Former Wales coach Chris Coleman has warned Gareth Bale’s critics not to write him off just yet.
Bale re-joined Tottenham on loan from Real Madrid at the start of the season, but so far the winger has struggled to make an impact. After making just a handful of appearances, many have written Bale off as a has been whose best days are well and truly behind him.
But one man who is not prepared to give up on Bale’s chances of turning thing around just yet is Coleman, who managed the four-time Champions League winner while in charge of Wales.
“He’s been out for a long time and he’s finding it hard to get back into it and get his rhythm,” Coleman told Sky’s Monday Night Football show. “We all know what a world class player he is.
He can win a game; he can score a goal from nothing. He’s got a last pass.” “But when I’m watching him now it always looks as though he’s on the first game back from injury. Obviously, we expected him to be back into the flow of things by now but clearly he isn’t.” Mentioning his recent stats and the amount of time Bale’s spent on the field in the last few years, the panel then asked Coleman whether he thought we’ve seen Bale’s best days. The former Fulham coach was more optimistic than most about the 31-year-old’s chances of turning things around. “He’s only 31 so I wouldn’t write him off.
I don’t know what’s happened at Tottenham but knowing Gareth, he’s a very serious boy and he loves playing football. I’ve heard comments that he’ll be happy on the bench – he won’t be happy on the bench, not the Gareth I know.” With Bale’s season-long loan expiring at the end of the current campaign, the Welshman has a few months left to prove he still has what it takes to cut it in the Premier League. But unless he can start getting more game time,
it’ll be difficult to prove himself to Spurs coach Jose Mourinho.