JOSE Mourinho will certainly be cautious in light of the small sample size, and Tottenham fans would be wise to temper their giddiness for the time being, but – whisper it – Gareth Bale is back. At least he was during a star 70-minute turn in Sunday’s 4-0 win over Burnley.
Ever since he returned on loan last summer, Spurs supporters have been waiting patiently to catch a glimpse of the Bale they remembered from his first stint at the club, when he was twice named PFA Player of the Year before joining Real Madrid in 2013. The Welshman has been a peripheral figure for much of the campaign, and rumours of a fallout with Mourinho abounded. But against Sean Dyche’s side at the weekend, he scored twice and registered an assist as he wound back the clock with a dynamic display, the kind of which many observers believed he was no longer capable.
The first strike of Bale’s Burnley brace saw the 31-year-old latch on to low Son Heung-min cross to finish from close range with his weaker right foot. The movement and reaction speed he demonstrated in pouncing to score exhibited chance-sniffing instincts befitting of the No.9 shirt he now wears.
Good day at the office! Let’s build on this and look forward! #COYS pic.twitter.com/EInihP8TO6
— Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11) February 28, 2021
If his first showed a new string to his bow, the second goal was classic Bale. Again collecting a sweeping pass from Son, the on-loan Real Madrid superstar took one touch to get the ball out of his feet, before lashing home a left-footed far-corner rocket from the edge of the box. The easy control and instant, emphatic finish was the mark of a player in high confidence.
"It was good,” Bale remarked after the game. “I have been building up a little bit to get fully fit, felt comfortable and my form is coming back. It's nice to help the team.
"It's not just about scoring. It's about our all-round play and helping the team. I'm delighted with the goals and the assist and whatever I can do for the team.”
The signs of a resurgence have been increasingly apparent in recent weeks. Bale’s breakout Burnley performance came off the back of a fine goal in 4-0 midweek win over Wolsberger AC in Europa League. The previous weekend, he registered an assist in a 2-1 defeat to West Ham and almost rescued a point when he crashed a late effort against the crossbar.
He now has four goals and three assists in his last four appearances for Spurs. And despite having struggled to regularly crack Mourinho’s starting line-up this term, the 87-cap Wales legend has been productive in his time on the pitch. In the 1,000 all-competitions minutes he has played, Bale now has eight goals and three assists – that works out to a goal involvement every 90.9 minutes.
Digging further into his statistical performance shows that the 2020-21 version of Bale is showing little sign of the decline he appeared to have been mired in during the last couple of seasons in Spain. His average of 1.7 shot-creating passes per 90 minutes in the Premier League for Spurs this season is his best since 2015-16. His 3.7 shots per 90 means he is finding scoring opportunities at a rate comparable with his peak Madrid years. And his stunning average of 2.7 successful dribbles per 90 this term is a career best.
There was one moment in the Burnley win that did more to convince Bale sceptics that the attacker is approaching peak form than any amount of statistics ever could. Picking up possession in the right-back position, Bale knocked the ball past Charlie Taylor and burst forward to collect it on the other side, leaving the Clarets man in his dust. Within a matter of seconds, after a quick exchange of passes with Son, Bale had the ball in the Burnley penalty area.
The move didn’t lead to a goal, but the speed, athleticism and confidence he showed in these few seconds was Bale at his best, recalling images of his wonder goal against Barcelona in the 2014 Copa del Rey final.
“Sometimes people write things, and sometimes some of you like to imagine stories,” Mourinho told the press, in reaction to rumours of Bale’s discontent, after the Burnley game. “You need to write stories and sometimes you like to say things that are not really true, but there is not one single manager in the world that doesn’t play Gareth Bale if Gareth Bale is in very good condition. There is not one.
“But now he is better than ever. It’s not just about the two goals he scored. It’s fundamentally about his physical performance. Now he’s not flat. Now he has ups and downs in the speed he brings to his actions.”
"I've been happy all season,” Bale insisted. “In the dressing room I feel comfortable and I'm having fun. I'm happy and I'm sure it's showing on the pitch.”
With a fight on their hands to rescue European qualification, and with silverware still on the table in the EFL Cup and Europa League, Bale’s return to form, if it sticks, could yet salvage Tottenham’s season.
