EUROPEAN GLORY WILL BALE JOSE OUT
Anderton: Europa League win vital
DARREN ANDERTON is backing Gareth Bale to supercharge Spurs’ season after the Welshman’s return to form in recent weeks.
He just can’t work out why it has taken until now for the former Real Madrid star to be given a run of games.
Spurs face an uphill battle to finish in the top four, having lost five Premier League matches since the turn of the year after being top shortly before Christmas.
But wins over Burnley – with Bale scoring twice – and then Fulham have provided some welcome relief.
Now the former Spurs’ favourite (below) believes Bale can help the club to Europa League glory – and ensure that Champions
League football returns to North
London next season.
“I’m just glad
Jose is giving him the opportunity to play, I just don’t know why it has taken so long,” said Anderton.
“Maybe when Spurs were top of the league then you could kind of understand Jose not wanting to rock the boat too much.
“But when you’re struggling and have matchwinners sat there twiddling their thumbs – that’s when you need to get them on and get them going.
“You need to play games to get that match fitness and I think we’re seeing that with Gareth now.
“Gareth has played little bits here and there and there have been a few Europa League games which he has played in, but
he hasn’t had a run. Now you can see that he’s getting going again.
“There was one point in the game against Burnley where he picked the ball up, almost in the right-back position and he knocked it past the man and went.
“It was like ‘wow’ – that’s the Gareth Bale we all want to see, and that’s just match fitness.
“He has got that now, he has that confidence back and now hopefully he’s ready to show everyone he can still be a force.
“That’s why Spurs brought him back and that’s what we all want to see.”
Mourinho will expect the club’s recent form to extend into this evening’s match against Crystal Palace.
He’ll also hope that Dinamo Zagreb are swept aside in the kind of manner that saw Spurs despatch Wolfsberger in the round of 32.
Bale scored two in that 8-1 victory, taking his season’s tally to eight.
Now he will be out to try and add another European title to the four Champions League victories he enjoyed while at the Bernabeu.
And Anderton believes that the Portuguese might be removing the handbrake from this Spurs side in time for the season’s run-in.
ANXIOUS Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has urged his Manchester United players to take some of the derby-day strain off talisman Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes is topping their scoring charts with 22 goals this season. But the Portuguese ace has failed to find the target in his last three games.
And the Red Devils have gone goalless each time.
Midfielder Fernandes, 26, has looked jaded
recently as United have fallen 14 points behind leaders Manchester City in the title race – and Solskjaer feels he needs some help.
The United manager (below) said: “I think taking responsibility is important for everyone when they play football.
“You don’t wait for things to happen – you’ve got to make things happen.
“And we expect everyone to be a leader, everyone to take that responsibility.
“Of course it might be Bruno. But I know that teams are trying to man-mark him at times because sometimes in football they try to stop your best player. That’s come up with a perfect when someone else will game plan to halt a City have to step forward.” side that have won 21
Fernandes has not had successive games in all a break since arriving competitions. from Sporting Lisbon in United are defending an January 2020 in a deal that impressive away record cost United £47million that has seen them go plus another £25m in unbeaten in 21 games. potential add-ons. But Solskjaer said: “You His form has put have to attack and defend him in the frame for at your absolute highest the Footballer of level. There are fine the Year award – margins – and also some but Solskjaer luck at times. There are believes he can be tactical little tweaks. even better. “But your heart will He added: “Bruno is still stop if you just defend. getting used to the “In some of the wins Premier League. we’ve had against City,
“He has only been here we’ve created some great for 13 months, so the counter-attacking more time we get, the opportunities. So we better we will become.” know we have to be on
Solskjaer plotted three the front foot. successive wins over Pep “To win a game against Guardiola last season. a top team, every player
But he will have to has to be spot on.”