Bale poised for second Tottenham debut
LONDON — Jose Mourinho believes Gareth Bale has joined the strongest list of forward options he has ever managed as the Welshman prepares for his second Tottenham Hotspur debut.
Tottenham head coach Mourinho confirmed that Bale would “probably” play some part against West Ham United today and the 31-year-old, who is on loan from Real Madrid, has told the Portuguese that his favourite position is on the right.
But Mourinho wants all of his forward players, including Harry Kane, to be flexible as he attempts to find the right balance in an all-star list that is so long he twice failed to remember all of the names on it.
Mourinho has coached the likes of Didier Drogba and Eden Hazard at Chelsea, Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid, Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Inter Milan and Marcus Rashford at Manchester United.
But, numerically at least, he rates the forward options he now has at Tottenham, which include new signings Bale and Carlos Vinicius, as the strongest of his career.
“With the number of players, yes (it is the best list of forwards I have worked with),” said Mourinho.
“Of course, I had incredible attacking forces. I remember my first season in Inter, not the season we won the treble, the strikers were Ibrahimovic, Adriano and Hernan Crespo, and I had these in more than one club.
“Looking just at the attacking three positions, Kane and Vinicius, Son, Bergwijn, Lamela, Lucas and maybe I forgot somebody. Especially in these three attacking positions, it is top quality and great numbers.”
Mourinho had forgotten Dele Alli, but later remembered him and missed off Vinicius, when he attempted to list all of his forward-thinking players again after explaining how he wants them to be adaptable.
“I don’t want my players to play like how a train goes,” said Mourinho. “A train always goes on the train track and I don’t want my players to play like a train on the track.
“I like my players, in a certain moment in the evolution of the team, to feel some freedom. They can get out of the train and with players like the ones we have — Harry, Bale, Bergwijn, Lucas, Son, Lamela and I forget maybe Lo Celso or Dele Alli or whoever it is — they must a bit.”
Bale shot to stardom from the left and later moved into the middle at Tottenham, but it seems he will take up a new Spurs position for his second spell at the club.
“One of the first questions in my first conversation with Gareth was ‘What’s your favourite position?’,” said Mourinho.
“I wanted to start from there and he answered me the question.
“Does that mean he will always be used in that position? No. Because the most important thing is the team and he will play where the team needs him to play, but he was very clear by saying his favourite position is on the right. It’s not as a number 10, it’s not as a striker, it’s not anymore on the left side like he did in the first years of his career at Southampton and Tottenham. His favourite position now is on the right side.
“So, that was a very good starting point of his development here. When he reaches his continuity and when he reaches his normal intensity and dynamic, I think he can be the player people saw being decisive when he went to Real Madrid, in a very similar position. Real Madrid was basically, Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo, with Bale playing fundamentally from the right and that’s the position he prefers.”
Mourinho will hope that Bale will help to provide even more ammunition for Kane, although the start of this season has seen the England captain also turn provider for Heung-min Son.
— Telegraph