Trevor Sinclair says Tottenham man was ‘unbelievable’ against LASK, but shares one concern

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Trevor Sinclair has paid tribute to Gareth Bale’s ‘unbelievable’ attacking quality but feels the returning Tottenham Hotspur hero still has a lot to work on if he is to get back to his best, as he told talkSPORT (23 October, 9.45am).

On a night in which Carlos Vinicius finally looked to ease the burden on Harry Kane with two assists on his full Spurs debut, another player making his first start under Jose Mourinho looked a real threat in the final third.

Bale, seven years on from his previous appearance in the Tottenham XI, not only forced an own goal during Thursday’s 3-0 Europa League victory over LASK Linz, he also linked up impressively with the overlapping Matt Doherty, while producing one superb free-kick which Davinson Sanchez nearly glanced home.

Ex-West Ham star Sinclair, however, was not wholly convinced by a player whose 72 per cent pass completion rate was the second-worst in the Tottenham team.

“Bale in the final third looked unbelievable, he looked so creative, a menace, and like he could create at any minute,” said the former England international.

“But in that mid-section, I thought he lost possession quite a lot. Simple things where you’d say; ‘right, take a touch, lay it off and play it backwards’.

“But he lost a lot of unnecessary possession.”

Given that Bale played more than 60 minutes in a club game for the first time since Real Madrid’s 2-0 victory over Mallorca in July, perhaps it is no surprise that the Welsh wing wizard felt a little rusty on the ball.

As he himself said after the game, full match-sharpness will come with time.