arsenal legend is right to be intimidated by Tottenham’s attacking power at the moment.
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