BALE FORCE IS BLOWING AGAIN, SAYS HAPPY JOSE

MATTHEW DUNN

JOSE MOURINHO is set to unleash Gareth Bale on Burnley from the start tomorrow after witnessing a renewed beast being set free in midweek.

Since arriving from Real Madrid on loan, the returning Tottenham star (top) has struggled for physical, mental and emotional fitness, resulting in a series of stop-start performances and cameo appearances.

But Mourinho (above) now feels the 31-year-old Welshman is in the best shape since his arrival.

And from the moment Bale swept Dele Alli’s pass into the back of the Wolfsberg net for his goal on Wednesday he finally achieved his “freedom”, according to the Spurs manager.

“You could see from his goal it was a confident shot,” said Mourinho.

“A player with fear or negative feelings would never have hit that type of shot. To strike the ball that way, I think that strike means a lot.

“It means freedom. It means freedom in relation to the brain muscle. For this you need to be in a good condition.

“He looks happier than ever, he looks confident. In training you can see he has his confidence back, the way he hits his shots. If a player feels great, if he is playing 100 per cent, and if the feeling are all good then there are no psychological problems or fears or barriers. He is in the best condition since he arrived.” Moreover, after Dele Alli (below) showed no ill effects from his 81-minute outing, Mourinho promised Tottenham fans more of the mouth-watering prospect of seeing the Fab Four of Alli, Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Bale in action together soon.

So far they have only been on the pitch together for 13 minutes at the end of the 2-1 defeat by West Ham but – fitness allowing –

Mourinho plans to use them more in the run-in to the season.

“They can play together and they will play together for sure, unless something wrong happens to one of them, which I hope does not,” said Mourinho.

“But I don’t want to talk about Dele and Bale, as it looks like I forgot Lucas Moura, Erik Lamela, Steven Bergwijn, Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Vinicius. Because I don’t forget them.

“In relation to Dele, when you have players performing like he did, it’s easier for the team to play well. I’m happy with him. It’s been a difficult period. Sometimes small injuries in accumulation are more difficult than a big injury where after a few weeks or months you are back. Small injuries are mentally not good, with players disappointed, lack of motivation, frustration. He went through that. He came back.

“We had good conversations, trained and now he’s well, playing minutes or part of matches.

“Not yet a 90-minute match but he went through periods and basically now 75 or 80 minutes. We need everybody and, in the case of Dele Alli, I’m very happy.”