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Mourinho: Bale needs ‘physical evolution’ to make Tottenham loan work
Stefan Bienkowski
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:47 CDT
- 2 min read
Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has suggested that Gareth Bale needs a “physical evolution” if his loan move to the London club is going to succeed this season.
The Wales international joined Tottenham in the summer on a season-long loan deal from Real Madrid due to a lack of game time in the Spanish top flight.
After tumbling down the pecking order in Zinedine Zidane’s team, Bale made just 20 appearances last season.
And his new manager now believes the attacking talent needs to get back to match fitness if he’s to succeed at Tottenham.
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“He is playing regularly, he has the chance of a physical evolution,” said the Tottenham manager.
“Of course, he doesn’t need a technical or tactical evolution, he needs a physical evolution and to get into the intensity of matches and to get his confidence back to play consecutive matches like three matches in a week.”
Despite four starts in Tottenham’s Europa League campaign, Bale has managed just 116 minutes of Premier League football for Mourinho’s side.
The 31-year-old forward has also bagged just one goal in seven appearances for the club and looks nothing like the player he once was in the Premier League.
Yet Mourinho remains confident that the old Bale will show up eventually once he’s got enough game time under his belt.
Mourinho said: “The only problem with Gareth is to get him to the dynamic and confidence of playing consecutive matches without any bad feeling, without any negative feeling or without any remembrance of the recent past where the condition was not the best and the fears were there. I think it is more about that.”
